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To: Cachelot
this one spy, who was relatively harmless

You can't be a little bit pregnant, and you can't be a little bit traitorous. There is no question of degree. Had Pollard not been discovered, it is likely he would have been given access to other classified information later in his career. Are you naive enough to believe that he would not have provided it to the Israelis? The psychological basis of an agent relationship is the ability to the agent to rationalize his actions, and if he were unable to do so, then his handlers would have no doubt helped. I'm not surprised to hear Pollard still spouting his rationalizations - but I'm appalled by the willingness of so many others, like you, to trumpet the same line of bravo sierra.

Let me make it simple for you: Pollard took an oath to his country - this country and on the basis of that oath, was given access to classified information, in order to do his job as a low-level analyst. Without authorization, and contrary to all the conditions placed upon his access to that classified information, he stole that information and shared it with a foreign power. Whether or not information is shared elsewhere on an official basis with that government is completely irrelevant - Those decisions are made and reviewed at a level well above Pollard's pay grade. Pollard was, and is, a traitor - plain and simple.

Many of us did in fact call for the execution of Walker, Hannsen, and (especially) Ames. I find your implication that hostility to Pollard is anti-semitic ("one set of rules for one country") to be extremely offensive. I am sympathetic to the Israeli cause - but that sympathy ends when they conduct hostile espionage operations against the nation which has been their most stalwart supporter - especially since, absent U.S. support, Israel would probably no longer exist as a nation.

Yes, we do collect intelligence in many countries - But we do not receive hundreds of billions of dollars in annual aid from any of them. By conducting hostile operations against us, including both intelligence operations and semi-clandestine efforts to influence U.S. policy, they demonstrate an astounding lack of gratitude for all that we have done for them.

Neither do I hear any kind of recognition that US spies in other countries (they are wherever the US has interests, you know) actually should be rounded up and shot.

Uh, yeah - I did know that. I'm not sure what your point is, however. Are you implying that foreign agents, providing information to U.S. intelligence organizations, would not be executed if they were discovered by their own governments? That's pretty naive. Why should we not demand the same for those who betray this country?

42 posted on 05/27/2003 7:47:48 AM PDT by LouD
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To: LouD
Are you implying that foreign agents, providing information to U.S. intelligence organizations, would not be executed if they were discovered by their own governments?

My impression is that spies (from all over) are actually discovered from time to time, in all kinds of places. My impression is also that it's relatively uncommon that they're shot (or even imprisoned forever), at least in friendly countries - I imagine matters would be different in places such as North Korea or China or Iran. But most western countries, if you do a simple count, do not even have the death penalty, including for espionage.

48 posted on 05/27/2003 8:20:44 AM PDT by Cachelot (~ In waters near you ~)
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