Ron Suskind's book 1% Doctrine reveals bank snooping

[Jeanette in FL]

I was just watching Hardball and he had Ron Suskind on talking about the revelations by the NY Times on the Bush admininstration snooping on banking records. Chris then starts reading a passage from the book describing the snooping in detail. Chris then asks Suskind how long ago had he written that passage and Ron's said months ago and how he came upon the information. He says that Al-Kaida had stopped using electronic movement of money years ago because so many had gotten caught up in the trap and figured out how they were captured.

I don't have the book but I believe Chris said he was reading from page two ninety something. Does anyone have this book on hand to see what it says.

It just goes to show that all this false indignation by Bush and Cheney today was for show, if this information has been out there.

A little clip from the NY Times article:

The F.B.I. began acquiring financial records from Western Union and its parent company, the First Data Corporation. The programs were alluded to in Congressional testimony by the F.B.I. in 2003 and described in more detail in a book released this week, "The One Percent Doctrine," by Ron Suskind. Using what officials described as individual, narrowly framed subpoenas and warrants, the F.B.I. has obtained records from First Data, which processes credit and debit card transactions, to track financial activity and try to locate suspects.

Similar subpoenas for the Western Union data allowed the F.B.I. to trace wire transfers, mainly outside the United States, and to help Israel disrupt about a half-dozen possible terrorist plots there by unraveling the financing, an official said.

The idea for the Swift program, several officials recalled, grew out of a suggestion by a Wall Street executive, who told a senior Bush administration official about Swift's database. Few government officials knew much about the consortium, which is led by a Brooklyn native, Leonard H. Schrank, but they quickly discovered it offered unparalleled access to international transactions. Swift, a former government official said, was "the mother lode, the Rosetta stone" for financial data.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/23/washington/23intel.html?pagewanted

[Jeanette in FL]

1. Page 279 on listening to it again n/t

[bobbolink]

2. Suskind on BookTV Sunday, July 2, 7pm EST

Thanks for posting this. It's an important book.

I'm looking forward to seeing this on BookTV