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 ...
Like former CIA Director, James Woolsey said - just pretend he was “a South Korean or Filipino-American or an ally from someplace else, and free him.” ... :-) ...
How did Pollard’s giving classified info to Israel, an ALLY, actually hurt the US? Does anyone know? Or was he more akin to Edward Snowden, who is being punished for embarrassing the Fed.gov?
I have great affinity for Israel, and great contempt for the turncoat Pollard. Thank you.
This is the same guy who became a "global warming" hack a few years ago and began pushing alternative energy as a way to combat climate change. He was considered a credible figure in these matters until the inconvenient facts about his financial backing in the industry came to light.
Pollard didn’t spy for Israel for altruistic reasons. He did it for money and to advance his wife’s business interests. Among other things.
Having said that, he’s already served far more time than others under similar circumstances.
Haven’t played “Let’s Pretend” since the 60’s, but I get the point. Curiously, I am not familiar with the others, Woolsey mentioned, were they Koreans or Filipinos, or were they born in the U.S. ? Just interested, for comparison purposes. Thank you.
Israel has officially affirmed, and in public, that Pollard was working on behalf of Israel and under their orders. “Israel” and “Pollard” are one and the same, in this situation.
Pretty much ALL OF ISRAEL consider Pollard to be a HERO to them and they fully support what he did.
When you refer to Pollard, make sure you refer to ISRAEL, as they are the ones behind what he did.
The original NCIS investigation apparently revealed that the two of them were trying to sell this information to Pakistan and South Africa -- neither of which had anything remotely to do with Israel at the time.
Caspar Weinberger called it the most destructive acts of espionage the U.S. had seen in decades. Do a Google search on "RASIN Manual" to see what Pollard's most egregious acts of treason entailed.
You’ll have to get that from the former CIA Director, James Woolsey, as he’s the one who had the security clearance and knows all the details - behind the scenes and not known to the public - to be able to say that.
I’m sure you could catch him on a radio talk show one of these times.
And, by the way, Woolsey said he was able to examine the FULL RECORD on Pollard (stuff that has never been released to the public or in court) and he said that according to his access to top secret material, that Pollard was not the threat he was made out to be and should have released a long time ago.
LOL. Exactly.
We have a lot of “allies”, but we don’t share everything with all of them. I don’t care if he was passing classified cooking recipes to the Canadians, it’s not okay for an American soldier to pass classified intelligence to a foreign government without our permission.
Do you realize what a mess it would create if every member of the armed forces or intelligence agencies with a security clearance were allowed to decide for themselves what classified information foreign intelligence agencies should know?
Pollard will be released in 11/2015, barring any problems in prison. There’s no reason to cut him any more slack then that.
You asked ... “Who pays Woolsey’s salary now?”
Well ... if one is a CONSPIRACY NUT (of which we have quIte a few on Free Republic) ... then the answer to that is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Mossad ... LOL ...
Once again, I respectfully disagree, while I do appreciate your opinion. Pollard sold American secrets, with which he was entrusted, for a few pieces of silver. If he gave them away for the sake of Israel, or if he became an Israeli citizen, when he did the deeds, I could be a bit more sympathetic, however, in my history book, he is on the same page as General B. Arnold. Thank you.
Woolsey was adamantly opposed to Pollard's release when he was the CIA director in the Clinton administration. He doesn't know anything now that he didn't know then.
Woolsey is clearly a hack whose public statements are based entirely on who he's working for at any given time. He has no credibility in this matter at all.
More insanity from the insane administration
“In 1986, Pollard pled guilty to US Title 18 Section 794. This section of the espionage code is restricted to offences of a particularly serious nature that include disclosures which ‘directly concerned nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, early warning systems, or other means of defense or retaliation against large-scale attack; war plans; communications intelligence or cryptographic information.’
Those convicted of this offense either fetch a life sentence or — as in the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg — death!
The espionage codes make no distinction between spying for allies or enemies, but rather within the nature of the information itself. Pollard estimates that the documents he stole could create a stack 6 feet wide, 6 feet long, and 10 feet high. This amounts to over 800,000 pages of US intelligence information, some designated with the highest classification of secrecy. A portion of those documents contained information that revealed how the U.S. analyzes Soviet weaponry, completely undermining America’s nuclear defense capabilities.
Though Pollard now claims that he was only providing information to the benefit of Israel’s national security, even one of his staunchest supporters — ex-CIA Chief James Woolsey —admits that, ‘the material was broad-ranging and included information that did not relate solely to Israel’s immediate security needs. Part of it, if it had found its way into the hands of a hostile country, would have presented a danger to the U.S. ability to collect intelligence.’
And if that doesn’t convince you that he got what he deserved, consider that other convicted spies — like Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames — are serving their life sentences in maximum lockdown, high security hell holes. Meanwhile, Pollard is living the sweet life in North Carolina at the Butner Correctional Facility, which some inmates have dubbed ‘Camp Fluffy.’”
I have to wonder about a nation that grants citizenship to a person who is serving a life sentence in another country.
Maybe the Obama administration is ready to grant U.S. citizenship to every Palestinian in the West Bank -- and in Israeli prisons -- as part of this deal, eh?
Treason is instinctual for this administration.
I’d pay the postage for multiple boxes, if necessary.
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