Ex-Pentagon analyst jailed for sharing US secrets

[Judi Lynn]

Ex-Pentagon analyst jailed for sharing US secrets
Fri Jan 20, 2006 12:15 PM ET

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - A former Pentagon analyst was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison on Friday for passing U.S. defense information to two pro-Israel lobbyists and for sharing classified information with an Israeli diplomat.

Lawrence Franklin, who previously worked as an analyst in the office of the secretary of defense, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis. Franklin had pleaded guilty in October to sharing the information and also to illegally possessing classified documents.
(snip/...)

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-01-20T171459Z_01_N2034341_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-PENTAGON.xml





Lawrence Franklin, left, leaves a federal courthouse in Alexandria,
Va., in May. Franklin, a Pentagon analyst, pleaded guilty Wednesday
to providing classified information to an Israeli official.

[Poll_Blind]

1. Good. We need to send a message to all who would compromise....

...America's security for a quick buck or because of allegiance to another country over America.

PB

[NoAmericanTaliban]

9. Let the wrist slapping begin....

Oh there's that terrible sound again when Repukes are convicted... Wonder if this will get any real media play? Just checked with CNN web page & not even listed on their main page, but eco-terrorist are up front & center. This will be swept under the rug... I remember when this story first hit the press during the Repuke Convention in NY, but it did not stick. Franklin may have been working in Rumsfield special defense 'intelligence' center that manipulated the Iraq WMD data & connection to Osama. This is part of the GOP culture corruption.

<snip>

In sentencing Franklin, U.S. District T.S. Ellis III said the facts of the case led him to believe that Franklin was motivated primarily by a desire to help the United States, not hurt it.

The 12-year, 7-month sentence was on the low end of federal sentencing guidelines.

Franklin had said at his plea hearing in October that he was motivated by frustration with U.S. policy in the Middle East when he gave classified information to the diplomat and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He said he received far more information from the Israeli diplomat than he ever disclosed.

The two former AIPAC members, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, have also been charged and are scheduled to go to trial in April. Their lawyers have argued that the two were engaged in routine lobbying work and their discussions with Franklin are protected under First Amendment guarantees of free speech....

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20060120/D8F8HVH0C.html?PG=home&SEC=news

[Scurrilous]

28. Judge: Those who receive classified info are liable

http://jta.org/page_view_breaking_story.asp?intid=1005

<snip>

"The judge in the leak case against two former staffers of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee said classified information laws bind civilians, including journalists.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III made the comment after sentencing Lawrence Franklin, a former Pentagon analyst, to over 12 years in prison for communicating classified information. Franklin is expected to testify in the case against former AIPAC staffers Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman when it goes to trial April 25. The two men allegedly relayed classified information to an Israeli diplomat, a journalist and to fellow AIPAC staffers.

Ellis’ comment was the clearest sign yet that the Rosen-Weissman case could have broad First Amendment implications. Rosen and Weissman are believed to be the first individuals ever charged under a World War I-era statute that makes it a crime for civilians to relay classified information.

“It’s an alarming statement,” Steven Aftergood, who runs a government secrecy project at the Federation of American Scientists, said of Ellis’ comment. “It appears to prejudge one of the main issues in dispute in the next stage of this case.”

[Coastie for Truth]

19. Especially Robert Hansen and Aldrich Ames

whose prefidy cost American lives.

[oneighty]

2. Jailed for protecting his homeland

that is just terrible.

Sarcasm

180

[gratuitous]

3. We will not call this an act of terrorism

I don't know why, but burning an SUV is terrorism. Passing national security secrets to a foreign power is not terrorism.

Know your Bush Justice Department.

[tatertop]

4. All three should be hung

Such absolutely criminal hubris
begs for death by hanging.

[951-Riverside]

11. What is it with certain people on DU today?

There is always that one person talking about hanging or shooting someone, whats with the bloodlust?

[Poll_Blind]

12. I'm guilty of a tough stand on treason. I'm funny like that. You...

...probably wouldn't understand. No, you definitely wouldn't understand.

PB

[Coastie for Truth]

21. Puhleeeze

I served four effing years of active duty during VietNam.

[Peace Patriot]

25. The trouble with ALL capital punishment (no reprieve possible) is that

we can never be 100% sure if the person is actually guilty or something or not, nor the level of guilt. If you kill them, you are saying you are God. You know all. Also, what if Franklin is a victim of some kind--a victim of blackmail, or extortion, who fears for his life and can't speak of it, or what if he was set up as a patsy? All possibilities with this junta. You trust judges and the "justice" system in this circumstance? I don't. The conviction could be part of a coverup. And what if he knows more, is taking the fall for others, and has the potential to reveal the higher perps, when he feels out of danger? And you want him killed?

"I'm guilty of a tough stand on treason. I'm funny like that." True justice--and the cause of truth--are not well served by quirky stances on punishment ("I'm funny like that"). I'm sure that there were puritan fathers who felt the same way about witchcraft. Burn 'em! ("I'm funny like that. I just can't abide congress with the Devil".)

[Coastie for Truth]

20. By all three are you including

Robert Hansen and Aldrich Ames?

[displacedtexan]

5. Here's a little refresh-your=BFEE-memory snippet...

Franklin, an Air Force reserve officer who has served two short stints in the US Embassy's defense attache office in Tel Aviv (but was never permanently assigned there), was also an officer of the Defense Intelligence Agency. During the Bush administration, Franklin was promoted to the Pentagon policy division as a specialist on Iran, where U.S. law enforcement officials said he consistently argued for a hard-line stance against the Iranian government. Last fall, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld confirmed that Franklin was one of two Pentagon officials who met in 2001 with Manucher Ghorbanifar, the Middle Eastern arms dealer and onetime intermediary in the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s. Ghorbanifar, who has said he remained in contact with Franklin and the other official until last year, is seeking US support to overthrow Iran's government.

Franklin also was a key link between the Defense Department and Iraqi National Congress Leader Ahmed Chalabi, according to the officials and Chalabi aides.

http://www.answers.com/topic/lawrence-franklin

[Judi Lynn]

7. He's been busy. Thanks for the helpful information. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

26. There is much, much more to this story than meets the eye. Idiots

upthread want him hung for treason. What stupidity!

"...Rumsfeld confirmed that Franklin was one of two Pentagon officials who met in 2001 with Manucher Ghorbanifar, the Middle Eastern arms dealer and onetime intermediary in the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s. Ghorbanifar, who has said he remained in contact with Franklin and the other official until last year, is seeking US support to overthrow Iran's government."

Much, MUCH more. Likely they were cooking up more than forgeries--probably moving WMDs around--to Iraq, for instance--planting them there to be "found" by Judith Miller--a good possibility for what's behind Treasongate, the outing of Plame, and possibly also David Kelly's death in England. And now? When are we going to see "Gulf of Tonkin II"--the manufactured excuse to invade, bomb or nuke Iran? That's what Franklin might know about--the dirtiest of Bush junta dirty tricks.

I not only don't want him hung, I hope to God he is well guarded and remains safe in prison.

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. One more down

I hope they don't torture him in jail :sarcasm:

[UpInArms]

8. from those that brought you war in Iraq - and on to war in Iran

http://bdp.lmi.net/article.cfm?archiveDate=10-28-05&storyID=22627

excerpt:

A major player in all this is Israel, where the Likud and its U.S. supporters have lobbied for a U.S. attack on Iran and Syria. In a speech last May to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Richard Perle, a Likud advisor and former Bush official, said that the United States should attack Iran if it is “on the verge of a nuclear weapon.”

Vice-President Dick Cheney has even suggested that Israel might do the job. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, the United States recently sold Tel Aviv 500 GBU-27 and 28 “bunker buster” guided bombs (although Syria would be a more likely target for such weapons).

Last month senior Pentagon analyst Lawrence Franklin admitted passing classified information on Iran to Israel through two AIPAC employees. Franklin used to work for former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith and has close ties to neo-con Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute, who says, “Tehran is a city just waiting for us.”

If all these names sound familiar it is because they brought us the war in Iraq. Would the U.S. (possibly allied with Britain and Israel) actually attack Iran and/or Syria?

[leveymg]

17. The irony of this is that BushCo continues to play the "bomb Iran" game

even after putting the operatives of the Mossad-OSP Iran WMD plot (similar to the forged Niger yellowcake docs plot) in jail. See, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/6/15/12176/9231

[0007]

10. Twelve and a half years........Hmmmmm Will he get a pardon?

http://www.livejournal.com/userpic/19016223/55823

[tatertop]

13. Of course he will. AIPAC will make a call

[Poll_Blind]

14. Will Israel work for his release, like that scumbag Pollard?

Oh, excuse me....that poor Teddy Bear Pollard. Just look at dat sweet face!



He's a hero to the Likudniks in Israel and to the Likudniks here. America's closest ally in the Middle East has been under the control of conservatives enough to regularly fuck us then, when caught, get all weepy and remorseful.

"Oh Everybody spies on everyone else!"

What bullshit.

PB

[lostexpectation]

15. where's the bombshell

i thought he was the key to the whole Rove to Israel love-in wheres the fallout

[Tight_rope]

16. GOOD...Americans will never trust the Bush Administration again.

Or those who worked under the SOB!

[leveymg]

18. Notice how this has gotten next-to-zero coverage in the MSM? K&R

[Straight Shooter]

22. It's not "sexy" enough to get coverage in the so-called MSM.

Now, if Franklin had his mistress along while he was passing along these secrets, the so-called MSM would be interested. But a genuine threat to national security? Bah! That's hamburger. Missing blondes and blow jobs are raw steak, something the bushie intellect can really sink their teeth into.

[leveymg]

24. If only it were a lack of missing blondes with spotted dresses.

The Judy Miller episode at The NYT and the almost comical response of the The WaPo Ombudsman yesterday merely confirm what a lot of us have known for a long time about the corporate news media. Whoever pays the bills calls the tune.

They're partisan, biased, and highly ideological, but all but the most cynical are blind that they are hired guns, highly-paid guns. Most pathetic are those who still cling to the delusion that mainstream American journalists maintain their independence, objectivity, and professional ethics. The most successful are those who self-censor so thoroughly that no editor or publisher or government official would ever have to do that part of their job for them.

Pride goeth before the fall.

[glitch]

23. not to mention "share US secrets" what a nice euphemism.

:puke:

[hang a left]

27. Sorry didn't mean to dupe you

I see something for the first time and I think that no one else has seen it either. I am a dork.

[sattahipdeep]

29. seemslikeadream seemslikeadream seemslikeadream

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1815937#1824815



:hi: Missing You :hug:

[Boo Boo]

30. That bin Laden tape kept this off the radar, eh? /nt