By Andrew Cochran
It has been nearly seven years since the September 11th attacks, but the U.S. Treasury Department continues to shield critical information from the public about the financial activities of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT). Treasury has evaded demands for improved disclosure of its investigations. The public has a right and a need to know the factual findings of these important investigations, such as the names of the terrorists and important details of their financial records. Such disclosures will allow the public, specifically financial institutions, to ensure that terrorists are unable to move money through the banking system. It will also allow victims of terrorism to obtain the necessary information to know who is responsible for their injuries and losses. Shielding these important facts from the public domain allows terrorists to exploit bureaucratic turf-battles to wage their deadly jihad. To date, Treasury has not publicly provided a sound reason for this secrecy. The time has come to change these policies. |