Posted on 12/27/2013 11:47:49 AM PST by cll
United States Secretary of State John Kerry has offered Israel the release of Jonathan Pollard, Channel 10 News reported on Friday.
According to the report, Kerry’s offer was made as part of the discussions surrounding the upcoming planned release of 26 terrorists from Israeli jails as a “gesture” to Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Kol Yisrael radio, which also reported about Kerry’s offer, said it relates to the fourth stage of the terrorist release and is conditional upon Israel agreeing to release Israeli Arabs who have committed acts of terrorism.
Israeli officials were quoted by both outlets as having said that they believe the idea has not been cleared with President Barack Obama and as such were doubtful that the offer would actually be implemented.
Pollard’s release has been tied in the past week with recent revelations by documents leaked by Edward Snowden that the United States conducted surveillance on Israeli leaders.
(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
Report: Netanyahu to Condition Peace Talks on Pollard Release
The latest reports from Israeli Channel 2 say that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to hold up the peace talks with the Palestinians, conditioning them on the US agreeing to free convicted spy Jonathan Pollard.
The US-born Pollard was convicted of stealing classified material on behalf of Israel, and remains in prison. Israel granted him citizenship several years into his prison term and has since demanded his “return.”
Channel 2’s report said it was unclear at which point Netanyahu was intending to hold up the peace process, and that it could come either in response to Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace framework, or as a condition of following through on already promised releases of detained Palestinians.
White House officials have been quoted in the Israeli press saying President Obama remains opposed to releasing Pollard, though their determination to advance the Israel-Palestinian talks, despite most of Israel’s government being opposed to reaching a deal on general principle, may convince them to give in. That’s Netanyahu’s hope, at least.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/12/23/report-netanyahu-to-condition-peace-talks-on-pollard-release/
As I said, the “government narrative” is usually backed by LIARS, as we’ve amply seen in the past. The people who won’t lie for the government are not asked to make these kinds of statements.
And since it’s clear that they are LYING from those who have been there in the government and are now able to speak out, and they have chosen to speak out to right a wrong, we don’t have to take the word of LIARS IN GOVERNMENT, since we have the testimony of the others who have told us differently.
It’s also amply clear, without any “inside information” that Pollard’s time-served is GROSSLY DISPROPORTIONATE compared to others who have been convicted and jailed, in similar circumstances.
The judgement on my part (and others who speak out) is that some of these people are nothing more than GOVERNMENT-PAID LIARS.
Are we to take it from this then that your response to my question about your specific objections to the statement by Pollard’s former boss at Naval Intelligence, and three others who had held the same position of director of Naval Intelligence, site of Pollard’s crimes, is that they and his former boss are lying about Pollard? I want to be clear that’s what you’re saying, to paraphrase your response: ‘Pollard’s former boss at Naval Intelligence is lying about Pollard’?
When I hear officials that have access to the information contradict others who make reports, and I see that there are facts “on the outside” apart from the inside information that totally contradicts the LYING OFFICIALS ... I have to make a decision as to which group “who knows” IS LYING.
It’s obvious that those carrying forward the government narrative ARE LYING, but there may be an “out” for them on that judgement.
NOW ... inside government, it’s not unknown that information control and LIES can be exercised right inside agencies and directed right at people who are going to be USED as spokesmen, or making a report.
I wouldn’t put it past some officials to DUPE THOSE who may be tasked with a report, by controlling the information.
THEREFORE, to give some individuals the benefit of the doubt, I’ll say it’s possible some could be simply DUPED by the control of information to them - or - they could be outright PAID LIARS.
I can’t tell you whether some were DUPED and who — but it’s clear they are ADVANCING A LYING GOVERNMENT NARRATIVE!!
Israel to U.S.: Stop Spying On Us
http://world.time.com/2013/12/22/israel-to-u-s-stop-spying-on-us/
Israeli officials broke their silence over the U.S. surveillance scandal Sunday, angrily demanding an end to spying on Israel.
The outcry marks the first time Israeli officials have proclaimed their outrage since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed the spying program, the Associated Press reports. Last week more documents uncovered a partnership between the NSA and British intelligence agency GCHQ from 2008 to 2011 to monitor office email addresses from the then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
The spying scandal reignited another longstanding spat between the two strategically allied countries. Israeli officials called for the release of Jonathan Pollard, an ex-American intelligence analyst who has been jailed in the U.S. for almost 30 years for his role as an Israeli spy. Israel vowed to not spy on the U.S. following Pollard’s conviction, and has since made several unsuccessful calls for his release.
It’s a simple yes or no question. Do you think Pollard’s former boss at Naval Intelligence is lying?
The Case for Jonathan Pollard’s Release
http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/12/31/the-case-for-jonathan-pollards-release/
There has never been any question of Pollard’s guilt in spying on his country on behalf of a foreign nation. But the documents released by Edward Snowden, former National Security Agency contractor, reveal that the United States has a long history of doing the same thing: spying on its allies. Moreover, it has just come to light that the United States went even farther in collecting information about Israel. The documents show that American spying involved monitoring the email traffic of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
That revelation has intensified Israeli sentiment favoring Pollard’s release, a view that has existed for decades, and that spans the political spectrum. Similarly, American politicians, from Barney Frank on the left to Dan Quayle on the right, had called for his release even before the Snowden NSA revelations.
In addition to politicians, American foreign policy experts have been lining up over the years in favor of Pollard’s release. Many of the officials in office at the time of the arrest have issued public calls for Pollard’s release, including former secretary of state George Shultz, former national security adviser Robert McFarlane, and William Webster, the only man in history to head both the FBI and the CIA. Former CIA Director James Woolsey has called the prison sentence “excessive” compared with those imposed on others convicted of spying for U.S. allies, including a Greek-American, a Filipino-American, and a Korean-American convicted of spying for South Korea, who received sentences of 4 to 7 years.
Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb, who served under Weinberger, has also publicly called for release, notwithstanding the fact that the life sentence was imposed in reliance on Weinberger’s memorandum. Korb recently called the continued incarceration of Pollard “completely absurd.”
Few Americans view Pollard as a hero. Despite his protestations that he was motivated by devotion to the Jewish State, the fact is that Pollard was paid for his criminal activity, receiving monthly payments ranging from $1,500 to $2,500 over a twelve-month period. Most of those advocating Pollard’s release in this country consider him guilty, and do not favor pardoning him. Instead, they favor commuting his sentence. There’s a big difference.
A pardon presumes and then expunges the defendant’s guilt. The defendant must accept the pardon, and, in so doing, he admits guilt. When Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, he justified his action, in part, by recognizing that Nixon’s acceptance would be tantamount to a public admission of guilt – something Nixon had hitherto refused to do.
Commutation, by contrast, is simply the remission of the power to punish. It ends the imprisonment but it does not expunge guilt, and it does not require the defendant’s acceptance.
Even before the publication of the Snowden NSA documents, there were valid reasons for releasing Pollard.
The government’s half-hearted (at best) adherence to the plea bargain has always been a troubling issue. It is doubtful Pollard’s lawyers would have ever considered that option if they could have foreseen that the result would be life imprisonment, the same maximum penalty available without a plea bargain.
The disproportionality between Pollard’s punishment and those of other spies has also been troubling. As former CIA Director Woolsey noted, the prison sentences for those convicted of spying on the U.S. on behalf of our allies have ranged from 4 to 7 years. Even many of the prison sentences for those convicted of spying on behalf of our enemies have also been more lenient than Pollard’s. Albert Sombolay sold information about U.S. troop movements to Iraq during the first Gulf War. His sentence was 19 years. Clayton Lonetree, a Marine guard at the U.S. embassy in Moscow, sold secrets to the Soviets. He was convicted in 1987, the same year Pollard was. He was sentenced to 30 years, which was later reduced to 15. He was released after serving only nine years.
And even before the publication, there was a least a whiff of hypocrisy in Pollard’s treatment. At about the same time Secretary Weinberger was describing Pollard’s conduct as “treason,” the United States was receiving secret materials on Israeli troop movements in Lebanon and the Territories from Yosef Amit, a major in the Israeli intelligence with a history of psychiatric illness. Amit had been recruited by a CIA officer. He was caught, convicted, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. He served 8 years before he was released. Publicity about the Amit case might have helped Pollard’s appeal of his sentence, but, ironically, the Israelis deprived him of that possible advantage. They censored news of Amit’s trial and imprisonment for security reasons.
But the publication of the Snowden documents has transformed a whiff of hypocrisy into an overwhelming stench. We now know that our government has spied on Israel and many other allies. While the Israelis used Pollard to gather information on military matters which they considered vital to their security, our government has monitored the personal emails not only of Israel’s Olmert and Barak, but of other friendly foreign leaders as well, such as Germany’s Angela Merkel.
The Snowden revelations create a new reason for considering Pollard’s release. Spying today may be more electronic and less human than in the days of Pollard’s crime. But human action is still involved. People must give the orders to monitor email traffic. People must carry out those orders, whether through the voluntary cooperation of internet companies or through the efforts of hackers. If an NSA official, or a cooperative Google, Facebook, or Twitter employee involved in this surveillance, is arrested while traveling in Israel or Germany or France or Spain or Brazil, or some other allied country on whose leaders we have spied, what will our government say? Will it try to minimize the matter by insisting that spying on allies is normal? Will it insist on treating it as a minor matter, to be handled quietly between friends?
Surely, the continued confinement of Jonathan Pollard will undermine our government’s credibility if it makes such assertions. And if that NSA official or Google employee had enlisted the help of a local to carry out the surveillance, are we prepared to accept life imprisonment of that local as a cost of doing business?
Releasing Pollard now is the right thing to do, notwithstanding the reprehensibility of his actions. Release may be a bitter pill for many in the U.S. intelligence community to swallow. As part of a deal with Prime Minister Netanyahu to advance the peace process, President Clinton planned to release Pollard in 1998. That plan was aborted when CIA Director George Tenet threatened to resign in protest.
But the Israelis themselves have swallowed even more bitter pills at the behest of an American President. To advance the current peace process, they acceded to President Obama’s request to release a number of Palestinian prisoners. Last October, Israel released 26, most of whom had been involved in murdering Israeli citizens. Three of the prisoners had murdered senior citizens with axes. None of those released had served as long as Pollard has.
Israel survived the release of murderers. The United States will survive the release of Jonathan Pollard.
I think I just told you, in the previous post — I can’t tell if it’s LYING or being DUPED ... but the “result” is the same ... he’s advanced a LYING NARRATIVE from the Government.
Peres: I will devote rest of term to Pollard’s release
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4470794,00.html
In response to letter signed by 106 MKs, calling for Pollard’s release, Peres promises to pass letter onto Obama, claims he will dedicate remaining months in office to secure Pollard’s release.
President Shimon Peres has decided to dedicate the remaining few months of presidency to one goal: The release of the Israeli-American spy Jonathan Pollard.
Peres, who is expected to leave the presidential office this coming July, committed Thursday to increase the pressure on US President Barak Obama, in order to convince him to release the spy who has been imprisoned for close to 29 years.
In closed conversations Peres said that just as in Israel it is customary to commute sentences, it is not unreasonable that Pollard, even if he committed a serious offense, should be granted clemency.
The president also responded to a request from the Knesset, agreeing to relay to Obama a letter signed by 106 MKs – with the request to free Pollard.
In the letter, the MKs noted that senior American officials who served in previous US administrations (and have first hand knowledge of the case) have expressed their support for Pollard’s release.
The letter states: “Pollard committed serious crimes, which he and the State of Israel have apologized for. (…) Along with this, the great amount of time that has passed since then, today compels the release of Pollard. This gesture is necessary for Israeli-US relations at this time. “
Meanwhile, MKs Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi) and Nachman Shai (Labor),who head the Knesset Lobby for the Release of Pollard, met yesterday with the US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and presented to him the letter signed by the MKs.
OK, so your answer is ‘yes’, then, but then you’re adding that Pollard’s former boss at Naval Intelligence might have been duped into believing it. Is that right?
I can’t tell if he’s a LYING GOVERNMENT AGENT - or - if he is a DUPE. Take your pick, because it doesn’t make any difference to me — since the ‘result’ is the same, which is the advancement of a LYING GOVERNMENT NARRATIVE.
Jonathan Pollard — The ‘Spy’ Still Out in the Cold
By Cal Thomas
With all the spying the United States has been doing on foreign leaders, possibly including the pope, why is Jonathan Pollard, a former American civilian intelligence analyst, still in prison nearly three decades after being sentenced to life in prison for taking classified documents he believed contained information important to Israel’s self-defense?
Prominent individuals support Pollard’s release. They include former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, George P. Schultz, former CIA director James Woolsey (who initially was against Pollard’s release), former Representative Robert Wexler (D-FL), and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, among others.
Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Lawrence J. Korb notes that Pollard has been in prison “three times longer than anybody who’s ever provided classified information to a friendly country or a neutral country.”
In a letter to President Obama, Wexler says Pollard is “the only American citizen convicted of such a crime to be sentenced to more than 14 years in prison. Currently, the punishment for such a crime is set at a maximum of 10 years.”
Pollard supporters are circulating a classified memo written by then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, which they say instructs the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to “spy” on Israel. The document was released by WikiLeaks and published in the Guardian in 2010 and is included in the book, “The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan,” by Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman. If the same standard were applied to Rice as has been applied to Pollard, Rice might be in an Israeli prison.
In the June 1997 issue of Middle East Quarterly, David Zwiebel, general counsel of Agudath Israel of America, a national Orthodox Jewish organization, got to the heart of the issue: “First, Pollard did not stand trial for his crime. Rather, he received his life sentence after entering into a plea-bargain agreement in which the government promised not to seek a life sentence. Entering into that agreement, Pollard relinquished his right to a trial, cooperated with government investigators, pleaded guilty — all, presumably, with the expectation that some leniency would be shown in his sentence. The expectation was reasonable, but it proved illusory.
“Secondly, Pollard was sentenced to life in prison despite the fact that he was never accused of delivering classified information to an enemy of the United States. Rather, he was accused of delivering such information to Israel, a close and staunch American ally. There may be no other case of a life sentence imposed for spying on behalf of a strategic ally.”
The gist of the material Pollard gave to Israel was related to intelligence the United States possessed about Israel’s numerous enemies and their intentions. The government’s rationale for going after Pollard in such a heavy-handed way appears to have been its desire not to “upset” America’s Arab allies. There seems to have been less concern about “upsetting” Israel, which is under constant threat of annihilation.
Numerous leaks about the U.S. government’s spying, not only on foreign leaders, but on its own citizens, along with promises made to Pollard his supporters say were broken, should raise serious questions about the legitimacy of Pollard’s life sentence and the motivation behind it. Several administrations have declined requests for clemency, even in light of Pollard’s failing health and desire to live in Israel.
Israel has released murderers from its prisons after U.S. pressure in pursuit of an unobtainable peace with Palestinians, whose antipathy toward Israel never changes. The U.S. government appears to be covering something up beyond secrets that are unlikely to have much value today. President Obama should consider commuting Pollard’s sentence, not necessarily as a favor to Israel, but to make good on a promise. It also would seem the right thing to do.
Back during the last Presidential campaign, some might have missed this from one of the candidates ...
Cain Would Consider Pollard Release
Presidential hopeful Herman Cain has said he would consider releasing convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard “for humanitarian reasons.”
“Based upon what I know about Jonathan Pollard and that situation, that he should be given consideration for humanitarian reasons at this point, but I’m not one to shoot from the lip,” Cain said during an interview with The Jewish Star newspaper. “But my sentiment would be toward his release but I’m not going to guarantee that until I had the appropriate opportunity to review the situation.”
Pressing the point, reporter David F. Nesenoff responded, “It’s an American issue. No black, white, Hispanic or any person should be in prison a day or a minute longer than they are supposed to be.”
“I know that a lot of distinguished Americans and a lot of distinguished diplomats have expressed their view that he should be released,” Cain replied. “I’m the type of decision maker, that whereas I respect all those who have taken that position, I want to review all the facts for myself consider that, then make a definitive decision.
http://www.therightperspective.org/2011/06/12/cain-would-consider-pollard-release/
He might be running for President, again ...
Huckabee: Obama Should Announce Pollard Release During Israeli Visit
Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate, said yesterday that President Barack Obama should declare the release of Jonathan Pollard during his upcoming visit to Israel.
Huckabee, who was leading a group of 200 Christian evangelicals in Israel, told the press that releasing Pollard and announcing it in Israel “would be cathartic moment in the relationship between Israel and the United States,” and indicate an “extraordinary sense of goodwill” on the part of the US.
“I don’t think there is a price to be paid politically for the president in the United States for that, but there would be enormous benefit in terms of relationship with Israelis for him to make that announcement just prior to his coming, or even while he is here,” he remarked.
http://matzav.com/huckabee-obama-should-announce-pollard-release-during-israeli-visit
Alright, so then we’ve established that you think Pollard’s boss at Naval Intelligence, site of Pollard’s admitted crimes, is lying. And you’re saying you won’t definitely ascribe culpability to Pollard’s boss at Naval Intelligence, but that you think he is definitely lying, for whatever reason, and that Pollard and his supporters are more reliable.
Now, I posted this statement by them before to you, but you chose not to respond to it. What here is a lie? All of it, or just part of it?
Here’s the statement Pollard’s former boss released along with three other men who had held the same position as director of Naval Intelligence:
” We... feel obligated to go on record with the facts regarding Pollard in order to dispel the myths that have arisen from this clever public relations campaign... aimed at transforming Pollard from greedy, arrogant betrayer of the American national trust into Pollard, committed Israeli patriot.”
” Pollard pleaded guilty and therefore never was publicly tried. Thus, the American people never came to know that he offered classified information to three other countries before working for the Israelis and that he offered his services to a fourth country while he was spying for Israel. They also never came to understand that he was being highly paid for his services....”
Do you believe they are lying when they say Pollard pled guilty to offering classified information to other countries than Israel, or that he sought money for this information from those countries, and from Israel?
” Pollard and his apologists argue he turned over to the Israelis information they were being denied that was critical to their security. The fact is, however, Pollard had no way of knowing what the Israeli government was already receiving by way of official intelligence exchange agreements.... Some of the data he compromised had nothing to do with Israeli security or even with the Middle East. He betrayed worldwide intelligence data, including sources and methods developed at significant cost to the U.S. taxpayer. As a result of his perfidy, some of those sources are lost forever”
Are you saying these men are lying and that, contrary to the above statement, the information he sold was strictly limited to Israeli security and the Middle East?
” ... Another claim Pollard made is that the U.S. government reneged on its bargain not to seek the life sentence. What is not heard is that Pollard’s part of the bargain was to cooperate fully in an assessment of the damage he had done and to refrain from talking to the press prior to the completion of his sentencing. He blatantly and contemptuously failed to live up to either part of the plea agreement.... It was this coupled with the magnitude and consequences of his criminal actions that resulted in the judge imposing a life sentence.... The appellate court subsequently upheld the life sentence.”
Are you saying these men are lying about Pollard’s violation of his plea agreement?
” If, as Pollard and his supporters claim, he has “suffered enough” for his crimes, he is free to apply for parole as the American judicial system provides. In his arrogance, he has refused to do so, but insists on being granted clemency or a pardon.”
Are you saying these men are lying about Pollard being free to apply for parole?
Please point out the specific lies in their joint statement.
Your post is a great argument for why Russian spy Pollard should not be released.
His information went to Russia during the height of the cold war to try to kill Americans.
You are crazy. Pollard was a citizen of the United States. Is Israel a citizen of the United States? He’s a traitor who tried to destroy his homeland.
When Woolsey was the head of the CIA he protected Aldrich Ames, one of the worst spies in U.S. history. He BRAGGED that he would not fire anyone for it, when he couldn't protect Ames any longer. He also protected Robert Hanssen, who was not arrested until he left office.
Ames and Hanssen cost American agents lives.
In his career, Woolsey did not think ANY spy against the U.S. did ANYTHING wrong. Why should we listen to anything that traitor says.
Can you explain to me why I shouldn’t think any U.S. citizen who supports James Woolsey isn’t a sicko? Woolsey did more to damage this country than bin Laden. Do you want to post what bin Laden thinks of Pollard?
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