Middle America's Worldview

There's been nearly a week of debate over the New York Times
exposing of a confidential government program to monitor the financial
transactions of terrorists. Some have suggested criminal charges be brought
against the Times for publishing national security secrets. At the very
least, the Justice Department ought to determine who in government leaked
the information and prosecute them. While Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales onsiders his options, I want to share excerpts of a letter that
Lieutenant Tom Cotton, currently fighting in Iraq, sent to the Times.

"Congratulations on disclosing our government's highly
classified anti-terrorist-financing program. …I spent the last four days
patrolling one of the more dangerous areas in Iraq. …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. …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.

"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."

I received the above and just had to share it. I have heard alot of talk regarding the news outlet, but I haven't heard any action, yet.