Jonathan Pollard, Again ...Why he must complete his time in prison

[Jesus Malverde]

There has been a flurry of articles about the possibility that Jonathan Pollard, convicted Israeli spy who is now languishing in a North Carolina prison, might be released by President Barack Obama as a gesture to revive the moribund Middle East peace talks. Media accounts from Israel suggest that Secretary of State John Kerry, under pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has raised the issue of Pollard’s release with the president as an incentive to encourage Israel to complete its own release of Palestinian Israelis being held, which it has been delaying. The Palestinian Authority has reportedly indicated that it would not object to such a move.

As Pollard spied against the United States, not against either Israel or Palestine, the viewpoints from Tel Aviv and Ramallah are somewhat irrelevant but nevertheless interesting for anyone following the ebb and flow of the world’s most protracted search for a solution to two peoples who want to occupy the same space at the same time. Pollard’s supporters, including many former government officials and politicians, tend also to be strong advocates for Israel, which means they are seeing the issue in terms of their own perception of Tel Aviv’s interests. They have made a number of claims regarding his prolonged incarceration. They note that the life in prison sentence was unduly harsh and that the denial of parole is unprecedented after twenty-six years behind bars. They also maintain that Pollard was only providing background information to help Israel, an ally, and should not be judged by the same standard applied to spies like John Walker, Rick Ames and Robert Hanssen, all of whom worked for the Soviet Union during the Cold War, selling top secret intelligence to a powerful enemy.

<snip>

Recently, M.E. “Spike” Bowman, who was at the time the liaison between the Departments of Defense and Justice and coordinator of the damage assessment, wrote an op-ed entitled “Don’t Trust This Spy” for the New York Times and also elaborated on his view of Pollard in a paper presented at the March 7th National Summit to Reassess the US-Israel Special Relationship. Bowman confirms the unique damage done by Pollard, observing that there has been no other American spy who provided “information of the quantity and quality that Mr. Pollard has.” To cope with the volume, the Israelis had to install high speed copiers in a safehouse apartment they used with Pollard and it is estimated that he stole 360 cubic feet of documents, enough to fill a room. And it was nearly all information that was beyond secret, meaning top secret and SCI or codeword, which is the most sensitive information that the United States government possesses. The Israelis were delighted and were able to request specific documents from a Defense Intelligence Agency catalog of available intelligence reports that had been given to them by another of their spies in the Defense Department, who has never been publicly identified. Pollard’s high level clearance meant that he could get his Israeli Washington Embassy based case officer Colonel Avi Sella, who was also running spy Ben-Ami Kadish at the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, anything that he wanted.

For those who hint at anti-Semitism to make their claim that Pollard was treated with disproportionate rigor Bowman notes that it was not a normal espionage case. The conviction was under a special statute (18 US Code 194) that protects information related to “…nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, early warning systems, or other means of defense or retaliation against large scale attack; war plans; communications intelligence or cryptographic information.” In other words, information that would make the United States vulnerable to attack by an enemy or would limit its ability to respond.

http://www.unz.com/article/jonathan-pollard-again/

[okaawhatever]

1. There is so much misinformation about Pollard it's disturbing. First, he approached three different

countries and tried to sell them info, so the whole Israel is our ally thing doesn't fly. Second, I fully believe this claim:

Pollard had provided intelligence to Israel relating to nearly every one of the key national security elements detailed in 18 USA Code 194 and, most particularly, had provided the Radio Signal Notations Manual, which contained details of how the United States collects signals intelligence as well as the known parameters of the systems used by the Soviet Union. The information would enable an adversary to avoid collection by American codebreakers and, if in the hands of a sophisticated adversary like the Soviets, would enable penetration of US systems. Former CIA Director William Casey and others believed that the Israelis provided at least some of the stolen information to the Soviet Union in exchange for the expedited emigration of Russian Jews.

Pollard wasn't a noble individual trying to help Israel or anyone else. He was an extreme narcissist and coke head who was trying to make a buck.

I read this story, but am unfamiliar with the media source. My claims are backed up in the NYT piece.

[Jesus Malverde]

2. bump... nt

[Buns_of_Fire]

3. At least V.P. Biden seems to be against the idea of clemency/commutation...

U.S. President Joe Biden denied he said spy Jonathan Pollard would be released "over his dead body," telling U.S. Jewish leaders on Wednesday, however, that the sentiment expressed in his rejection was his own.

Referring to the convicted Israeli spy, Biden was quoted by the New York Times on Saturday as telling Florida rabbis that U.S. President Obama "was considering clemency, but I told him, ‘Over my dead body are we going to let him out before his time'’

However, U.S. Jewish leaders speaking with Haaretz on Monday said the U.S. vice president claimed that while the general thrust of the statement was correct, his exact phrasing was taken out of context. (bold mine)

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/biden-denies-saying-jonathan-pollard-would-be-released-over-his-dead-body-1.388489

Sy Hersh laid out a lot of it in a piece for "The New Yorker" (January, 1999):

THE results of President Clintons requested review of the Pollard case by officials in the intelligence community and other interested parties were to be presented to the White House by January 11th. A former Justice Department official told me, "Nobody can believe that any President would have the gall to release this kind of spy." But as the report was being prepared the nature of the questions that the White House was referring to the Justice Department convinced some intelligence officials that Clinton was considering a compromise, such as commuting Pollard's life sentence to twenty-five years in prison. The queries about commutation were coming not from Roger Adams, the President's pardon attorney, but from Charles F. C. Ruff, the White House counsel. "Pollard would get half a loaf," one distraught career intelligence official told me. The deal believed to be under consideration would provide for his release, with time off for good behavior, in the summer of 2002. The solution had a certain "political beauty," the official added -- in the eyes of the White House. "Pollard doesn't get out right away, and the issue doesn't cause any trouble. And getting the United States to bend would be a serious victory for Israel."

http://cryptome.org/jya/traitor.htm