Developing Story - White House, Times Lob Shots At Each Other

Bin Laden, In New Video, Joins Bush In Slamming New York Times

Laments Lost Donations Over Lateness Of Banking Records Story; “First Our Phones, Now Our ATM’s”

In a new video, rushed out this afternoon and posted to numerous Islamic websites, still at-large Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden joined with President Bush in lambasting The New York Times, over their reporting on the Bush Administration’s surveillance of international banking records.

In the video, which offered English subtitles, as well as other effective production values, bin Laden was surrounded by newspapers – The New York Times,Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Time – all of whom printed the story of the Bush Administration’s sifting through millions of financial transactions of U.S. citizens and companies.

White House, Times Lob Shots At Each Other

This was after a morning ripping of the newspaper by President Bush.

Reacting to the article, that first ran last Thursday, President Bush angrily denounced the newspaper, saying that printing the story of leaked information was "disgraceful"

"The fact that a newspaper disclosed it makes it harder to win this war on terror," Bush said, speaking with reporters, briefly, from the Roosevelt Room in the White House.

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow kept the offensive going, later saying that the story was "a highly unusual departure" from the practice of newspapers honoring the secrecy of sensitive matters during wartime.

"The New York Times and other news organizations ought to think long and hard about whether a public's right to know, in some cases, might overwrite somebody's right to live, and whether, in fact, the publications of these could place in jeopardy the safety of fellow Americans," Snow said.

Snow refused to answer reporters’ questions on why the President waited four-days to speak out on The New York Times article.

First, last Friday, and then again this afternoon, Vice President Dick Cheney, lashed out at The New York Times.

On Friday, Cheney defended the Bank Records Program, saying that “to disclose vital national security programs, thereby making it more difficult for us to prevent future attacks against the American people,” and "That offends me."

Today, speaking at a fundraiser in Nebraska, Cheney expressed his outrage, saying;

"The New York Times has now twice -- two separate occasions -- disclosed programs; both times they had been asked not to publish those stories by senior administration officials," Cheney said. "They went ahead anyway."

Cheney went on to say that he believes The New York Times “is in its last throes of being a reputable news organization.”

New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller defended the paper’s printing of the story.

In a special letter, published yesterday, The New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller defended the paper’s printing of the story saying that “We believe The Times and others in the press have served the public interest by accurately reporting on these programs so that the public can have an informed view of them.”

Keller also pushed back on the Bush Administration.

“By the way, we heard similar arguments against publishing last year's reporting on the NSA eavesdropping program. We were told then that our article would mean the death of that program. We were told that telecommunications companies would — if the public knew what they were doing — withdraw their cooperation. To the best of my knowledge, that has not happened. While our coverage has led to much public debate and new congressional oversight, to the best of our knowledge the eavesdropping program continues to operate much as it did before. Members of Congress have proposed to amend the law to put the eavesdropping program on a firm legal footing. And the man who presided over it and defended it was handily confirmed for promotion as the head of the CIA.”

Bin Laden: “First Our Phones, Now Our ATM’s”

In a long, lengthy diatribe, against both The New York Times, President Bush, and the United States, bin Laden tells of “lost donations” and how, at times, nothing was suspected as various Al Qaeda operatives had their ATM cards “eaten” by the automated teller machines.

“We thought the problem was with that bank ... that machine,” shouts bin Laden, “not that the infidels would actually be trying to trace our transactions.

“First our telephones,” said the Al Qaeda leader, referencing the story The New York Times broke last December, on the President using the NSA to eavesdrop and wiretap millions of telephone calls, in what was later titled the “Domestic Terrorist Surveillance Program, “now our ATM’s.”

Bin Laden goes on to express “complete surprise” that the Bush Administration was using the banking records program to get a bead on Al Qaeda activities.

“Why did this newspaper wait for a year to print this story?” laments the Al Qaeda leader. “It has been disappointing enough,” said bin Laden, “that they put up this Selected Wall, that takes away some of the writings that we use to track Satan Bush ...”

The terrorist leader reference is to the new feature of The New York Times, TimesSelect.

For a fee ($49), a reader will have access to the Times’ Op-Ed columnists, such as Maureen Dowd, Thomas L. Friedman, Bob Herbert, Paul Krugman, Frank Rich, as well as features and columnists from other sections of the newspaper, and the International Herald Tribune.

Bin Laden Gives Thumbs Down On Gore Film

Later in the video, bin Laden made a veiled reference to having to cash in some of his own stock portfolio – his oil stocks - since the price of crude has been riding all-time highs, to continue to finance the Al Qaeda operations.

“Now I have the wanna-be-devil Gore trying to drive me into financial ruin, with that new film of his,” sighed the gaunt-looking bin-Laden, speaking to the Al Gore documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth”.

Government officials are still examining the video, and haven’t come to a conclusion if bin Laden’s critique of Gore’s film was just that, or, if his talk about stocks was a coded signal to any cells here in the United States.

It is being reported that one of the would-be terrorists arrested in Florida last week last week was carrying a gasoline credit card and officials in the case are looking to see if that provides any ties to bin Laden or Al Qaeda.

Vice President Dick Cheney predicted today that the New York Times is “is in its last throes of being a reputable news organization”