Speaking truth to power

This letter, via Powerline, deserves wide circulation:

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,

Tom Cotton
Baghdad, Iraq

Posted on June 26th, 2006 by pwyll
Filed under: politics, war

2 Responses to “Speaking truth to power”

  1. NOTR, on June 28th, 2006 at 3:52 pm Said:

    I was sent that too. I didn’t realize it was published on Powerline. But I have been unable to ascertain whether this is “real” or an Internet myth. That is why I have not made a blog entry on it. Too often really good stuff like this ends up being the creation of some very talented hoaxsters. I could find no evidence that this letter was ever published by the NY Times, nor find any indication there is a Tom Cotton with the bona fides he claims. Have you been able to validate it?

  2. pwyll, on June 28th, 2006 at 5:14 pm Said:

    No, I cannot validate it. I would be disappointed to learn the letter is a fabrication, but not crushed. I agree with the position expressed, regardless of origin.

    I am one guy ranting in his spare time, not a news agency. If I get some facts wrong, I will be grateful for any corrections.

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