Spy for Israel going back to court

[Poll_Blind]

From CNN.

Spy for Israel going back to court

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Jonathan Pollard has spent nearly 18 years in prison, 16 of them as part of a life sentence for spying against the United States on behalf of a U.S. ally -- Israel.

--snip--

Israel initially said Pollard was a rogue spy, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later acknowledged that he was an Israeli agent, and in 1995 granted him citizenship.

--snip--

Many observers say the judge was probably influenced by a 46-page memorandum from Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger.

In it, Weinberger wrote that Pollard's crime was so great that it was difficult to conceive of greater damage to national security.

--snip--

PB

[Devils Advocate NZ]

1. Ha ha!

Pollard claims he is an Israeli patriot...

For his part, Pollard contends that he was an Israeli patriot, spying not against the United States, but for Israel.

Too bad Israel didn't think so at the time:

Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the Navy, was arrested by FBI agents in November 1985 after he and his wife were rebuffed at the Israeli Embassy in Washington in their attempt to seek asylum.

Gotta love this:

Pollard's motive was money, pure and simple, officials say. There is evidence that Pollard also approached Pakistan, South Africa and others offering classified materials for sale, they say.

"There has never been anywhere in the court documents, or anywhere else, the allegation that he spied for anyone else, but this is what Jonathan Pollard is up against," said Weiner, who represents Queens and Brooklyn.

"He's sitting in a ... maximum security cell, while members of the intelligence community, some of which are only tangentially connected to this, are essentially free to say what they want."

Perhaps, Mr Weiner, that is because Pollard is a self-confessed and convicted traitor? You know, the kind of people that get other people killed?

Notice that Pollard claims he isn't a traitor because he was spying for Israel, not against the US - but he wasn't even an Israeli citizen until a decade after he was convicted, when the nation he supposedly was so patriotic to finally decided to admit that he was their agent and granted him citizenship! A little late don't you think?

[Kbowe]

2. People died becaue of him....

If the Bush administration lets him go...it will really incite anti-Israeli sentiments in this country. Remember...even Clinton wouldn't pardon him.

[kamtsa]

4. What people ? n/t

[StandWatie]

9. CIA East Bloc agents...

[Scurrilous]

3. Esther Pollard doesn't seem too optimistic.

http://www.compuquick-consulting.com/jp/2003/081303.htm

New Court Date Will Not Free Pollard.

IMRA Interviewed Esther Pollard, wife of Jonathan Pollard, in English on 13 August 2003.
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)


<snip>

IMRA: Jonathan Pollard has a new court date, September 2, 2003. You must be very excited about it.

Esther Pollard: (silence)


IMRA: But tell me, Esther, it has to mean something that Jonathan will finally get to testify. Jonathan will finally get to tell his own story.

Esther Pollard: No, Aaron, Jonathan will not get to speak at all. He will not testify, nor will anyone else.

IMRA: Isn't this the evidentiary hearing that Jonathan has waited so long for?

Esther Pollard: No. It is not an evidentiary hearing.

IMRA: So it's an appeal?

Esther Pollard: No it is not an appeal either.

IMRA: Well then, what is it? A retrial?

Esther Pollard: Unfortunately the September 2 court date is not the evidentiary hearing we were hoping for; nor is it an appeal, and it is certainly not a retrial. It is simply another round of oral arguments.

<snip>

IMRA: So again, this new hearing just gives the appearance of progress, without actually moving Jonathan's case forward one iota. That a real decision can be stalled again for - who knows - maybe even a few more years?

Esther Pollard: True. Remember - and I know that this is hard for most people to understand - but all that this is, is a date for oral arguments. It is NOT an appeal, and it is not a trial. It is just more discussion about the cases that have ALREADY been "fully briefed".

<snip>

IMRA: Is there any chance that this hearing could set Jonathan free?

Esther Pollard: No. It is not a trial. Not even a hearing. Just more talk.

IMRA: Esther what is the best you and Jonathan can hope for out of all of this?

Esther Pollard: A miracle!

[atreides1]

5. Pollard is a Traitor

He sold out the US, and it appears that Israel wasn't the first to be offered information on US intelligence.

I would have preferred that he be shot, but I can live with him spending the rest of his life in prison. As for his wife, I admire her
for her loyalty to her husband. It's just too bad that Pollard wasn't
as loyal to his country as she is to him.

[TolstoyAndy]

7. Israel is our enemy

and that's why Pollard is a traitor.

[StandWatie]

8. They aren't our enemy..

but our interests and theirs don't always match up. No one really knows what he did exactly but the rumor mill has always said that Israel traded our launch plans for ICBM's to the Soviets in return for immigration of Soviet Jews.

[atreides1]

12. Here Is what I was able to find Out

According to a story in the Toronto Sun, dated 01-14-99."Pollard gave to Israel top-secret US military intelligence and diplomatic codes; names of nearly 100 US agents in the Mideast who were then "turned" by
Israel; NSA code breaking techniques and targets; intercepts of foreign communications; and US war-fighting plans for the Mideast.

According to the CIA, Pollard provided Israeli intelligence with names of important American agents inside the former Soviet Union and
Russia, who had supplied information on East Bloc weapons and war plans.

Some of the enormously sensitive secrets stolen by Pollard, may have been either sold, or bartered, by Israel to the Soviet Union. A number
of key CIA agents in the East Bloc were alledgedly executed as a result of Pollard's spying. The KGB likely gained access to top-secret
US codes-either directly from Israel, or through spies in Israel's government. In short, Pollard's treachery caused one of the worst security disasters in modern US history.

FBI investigators discovered Pollard was being directed to steal specific secret data by a senior administration official, known as "Mr X." But the White House, unwilling to stir up a domestic political storm, quashed the investigation."

Now you have an idea of what he did.

Let us not forget that this treason took place during the Reagan/Bush
administration.

Bonus question: Which senior administration official do you think might have been the one pulling Pollard's string.

[StandWatie]

13. ummm..

My guess would be Richard Perle :shrug:

[atreides1]

16. Not A Bad Guess

According to his Bio he was the Assistant SecDef for international security policy, 1981-1987

He also researches defense, intelligence, national security, Europe, the Middle East, and the Russian region.

But an assistant would not be a senior member of an administration.

Anyone else.

[Kbowe]

15. If you are not with us or for us....you are against us.

So said your President! And Israel is not for us!

[Wwagsthedog]

10. How can israel be our enemy?

They tell the PNAC what they want and the PNAC tells numbskull what to do. Yes, pollard is a traitor. Leave him in the slammer for life and a day.

[StandWatie]

6. trade him for Vanunu

of course Pollard was a drug addled, paid off, traitor and Vanunu acted in the interest of mankind but for the greater good it would be fair..

To Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Justice Minister Meir Shetrit
and Public Security Minister Uzi Landau:

We, the undersigned, demand that nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu be granted immediate and unconditional release from prison. He is now serving his 17th year behind bars and has suffered enough. He has no more secrets to reveal and should have long ago been freed for his act of conscience. If an Iraqi nuclear technician in the last decade had come forward to reveal previously unknown information about a secret Iraqi nuclear arsenal, that person would be hailed as a courageous hero. We believe that Mordechai Vanunu's act was courageous and heroic.

Please do the right thing and free him now.

http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/freemordechaivanunu/

sign the petition

[Patriot_Spear]

11. Like Colin Powell Said...

"The end of the roadmap is a cliff."

We need to drop Israel like a hot potato and force them to deal with the reality of this mess.

Want peace in the mid-east? Quit backing Israel.

[Kbowe]

14. If most Americans were not afraid of being called "anti-Semites" they

would be up in arms about this!