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Graphic courtesy of Michelle Malkin

Roll Call: GOP bill targets NY Times

House Republican leaders are expected to introduce a resolution today condemning The New York Times for publishing a story last week that exposed government monitoring of banking records.

The resolution is expected to condemn the leak and publication of classified documents, said one Republican aide with knowledge of the impending legislation.

The resolution comes as Republicans from the president on down condemn media organizations for reporting on the secret government program that tracked financial records overseas through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), an international banking cooperative.

This resolution should have been introduced today.  A resolution revoking the New York Times’ Press credentials trivializes the disgraceful conduct of the New York and Los Angeles Times.  However, a resolution condemning these newspapers for an egregious breach of the public trust is a different matter.  A censure resolution of both newspapers would be the most appropriate.

Also, the Senate and House Intelligence Committees should call for hearings and subpoena Bill Keller, Dean Baquet, Eric Lichtblau and James Risen to testify and reveal the government sources of the leaked SWIFT Program.

Hugh Hewitt has Congressional Indifference to Newspaper Assistance to Terrorists

Look, the flag amendment presents an interesting debate, but the national security does not turn on its fate.

Last week’s Senate resolution and the House resolution the week before mattered a great deal, but their effect is being reduced by inaction by the House and Senate on the real damage done by the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.

So, where’s the leadership, the draft resolutions, the debate and the vote? What’s the plan? A letter from Chairman Roberts is great, but it isn’t the First Branch speaking to the Fourth, which is what needs to happen. Soon.

Looks like Hugh will get his request…….

Stay tuned……

Graphic courtesy of Michelle Malkin

Previous:

Global War on Terror Watch: Chairman of the Senate Select Committe on Intelligence Pat Roberts Writes Director of National Intelligence Negroponte

Global War on Terror Watch: Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times Explains SWIFT Scoop

Global War on Terror Watch:
Dean Baquet – Why the Los Angeles Times Published the Secret Details of
SWIFT Bank Data Anti-Terrorism Program

Global War on Terror Watch: United States Treasury Secretary Snow Responds to Bill Keller of the New York Times

Global War on Terror Watch: President Bush Condemns Disclosure and Publishing Details of SWIFT Anti-Terrorism Finance Program

Los Angeles Times Watch: Patterico and Danziger Dump the Los Angeles Dog Trainer

Global War on Terror Watch: Dear Mr. Keller – Why?

Global War on Terror Watch: New York Times Publishes Secret Details of SWIFT Bank Data Anti-Terrorism Program

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Technorati Tags: NewYorkTimes, BillKeller, JamesRisen, EricLichtblau, DeanBaquet, HughHewitt

US Department of Defense handout image shows a Standard Missile being launched in a Missile Defense Agency and Japan Defense Agency joint test in the Pacific, in March 2006. The United States warned North Korea against thinking it could use worries over a possible long-range missile to force the United States into direct talks.

AFP: US warns North Korea against talks ‘bluff’

The United States warned North Korea against thinking it could use worries over a possible long-range missile to force the United States into direct talks.

“If it’s a bluff for direct negotiations, it’s not an advisable way to do it,” White House spokesman Tony Snow told a press briefing.

On Monday President Bush said  that North Korea should tell the world what it has atop a missile the United States believes it is preparing to launch.

So, what is North Korea’s intent?

Stay tuned……..

A commercial satellite photo of North Korea’s Nodong missile launch site taken on by a Digital Globe satellite and annotated and released by analysts at GlobalSecurity.org on May 24, 2006. The United States and Japan warned North Korea on Monday against a missile launch that experts say could reach as far as Alaska and threatened harsh action if the test flight goes ahead.

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Previous:

North Korea Watch: President Bush – North Korea Should Tell World of Their INTENT

North Korea Watch: Senators Hagel and Luger Call for Direct North Korea Talks – Rule Out Preemptive Strike

North Korea Watch: Director of the Missile Defense Agency Henry Obering Confident of North Korean Missile Interception

North Korea Watch: Former Vice President Mondale Supports Preemptive Strike Against North Korea

Michael Ramirez on Missile Defense

North Korea Watch: SM-3 Block IA Interceptor Missile SUCCESSFULLY Fired in Thursday’s Test

North Korea Watch: United States Says “NO” to Direct Talks

North Korea Watch: Direct Talks with the United States?

North Korea Watch: Korea Says it “Is NOT Bound” by Missile Test Ban

North Korea Watch: United States Activates Missile Defense Shield – Part 2

North Korea Watch: United States Activates Missile Defense Shield

North Korea Watch: North Korea Threatens to “Mercilessly Wipe Out” US Forces In Case of War

North Korea Watch: North Korea Close to Test Firing Taepodong-2 Missile – Capable of Reaching Mainland United States

North Korea Watch: North Korea Denies Reported Plans to Test-Fire a Long-Range Missile Capable of Reaching the U.S. Mainland

North Korea Watch: Preparing to Launch A Long Range Ballistic Missile?

North Korea Watch: North Koreans Can and Have Made a Few Nuclear Devices

North Korea Harvesting More Plutonium for Nuclear Weapons

North Korea Warned

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Technorati Tags: NorthKorea, KimJongIl, MissileDefenseAgency

Cox & Forkum: Scuttle

TIA Daily‘s Robert Tracinski had a great round-up of links and commentary (under the apt title “Fourth Estate, Fifth Column”) regarding the latest New York Times breach:

Last week, the mainstream media continued its policy of declassifying America’s anti-terrorism intelligence gathering tactics. You didn’t think that the editors of the New York Times had the legal authority to declassify national security secrets? Neither did I. In fact, publishing these life-or-death secrets is a crime.

Michael Barone offers a general argument in favor of cracking down on these national security leaks, while the Weekly Standard provides a specific legal justification for a criminal prosecution of the editors of the New York Times and at least one congressman has called for such a prosecution.

As Barone points out, the most recent New York Times exposure of a national security secret is particularly egregious because there is no suggestion that the intelligence program it reveals is illegal the (dubious) argument the Times used to justify its previous exposure of a wire-tapping program.

So the Times cannot claim that it has revealed this information in order to blow the whistle on an abuse of presidential power. That moves their actions into the realm of treason: the editors of the Times published information that they knew would aid the enemy and did so without being able to claim any legitimate motive.

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Technorati Tags: Cox&Forkum, NewYorkTimes, LosAngelesTimes

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., right, asks a question during a Senate Agriculture hearing in Albany, Ga., Friday, June 23, 2006, while Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., looks on. The senators came to Albany to hold the first of a series of field hearings on the 2007 farm bill. Chambliss chairs the committee and Roberts is a member who has helped to draft six previous farm bills.

Hugh Hewitt: Chairman Roberts Writes DNI Negraponte

Captain Ed: The Roberts Letter And Its Lack Of Significance

June 27, 2006 The Honorable John D. Negroponte Director of National Intelligence Washington, D.C. 20511

Dear Mr. Director:

Unauthorized disclosures of classified information continue to threaten our national security – exposing our sensitive intelligence sources and methods to our enemies. Numerous, recent unauthorized disclosures of sensitive intelligence programs have directly threatened important efforts in the war against terrorism. Whether the President’s Terrorist Surveillance Program or the Department of Treasury’s effort to track terrorist financing, we have been unable to persuade the media to act responsibly and protect the means by which we protect this nation.

To gain a better understanding of the damage caused by unauthorized disclosures of this type, I ask that you perform an assessment of the damage caused by the unauthorized disclosure of some of our most sensitive intelligence programs. While your assessment may range beyond the President’s Terrorist Surveillance Program and Treasury’s Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, I am particularly interested in the damage attributable to these two unauthorized disclosures.

Sincerely,
Pat Roberts
Chairman

This is a WEAK SAUCE response by the Chairman of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee. My God, Roberts should be asking the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to begin an investigation of the source of the SWIFT Program leaks published by the New York Times.

Roberts should call for Senate hearings and subpoena Keller, Lichtblau and Risen. Ask them who their sources are under penalty of contempt.

Roberts nees to grow some “COJONES.”

Graphic courtesy of Michelle Malkin

Previous:

Global War on Terror Watch: Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times Explains SWIFT Scoop

Global War on Terror Watch: Dean Baquet – Why the Los Angeles Times Published the Secret Details of SWIFT Bank Data Anti-Terrorism Program

Global War on Terror Watch: United States Treasury Secretary Snow Responds to Bill Keller of the New York Times

Global War on Terror Watch: President Bush Condemns Disclosure and Publishing Details of SWIFT Anti-Terrorism Finance Program

Los Angeles Times Watch: Patterico and Danziger Dump the Los Angeles Dog Trainer

Global War on Terror Watch: Dear Mr. Keller – Why?

Global War on Terror Watch: New York Times Publishes Secret Details of SWIFT Bank Data Anti-Terrorism Program

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Technorati Tags: PatRoberts, NewYorkTimes, GlobalWaronTerror, SWIFT, HughHewitt, CaptainsQuarters

Graphic Courtesy of Rick A Michelle Malkin

Editor & Publisher: Lichtblau of ‘NYT’ Explains Attempt to Halt His Bank Records Scoop

Eric Lichtblau, one of two New York Times’ reporters who broke today’s story of a secret government monitoring of private banking records – which the Bush Administration sought to block – said the White House arguments to halt the story were not as strong as those
that had kept a previous report on secret wiretapping out of the paper for a year.


“They were similar in terms of the objections raised not to publish,” Lichtblau told E&P today. “That the bad guys knew we were listening to them, but they don’t know exactly how.” But he
said the objections “did not rise to as high a level as last time.”

And so this was an “EXCUSE” for revealing national security secrets?  Or was it a rationalization for your hopeful Pulitzer Prize nomination as a result of your treasonous and anti-American expose? 

Or was it because President Bush wasn’t directly involved that this “secret program” merited an “outing”?  And didn’t give you HIS personal disdain?

Lichtblau, who co-wrote both stories with Times reporter James Risen, said that in each case the newspaper believed that the information it was reporting would not put anyone in harm’s
way. “I think we came down on the same side in both questions,” he said of the two stories. “That this is not giving away information that is tangibly helping terrorists know what they don’t already know.”

Flap says BULL.

Lichtblau, you have no idea what potential harm or deaths you may have caused with writing and publishing this piece. 

You, Risen and Keller could give a DAMN as long as you published a “scoop” and served your own parochial needs – certainly needs above American interests.

Flap asks you, Lichtblau, how many Americans have to die?

Graphic Courtesy of Darleen’s Place

Hugh Hewitt has Lichtblau of ‘NYT’ Explains Attempt to Halt His Bank Records Scoop

The national security cannot possibly come before the race for the next Pulitzer:

“I don’t think we could reasonably be accused of moving too quickly,” he said. “We waited so long that the competition caught up to us.” This comment referred to the Los Angeles Times’ posting a story about the bank records program on its Web site last night.

Previous:

Global War on Terror Watch: Dean Baquet – Why the Los Angeles Times Published the Secret Details of SWIFT Bank Data Anti-Terrorism Program

Global War on Terror Watch: United States Treasury Secretary Snow Responds to Bill Keller of the New York Times

Global War on Terror Watch: President Bush Condemns Disclosure and Publishing Details of SWIFT Anti-Terrorism Finance Program

Los Angeles Times Watch: Patterico and Danziger Dump the Los Angeles Dog Trainer

Global War on Terror Watch: Dear Mr. Keller – Why?

Global War on Terror Watch: New York Times Publishes Secret Details of SWIFT Bank Data Anti-Terrorism Program

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Technorati Tags: EricLichtblau, NewYorkTimes, JamesRisen, BillKeller, HughHewitt, SWIFT

Roll Call: Making love in the White House is even better  

Slow Joe Plagiarising Biden is NOT going to have to worry.

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Technorati Tags: JoeBiden, liberalmorons

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Gholamali Haddadadel and his delegation look
at construction at the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, south of Tehran,
June 27, 2006.

Reuters: No “talks about talks” in Iran nuclear row: UK

Britain said on Tuesday that major world powers would not be drawn into talks about talks as they await Iran’s response to their offer of incentives to defuse a standoff over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

“What I think there would be some concern about … if we appeared that we were entering into a period of negotiation about negotiations,” British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett told parliament.

She said the offer was clear that negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program could only resume if Tehran resumed its suspension of enrichment.

Beckett is dreaming if she and Britain think that Iran will EVER agree to halting Iranian uranium enrichment.

Beckett also said Tehran had indicated, both in public and private, that it saw ambiguities in the proposals.

“We are keen to ensure that any ambiguities are resolved,” she said.

“We have been and continue to press the Iranian government for a further meeting to take place between (EU foreign policy chief) Javier Solana and (Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali) Larijani and I hope such a meeting will take place in the near future.”

Time is up.

Months and years have passed while the Europeans and now Americans have negotiated with Iran.  Iran covets nuclear weapons and they will not stop uranium enrichment.

Iran has negotiated in “bad faith” and their centrifuges have been spinning and enriching uranium ore while talks drag on……

The United States and Israel will deal with Iran’s nuclear program when a “point of no return” is reached.

Iran has had every opportunity.  Refer them to the United Nations Security Council for sanctions.

Stay tuned as the G8 nations discuss Iran’s nuclear program in Russia.

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Previous:

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Says NO

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Faces Gas Rationing

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Urges Patience

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Repeats Threat to Use Oil As a Weapon

Iran Nuclear Watch: Uranium Enrichment Halt Not a Precondition to Negotiations And Not EVER

Iran Nuclear Watch: Uranium Enrichment Halt Not a Precondition to Negotiations

Iran Nuclear Watch: President Bush Rejects August Iranian Response to Big 6 Proposal

Cox & Forkum: Forked Tongue

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Accuses the United States of Pushing Europe Away from Compromise

Iran Nuclear Watch: President Ahmadinejad – Big 6 Proposal a “Step Forward”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Would “Use Nuclear Defense” If Threatened

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Sends Mixed Signals on Big 6 Proposal?

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei REJECTS Suspension of Uranium Enrichment

The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.

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Technorati Tags: Iran, MahmoudAhmadinejad