[Redbob]

I'm all for a review of his sentence:

Could we execute him?
Are volunteers needed for a firing squad?

[Criminal Number 18F]

Boy, is this story full of spin. It's dead wrong on one fact and missing a few others:

• Pollard was paid from the get-go. He did it for the money.
• Israel was Pollard's third choice. He previously approached the Russians, who took the teaser of information he offered but decided he was under American control so did not offer him anything, and the Chinese, who were not prepared to pay him.
• Pollard was indeed offered a plea bargain, contingent on cooperation. He then was caught trying to mislead the damage-assessment team and was adjudged non-cooperative.
• Material that he gave to the Israelis wound up, either through Russian penetration of the Israeli services or [more likely] Israeli remarketing of the information, in Soviet/Russian hands where it posed a mortal threat to American lives.

In the final analysis, the man is a traitor and ought to have been executed. The Israelis are trying hard to ransom him or spring him with all these lawyers, as a means to encourage their other agents in the US military and intelligence agencies.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[RKV]

This is exactly the problem with life sentences (as opposed to executions). The convict has time to attempt to worm out of punishment. If they have a bankroll they can tie up the courts, and shop for a judge.

[Poohbah]

As a FReeper who supports Israel, I'm perfectly content to leave Pollard rot in prison.

[Criminal Number 18F]

According to this Jack Anderson column, Pollard gave up a half-million pages of secrets, including:

• The 10-volume "jewel" of the NSA, its compendium "bible" of frequencies used by foreign military and intelligence services;

• American encryption codes and manuals;

• Spy satellite photos;

• Descriptions of covert intelligence programs;

• Soviet weapons designs;

• Targeting data and location of Soviet military facilities and missiles;

• Identities of undercover Mideast agents, possibly causing deaths;

• Technical assessments of radar and other military electronic equipment used by Israel's Arab neighbors.

Note that a number of those bits of information are of no practical use to Israel, but were priceless to the Soviet Union.

This selfless servant of world Jewry was paid thousands of dollars for each haul, cash on the barrelhead.

Anderson also repeats the allegation that the Israelis (specifically PM and former Stern Gang terrorist Yitzhak Shamir) remarketed some of this data to the Soviets, in return for concessions on Jewish emigration (needed to shore up Israel's weak demographics vis-a-vis the Palis).

If the Israelis want him that badly, they should be prepared to offer us something of equivalent value from their Russian pals' toybox. And thet should be prepared to receive him in pieces.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[Benjo]

As I understand it, one of the reasons we have never released Pollard is that he never showed remorse (or in any case he never showed enough of it to tell us the names of the other people inside the intelligence community who were telling him what files to steal).

I also wish Israel would quit trying to get the man released to that country. Pollard is an American citizen. It's this country he betrayed. Israel has no claim on him.