White House rejects President Peres’ plea to release Pollard

[Poll_Blind]

Last edited Mon Apr 9, 2012, 09:16 PM - Edit history (2)

Source: AP via Haaretz

The White House rejected the appeal by Israeli president Shimon Peres to grant clemency to Jonathan Pollard on Monday, saying its position hasn’t changed, and that the president has no intention to release Pollard.

President Shimon Peres sent a personal letter to President Obama on Monday, urging Obama to consider granting clemency to Jonathan Pollard, citing the convicted spy's deteriorating health.

--snip--

Pollard, 49, was a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy when, in the mid-1980s, he copied and gave to his Israeli handlers enough classified documents to fill a walk-in closet. He was given a life sentence.

--snip--

A 1998 U.S.-brokered peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians nearly foundered when then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly linked his agreement to the deal with clemency for Pollard.

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/white-house-rejects-president-peres-plea-to-release-pollard-1.423499

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Aside from the publicly-available list of material he turned over to Israel (and attempted to sell to other foreign countries) it is believed there exists much more damaging material which was stolen, the description of which is still classified.

Very few Americans know the complete story. As someone once put it "Those that don't know are the ones who talk about it. Those who do know aren't talking." I find it interesting that whatever he did, the special relationship with Israel stops at freeing Pollard. Whomever else in the American intelligence apparatus might be privy to the most intimate details of the case, one can be certain that every President since Reagan has...and they have all declined.

Update: This old article from the Jewish daily Forward does a pretty good job listing the impact of just what's known about the information:
[div class="excerpt" style="border-left: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-right: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius: 0.3077em 0.3077em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Why Jonathan Pollard is Still in Prison?[div class="excerpt" style="border-left: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-right: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3077em 0.3077em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]One of the largest of copied documents was a special Compendium of intelligence community documents, classified secret, according to a former Navy intelligence source who personally reviewed Pollard's disclosed reports. The special Compendium outlined for the Israelis exactly how much Washington was withholding under a March 1982 Israeli-American intelligence sharing agreement, profoundly restricted after Israel bombed Iraq's Osirek nuclear reactor. The Compendium was in many ways an index to the voluminous coded and numbered documents Pollard's handlers asked him to retrieve. Numerous intelligence reports about Soviet missile systems, delivered by Pollard, exposed the way America analyzed Soviet weapons.

Among the most sensitive materials were reports from the Sixth Fleet's Air Reconnaissance Squadron TWO, codenamed VQ-2, headquartered in Rota, Spain. The forward-deployed squadron's motto is "We deliver critical electronic combat information to our forces: Any place, any time!" In Pollard's day, VQ-2 continuously deployed EA-3B Skywarriors and later the EP-3E ARIES over-the-horizon electronic eavesdropping aircraft across the Mediterranean. VQ-2 provided invaluable intelligence during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the 1982-83 evacuation of Beirut, and America's precision night-time bombing of Libya in April 1986. By providing unredacted VQ-2 dispatches, revealing America's time and place acquisition methods, Pollard enabled Israel to virtually track America's own intelligence capability in the Mediterranean and even over Israel itself. This was crucial in Israel's 1985 bombing of the P.L.O. headquarters in Tunis, codenamed Operation Wooden Leg, which depended upon Israeli F-15s evading both American and Arab listening posts over North Africa.

But all of it together was dwarfed by photocopying for Israel the massive 10-volume RASIN Manual, according to a principal author of the Weinberger Declaration. An acronym for Radio and Signal Intelligence [RASIN], the precious manual is known as "the Bible," according to the intelligence officer. The RASIN Manual details America's global listening profile, frequency by frequency, source by source, geographic slice by geographic slice. RASIN was in effect, a complete roadmap to American signal intelligence. Pollard's handlers required the spy to locate and copy the most up-to-date edition.

When Pollard's attorneys tried to argue at the sentencing that although the spy had delivered volumes of classified papers, "the damage here is not serious damage," Judge Robinson stopped them cold. Raising his arm, and cautioning them not to verbalize the sensitive information, the judge warned, "Well, then I would ask you to just think--and not articulate. ... I would ask you to think about the Secretary of Defense's Affidavit, as it related to only one thing—and I won't even pinpoint it--as it related to only one category of publication." Judge Robinson added, "Would you like to come to the bench, and I will refresh your recollection to what I am referring to." A hushed classified bench discussion followed. Informed sources say Pollard's RASIN Manual disclosure was the crux of that secret courtroom exchange held just moments before the outraged judge finally pronounced a life sentence. Some estimate the loss of the RASIN manual cost America billions of dollars, and many years, to completely restructure our worldwide eavesdropping operation.

PB

[dennis4868]

1. why should he be released from prison

he's a spy and should get a life sentence.

[OmahaBlueDog]

2. It's highly doubtful anything he stole in the mid 80s is of anything but marginal use today

Even if he leaked a-bomb secrets, Israel has multiple nuclear weapons at this point. Israel has the capability to make a variety of chemical and biological weapons without our help. Any counter-terror information he has is long-sense expired. He might know something that would embarrass us -- a failed operation, or some truly idiotic foreign policy move. That said, holding him does little good other than to serve as a warning to others.

We don't shoot spies working for nation states because the unwritten rules of the game are that they can be traded. If we could have gotten concessions in '98 for trading Pollard, we probably should have done so. Today, I'd make Israel this proposition: you recover PFC Bowe Bergdahl for us alive and reasonably well, and we'll release Pollard on the condition that he leaves the US for Israel and never returns. Also let Israel know that the next spy of theirs we catch goes to Gitmo.

JMHO

[TheWraith]

4. Not all nuclear weapons are created equal.

Just because someone has a nuclear bomb doesn't mean that those weapons are the equal of, say, any other weapons. There's fission bombs and fusion bombs, but there's also miniaturized bombs for submarine use--which nobody knows if Israel has or had--hardened bombs, man-portable bombs, etcetera. Not to mention there's the question of information specifically about US nuclear weapons. If someone possessed information about US nuclear weapons, and how to disarm or disable them--or worse, set them off--that would create a very serious security threat.

And in any event, it's not just about Pollard. It's also about making it clear to the next guy like him that there is no "get out of jail free" card waiting for being an agent of Israel. If you're caught spying, you'll be sent to prison for the rest of your life. Anything less is an open invitation for people to start selling out the US government left and right, as long as they give the information to Israel first.

[OmahaBlueDog]

10. We're still talking 40-70 year old technology

At this point in time, Israel has the wherewithal to design a wide assortment nuclear weaponry on their own. Our help is appreciated, but is not necessary.

I'd agree with your point about disarming/disabling our nukes if Pollard had spied for an erstwhile enemy. That was not the case. He worked for a close ally.

Also, not all spies are jailed for life. One has many factors to consider. A) did what the operative sent out seriously endanger national security B) did their information get any of our field operatives captured or killed C) did said captured spy opt to cooperate, give up sources and methods, and/or turn double agent.

I'm not saying to pardon Pollard or to commute his sentence. I'm saying trade him to Israel for something we want or need.

[naaman fletcher]

6. WTF?

Because the stuff he released then is no long a secret he should be let go?

Ive never heard that one before.

[PatrynXX]

8. think Carlin pondered this about limbo

which catholics got rid of. so what happened to the people in limbo or purgatory...

alas normally things like this aren't retro active. X_X


He'll be release long after Peltier.

[tinymontgomery]

7. George Washington hung spy's

George Washington hung a spy to make a point.

http://www2.si.umich.edu/spies/people.html

[OmahaBlueDog]

9. Umm..he hung enemy spies. Israel is ostensibly a close ally

..also, we basically stopped executing spies after the 50's (at least for public consumption). When necessary, we like to trade them, and we certainly like to question them about sources and methods. Were we still in the business of executing spies, we'd have whacked John Walker, Robert Hansen, and Aldrich Ames before Pollard.

[TheWraith]

3. That the description of what was stolen is classified means probably nuclear weapons designs.

It's the only thing I can think of that it would be sensitive to even reveal what it was, both because they were stolen and because they were stolen for Israel. They would have no need for nuclear weapons designs unless they were building nuclear weapons.

[naaman fletcher]

12. apparently

it was info on how our submarines communicate with each other

[AnnieBW]

5. It may be declassified now

But I doubt it. That kind of stuff tends to remain classified for at least 50 years. Besides, whether or not it's declassified now doesn't matter. It was classified then. Pollard hasn't shown remorse. Far from it. He's a fucking HERO in Israel. Our "good friends".

[The Second Stone]

11. Pollard is complete scum and should die in prison, hopefully 40 years from now

The only exception I would make is if Israel comes to terms with Palestine and actually enacts all the terms. Then 1 year later he would be released. But not until all terms are fulfilled in full. Other than that, I hope he gets sent to a supermax prison, the one with Ted Kaczynski.