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Still, there doesn't seem to be much risk for the White House under US law.
As for the laws of other countries whose citizens have been affected, that is another matter entirely. According to Reuters, the Belgian government has already launched an investigation into the data transfer, which may be illegal under local law. It's possible that other countries will follow suit.
Originally posted by dawnstar
yes, but it gives the an excuse to make our free press a little less free, now, doesn't it.
Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
spacedoubt -
Firstly, what is a NYTWYTS?
And are you saying that if a newspaper prints something that is already known, there's some kind of problem with this?
Originally posted by jsobecky
My understanding, and I could be wrong, is that al Qaeda did not know the level of access that we had to the SWIFT database beforehand.
After the article was released, they realized that a certain co-operation had been going on that could reveal some of their financing tactics and sources.
The biggest piece of this mystery for me is that, if it was no big deal, and already widely known, then why did Republicans and Democrats, including John Murtha, plead with the NYT to not run the story?
Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
Your understanding? How in the world could it be known what Al Qaeda knew before this article? Where did you gain this 'understanding'? This is pure speculation. And based on absolutely nothing.