Lt. Cotton To The NYT
Lt. Tom Cotton writes this morning from Baghdad with a word for the New York Times:
Dear Messrs. Keller, Lichtblau & Risen:
Congratulations on disclosing our government's highly classified
anti-terrorist-financing program (June 23). I apologize for not writing
sooner. But I am a lieutenant in the United States Army and I spent the
last four days patrolling one of the more dangerous areas in Iraq. (Alas,
operational security and common sense prevent me from even revealing this
unclassified location in a private medium like email.)
Unfortunately, as I supervised my soldiers late one night, I heard a booming
explosion several miles away. I learned a few hours later that a powerful
roadside bomb killed one soldier and severely injured another from my
130-man company. I deeply hope that we can find and kill or capture the
terrorists responsible for that bomb. But, of course, these terrorists do
not spring from the soil like Plato's guardians. No, they require financing
to obtain mortars and artillery shells, priming explosives, wiring and
circuitry, not to mention for training and payments to locals willing to
emplace bombs in exchange for a few months' salary. As your story states,
the program was legal, briefed to Congress, supported in the government and
financial industry, and very successful.
Not anymore. You may think you have done a public service, but you have
gravely endangered the lives of my soldiers and all other soldiers and
innocent Iraqis here. Next time I hear that familiar explosion -- or next
time I feel it -- I will wonder whether we could have stopped that bomb had
you not instructed terrorists how to evade our financial surveillance.
And, by the way, having graduated from Harvard Law and practiced with a
federal appellate judge and two Washington law firms before becoming an
infantry officer, I am well-versed in the espionage laws relevant to this
story and others -- laws you have plainly violated. I hope that my
colleagues at the Department of Justice match the courage of my soldiers
here and prosecute you and your newspaper to the fullest extent of the law.
By the time we return home, maybe you will be in your rightful place: not
at the Pulitzer announcements, but behind bars.
Very truly yours,
LT Tom Cotton
Baghdad, Iraq
Dear Messrs. Keller, Lichtblau & Risen:
Congratulations on disclosing our government's highly classified
anti-terrorist-financing program (June 23). I apologize for not writing
sooner. But I am a lieutenant in the United States Army and I spent the
last four days patrolling one of the more dangerous areas in Iraq. (Alas,
operational security and common sense prevent me from even revealing this
unclassified location in a private medium like email.)
Unfortunately, as I supervised my soldiers late one night, I heard a booming
explosion several miles away. I learned a few hours later that a powerful
roadside bomb killed one soldier and severely injured another from my
130-man company. I deeply hope that we can find and kill or capture the
terrorists responsible for that bomb. But, of course, these terrorists do
not spring from the soil like Plato's guardians. No, they require financing
to obtain mortars and artillery shells, priming explosives, wiring and
circuitry, not to mention for training and payments to locals willing to
emplace bombs in exchange for a few months' salary. As your story states,
the program was legal, briefed to Congress, supported in the government and
financial industry, and very successful.
Not anymore. You may think you have done a public service, but you have
gravely endangered the lives of my soldiers and all other soldiers and
innocent Iraqis here. Next time I hear that familiar explosion -- or next
time I feel it -- I will wonder whether we could have stopped that bomb had
you not instructed terrorists how to evade our financial surveillance.
And, by the way, having graduated from Harvard Law and practiced with a
federal appellate judge and two Washington law firms before becoming an
infantry officer, I am well-versed in the espionage laws relevant to this
story and others -- laws you have plainly violated. I hope that my
colleagues at the Department of Justice match the courage of my soldiers
here and prosecute you and your newspaper to the fullest extent of the law.
By the time we return home, maybe you will be in your rightful place: not
at the Pulitzer announcements, but behind bars.
Very truly yours,
LT Tom Cotton
Baghdad, Iraq
posted by kevin at
7:20 PM
6 Comments:
Excellent find kevin!..Will try to link to ya soon as I put up my next masterpiece..lol.Have a great weekend!
Well said, Lt.! I will link to you!
Thanks Angel and Brooke.
Lt. Cotton has laid it all out. Kudos to him, and to hell with the Treason Times.
Almost makes me wish I'd been a subscriber to NYT, so I could drop my subscription!
Dear Lt. Cotton,
I hate to break the news to you, but long before the NYT, it has been well know that financial transactions have been open to scrutiny. Ever heard of the Executive Branch agency called the IRS? It sucks, but the Treasury has given the "Federal" Reserve a monopoly on money and over banking. Of course, if anyone challenges this monopoly, we may be calling on you and your guns!
Your fight is not with the NYT. You have no privacy in our modern banking system. I think "terrorists" have a better understanding of this than you give them credit. In fact, Bush did warn them a few days after 911 (see: www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4017008.html). But of course the monitoring has been in place for decades.
"By the time we return home, maybe you will be in your rightful place: not at the Pulitzer announcements, but behind bars."
Do military officers still take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States?
You might want to read it sometime.
On this issue I’ll save you a little time “…Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” You need to go after the ones who leaked the info, not the reporters.
Also, look up Article 1, Section 8, paragraph 11. You may wish to include a “signing statement” with your oath.
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