A TRAITOR IS A TRAITOR (Another view of the Jonathan Pollard case)

NY Post ^ | 09/04/03 | Ralph Peters

[bedolido]

September 3, 2003 -- JONATHAN Pollard, convicted spy, would like to be set free. His advocates in the United States also want Pollard to go free. And his one-time paymasters in Israel badly want him to go free. Pollard was in court yesterday asking for a reduction in his sentence. But he should have been executed for his crimes. His life sentence was a mercy he didn't deserve. Releasing him from prison while he's still breathing would be terrible for America - and even worse for Israel.

[onyx]

Union-Tribune Editorial
Convicted spy

Pollard violated trust, must serve sentence


September 5, 2003


Jonathan Pollard spied for Israel, supplying it with stacks of top-secret documents when he was a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy. He was convicted 16 years ago and sentenced to life, the maximum sentence he faced and the toughest sentence anyone who has spied for an ally has received. Deservedly so.

Now, Pollard's newest lawyers want the court to decide that he can appeal that sentence, a step they say his trial attorneys neglected to ensure. These attorneys claim that they need to see the documents filed with the court before his sentencing, documents they say may have overstated the actual impact of his crime. They say, too, that federal prosecutors reneged on a deal that would have incarcerated Pollard but not for life.

Such claims have been heard since Pollard went to prison, as has this one: He spied for an ally, which should mitigate his punishment.

Courts have repeatedly rejected similar legal claims, beginning with the judge who lawfully imposed the life sentence – on his own, not at prosecutors' request. At the time, Pollard acknowledged that he himself had broken the terms of the deal with the prosecution by granting interviews to reporters. Since then, he has repeatedly contended that prosecutors broke the deal, which they did not and which given his breach of it, they needn't have.

The assessment of the damage Pollard did to United States security is itself important to U.S. security. Maintaining its secrecy is therefore important as well. Pollard's attorneys' request to peruse that information to find – or just to claim – a weakness in it seems more a ploy to force the government to free Pollard in lieu of facing an order to disclose.

The federal courts will decide those legal issues. But the issue of whether Pollard's betraying the United States for its ally Israel should mitigate his punishment is a non-starter, however hard he and his supporters in the United States and in the Israeli government press it.

For whom he spied is beside the point. That he did spy is the point. He spied for years, and for money. He spied, having had to have known that the information he told and sold could possibly be learned by nations that were not U.S. allies, and that the same information could endanger U.S. sources abroad at that time and in the future.

No American employed to protect the nation's security may take it upon himself to decide when, or for whom, or why a breach of that security is OK.

Israel, which has long sought his release, to the point of jeopardizing a peace agreement, may decide who its heroes are, to whom it owes a debt for assistance, how to reassure its other spies that they won't be left out in the cold.

Israeli officials and American supporters can press to the hilt for his release, if only by trying to wear down America's legal and psychological defenses.

But Jonathan Pollard is as opposite of an American hero as it is possible to be. That's why presidents have refused to pardon him. That's why he remains in federal prison. For life.

[Poohbah]

Pollard's sentence was enhanced because he was an American Jew who spied for Israel. There is a deep and abiding visceral hatred for him that is not present for other spies.

Oh, spare me your whining. I suppose that there wasn't any "deep and visceral hatred" for the Rosenbergs because they were communists spying for a communist nation, right?

Now I understand all of the "Isra-bot" remarks I've gotten for supporting Israel all these years. There are a few folks of questionable loyalty to America on this board. I cordially invite y'all to either emigrate to the land of your true loyalties, or start acting like you're loyal to America.

[af_vet_1981]

Foreign nationals risking their necks for America, true. And they got executed.

They may have been risking their necks for money. In any case from the Russian perspective, they betrayed their country, their oaths, and were executed.

Compared to those brave men, fighting against an objectively evil system, Pollard is a worthless scumbag, and he got off VERY lightly.

Pollard was also fighting against an objectively evil system and he did not get off lightly, nor have we. They attacked our principal city and our capital only two years ago.

[Poohbah]

Concur with that editorial (a rarity for me vis-a-vis the San Diego Union-Buffon).

[cookcounty]

"Suppose a Chinese-American spy argued that he was justified in passing secrets to Beijing because he was concerned about China's security. It's exactly the same thing. "

No, it isn't the "same thing."

Israel is a democracy struggling for survival against enemies who hate democracy, liberty and justice. China is a brutal dictatorship struggling to smother and suppress democracy, liberty and justice. The "same thing?"

That having been said, Pollard did violate his oath and broke the law, he desrved to go to prison, but I don't see him as a death-deserving enemy of freedom. If we're going to start executing spies, he certainly wouldn't be first on the list.

[Poohbah]

Pollard was also fighting against an objectively evil system and he did not get off lightly, nor have we. They attacked our principal city and our capital only two years ago.

Pollard aided and abetted another evil system through his actions. I have seen zero evidence to indicate that he actually did anything useful against terrorists. If he gave such valuable information, why didn't Israel take decisive action on it?

You're not endearing Pollard or Israel to me.

[af_vet_1981]

Oh, spare me your whining. I suppose that there wasn't any "deep and visceral hatred" for the Rosenbergs because they were communists spying for a communist nation, right?

I'm not whining, simply pointing out the truth. The Rosenbergs were also hated even more because they were Jews, in addition to the fact they were communists who betrayed the United States to the USSR.

Now I understand all of the "Isra-bot" remarks I've gotten for supporting Israel all these years. There are a few folks of questionable loyalty to America on this board. I cordially invite y'all to either emigrate to the land of your true loyalties, or start acting like you're loyal to America.

Your comments are inherently flawed, and rather shallow. Do you accurately reflect your level of intellectual and spiritual education and experience ?

[Poohbah]

OK, let's change it slightly.

Suppose a a Chinese-American was spying on behalf of Taiwan, because he's concerned about Taiwan's security. Does he get a pass? Does he still get a pass when the Taiwanese, either through inattention or intent, deliver that information to the ChiComs?

[af_vet_1981]

No, it isn't the "same thing."

It is more similar to someone with emotional ties to Taiwan providing classified information, that is before the Clinton Administration's strategic partnership with China ...

[cookcounty]

"Since it is no longer a tradition in this country for Congress to declare war, doesn't that suffice to say that in real politic terms, the country was at war and Pollard committed treason?

Treason is defined as giving aid and comfort to our enemy.

To which enemy did he give aid and comfort?

He is guilty of espionage, dishonesty and bad judgement. For those crimes he should pay. He is not guilty of treason. If you're going to be loyal to the Constitution, you have to loyal to the Constitution's clear and plain definitions.

[af_vet_1981]

Pollard aided and abetted another evil system through his actions. I have seen zero evidence to indicate that he actually did anything useful against terrorists. If he gave such valuable information, why didn't Israel take decisive action on it?

I don't know exactly what they obtained via Pollard nor how it was used. Both governments and the press are rather sparse and murky on details, which is understandable. I know Israel bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq, as well as PLO HQ in Tunisia. I know they invaded Lebanon and were about to destroy the terrorists there until the terrorists' allies stopped them diplomatically. I imagine they obtained classified intelligence from people like Pollard in various countries to pull off these operations. Of course many rose up to condemn them, as is typical of this world.

You're not endearing Pollard or Israel to me.

Don't blame me for the hatred in your heart.

[Poohbah]

Your comments are inherently flawed, and rather shallow. Do you accurately reflect your level of intellectual and spiritual education and experience ?

As a guy who's gotten "Isra-bot" remarks for saying that the Liberty attack was either the Mother of All F***-Ups or a natural reaction to an NSA operation that was aiding and abetting Egypt, I'm really sick and tired of the whining over Pollard, and the not-thinly-veiled accusations of anti-semitism made to those who don't defend him.

Bottom line: Pollard handed over a ton of stuff that was of no value to Israel against the Arabs, but was of great value to the USSR when that data made a trip from Tel Aviv to Moscow. And he's got a clique on FR that says, "Not that there's anything wrong with that..."

Choose now if you're American or Israeli, and act accordingly.

[Poohbah]

I know Israel bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq, as well as PLO HQ in Tunisia.

Long before or long after Pollard passed any information to them. Same with Lebanon.

Don't blame me for the hatred in your heart.

Yeah, it's an honest hatred of those who betray their oaths for money, and then try to cast themselves as heroes. It's also an honest hatred for their enablers.

Are you an American, or are you an Israeli?

[af_vet_1981]

As a guy who's gotten "Isra-bot" remarks for saying that the Liberty attack was either the Mother of All F***-Ups or a natural reaction to an NSA operation that was aiding and abetting Egypt, I'm really sick and tired of the whining over Pollard, and the not-thinly-veiled accusations of anti-semitism made to those who don't defend him.

I'm not whining, simply pointing out the truth. If it doesn't apply to you, why embrace it ?

Bottom line: Pollard handed over a ton of stuff that was of no value to Israel against the Arabs, but was of great value to the USSR when that data made a trip from Tel Aviv to Moscow. And he's got a clique on FR that says, "Not that there's anything wrong with that..."

A person of integrity would have to admit that neither his prosecutors nor his defense were aware of the level of betrayal via Hanssen, Ames, and others. I'm not one of your clique saying "there's anything wrong with that...". He is guilty of espionage. He could have made other choice to correct any perceived injustices. He should simply be treated equally under the law with others who commit espionage and not singled out because he is Jewish and spied on behalf of Israel.

Choose now if you're American or Israeli, and act accordingly.

Well, since you insist on debate at a juvenile level,
"Fifty points from Slytherin, Mr Malfoy."

[af_vet_1981]

Yeah, it's an honest hatred of those who betray their oaths for money, and then try to cast themselves as heroes.

It doesn't bother you in the least of someone betrays their oaths for money and then you try to cast them as heroes as long as they spied on another country, so it is not the act that bothers you. Don't pretend otherwise.

It's also an honest hatred for their enablers.

No, it is dishonest, ignorant, and unholy.

Are you an American, or are you an Israeli?

Are you heathen or Christian ?

[general_re]

He should simply be treated equally under the law with others who commit espionage and not singled out because he is Jewish and spied on behalf of Israel

Despite repeated assertions to the contrary, nobody has ever provided anything other than rank speculation to support the contention that Jonathan Pollard is in jail because he is either Jewish or because he spied for Israel. The simple fact is that Jonathan Pollard is still in jail because he put himself there, through his blatant attempts to manipulate the sentencing process by bringing public pressure to bear on the court. Granting those interviews to the Jerusalem Post - and even worse, his wife's interview on 60 Minutes - was quite possibly the second-stupidest decision Jonathan Pollard made in his life, the first being the decision to commit espionage in the first place.

Going before the international media and suggesting that not only was what you did was not wrong, it was morally justified, and doing it just before your sentencing is a galactically stupid move, but not one that's unique to Pollard. He is hardly being singled out in this respect - I assure you, defendants who fail to exhibit remorse as they are being sentenced find the book getting thrown at them every day of every week in every courthouse in this country. When Jonathan Pollard chooses to act in the manner he did before his sentencing, neither he nor his supporters have any right to be surprised when the sentence meted out is unusually harsh. When the consequences of his actions were entirely foreseeable, he has no more right to present himself as a victim of circumstance than does someone who pours a can of gasoline over themselves and begins striking matches.

[Poohbah]

For the second time: are you an American, or are you an Israeli?

[onyx]

A rarity for me too! ;-)

[af_vet_1981]

When Jonathan Pollard chooses to act in the manner he did before his sentencing, neither he nor his supporters have any right to be surprised when the sentence meted out is unusually harsh.

Then you agree that the sentence is unusually harsh.

Despite repeated assertions to the contrary, nobody has ever provided anything other than rank speculation to support the contention that Jonathan Pollard is in jail because he is either Jewish or because he spied for Israel.

There were reports that an aide of Caspar Weinberger claimed SoD Weinberger had a visceral hatred for Israel that played a role in his manipulating the sentence. I posited that his being an American Jew who spied for Israel provoked a visceral reaction and hatred and contributed to his unusually harsh sentence.

While I realize that Pollard's case likely exceeded the dimensions of these cases, look at some of the sentences these active duty military received for betraying our country to the USSR.

Recent Air Force Espionage Cases
1. 1991 - JEFFREY M. CARNEY, former intelligence specialist with the Air Force, was sentenced at a general court-martial December, 1991, to 38 years. He pleaded guilty to charges of espionage, conspiracy, and desertion. Carney entered the Air Force in December 1980. From April 1982 to April 1984 he was stationed at Tempelhof Central Airport in Berlin where he was a linguist. While at Tempelhof, he began copying classified documents which he then provided to the East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi). In 1984 he was transferred to Goodfellow AFB in Texas where he worked as an instructor while continuing to spy for East Germany. After defecting to East Germany in 1985 he continued to aid the Communists by intercepting and translating official telephone communications of US military commanders and embassy officials in Berlin. Carney apparently became disillusioned with the Air Force. He originally intended to defect to East Germany, but allowed himself to be drawn into espionage by East German agents who expertly manipulated him and claimed his complete loyalty. He was apprehended in Berlin in April 1991 by Air Force OSI agents. Cincinnati Post, 21 Dec 1991, "US Spy Gets 38 Years" Air Force Times, 6 Jan 1992, "Ex-Intelligence Specialist Guilty of Spying" ***
2. 1989 - RONALD CRAIG WOLF, a former pilot in the Air Force from 1974 to 1981, was arrested 5 May 1989 in Dallas, Texas, for selling classified information to an FBI undercover officer posing as a Soviet agent. During his career in the Air Force, Wolf was trained as a Russian voice-processing specialist and flew intelligence missions on reconnaissance aircraft in the Far East. He held a Top Secret clearance. Discharged from the military in 1981 because of his unsuitability for service "due to financial irresponsibility," he worked as an automobile salesman for a while, but was unemployed at the time of his arrest. The FBI's investigation began in March, 1989, when information was obtained indicating Wolf's desire to sell sensitive information to the Soviet Union. Wolf talked with FBI undercover agent "Sergei Kitin" on a number of occasions thinking he was a representative of the Soviet Union assigned to the Soviet Embassy. During these conversations Wolf talked about his military experience, and his desire to defect and provide Air Force secrets "for monetary gain and to get revenge for his treatment by the United States government." He was directed to mail letters to a post office box in Maryland detailing the type of information he was capable of providing. Wolf passed along classified documents concerning Top Secret signals intelligence. The FBI says they are "confident there was no exchange of information (with foreign agents) in this case." On 28 February 1990 Wolf pleaded guilty in federal court. In return for his guilty plea, the government reduced the severity of the charges from life imprisonment to up to 10 years in prison. In June, Wolf was sentenced to 10 years without parole. Dallas Times Herald, 1 Mar 90, "Ex-Air Force Pilot Pleads Guilty to Espionage" Washington Post, 16 Jun 90, "Ex-Airman Get 10 Years" ***
3. 1989 - FRANK ARNOLD NESBITT - The former Marine and Air Force communications officer was arrested by the FBI on 14 October and charged with delivering unauthorized information to the Soviet government. Nesbitt, a Memphis resident, left behind family and bewildered colleagues in June, appending a terse note to his weed trimmer ("I'm gone. Don't look for me."), and flew to Belize in Central America. Plans to settle there did not work out, so he moved on to Guatemala City where he enrolled in Spanish classes. In August while sightseeing in Sucre, Bolivia, he happened to board a bus full of Russian ballet dancers. He attended the ballet that evening and the next day bumped into a Soviet official traveling with the group. This meeting set in motion his trip to Moscow. From Sucre he went to La Paz where a Soviet Embassy official arranged for his flight to Moscow. Nesbitt claims he stayed 11 days in Moscow in a safe house, wrote from memory 32 pages detailing US defense communications, was polygraphed, toured the city, and met important KGB personnel. However, he grew upset over the Soviets' failure to grant him citizenship and provide him with an apartment and job. Nesbitt returned, in a circuitous route, to Guatemala where he contacted US authorities who then accompanied him to Washington, DC He was met by the FBI and arrested 11 days later. He offered his services as a double agent to the FBI claiming he did not give the Soviets any useful information. The National Security Agency, however, determined that information Nesbitt said he provided is still classified. The former communications officer served in the military between 1963 and 1966, and 1969 to 1979. On 8 November Nesbitt was indicted on a charge of conspiring with a Soviet agent to pass sensitive national defense information to the Soviet Union. Nesbitt initially pleaded innocent to espionage and conspiracy charges. If convicted, he faced a possible life sentence and fines up to $500,000. According to his lawyer, Nesbitt "wanted to have some excitement in his life." A Soviet foreign ministry spokesman has said that Nesbitt was denied Soviet citizenship because a check of the autobiography he gave the Soviet parliament "led to suspicion of his possible connections with the criminal underworld." On 1 February 1990 Nesbitt changed his plea to guilty in order to receive a substantially reduced sentence. On 27 April he was sentenced in US District Court to 10 years in a psychiatric treatment facility at a federal prison. His psychiatric evaluation states that he suffers from severe personality disorders. Washington Post, 15 Oct 1989, "Odyssey of a Suspected Spy; FBI Arrests Man in Va. After Moscow Trip. Washington Post, 17 Oct 1989, "No Bail for Alleged Spy" Washington Post, 20 Oct 1989, "Suspected Spy Sought to Defect, FBI Says" Washington Post, 2 Feb 1990, "Guilty Plea Entered in Secrets Case" Washington Post, 27 Apr 1990, "Ex-Officer Given 10 Years in Mental Hospital for Spying" ***
4. 1986 - BRUCE D. OTT, Airman 1st Class, assigned duties as an administrative clerk at Beale Air Force Base, was arrested 22 January by FBI and Air Force Security agents at a Davis, California, motel as he attempted to sell classified information to undercover agents posing as Soviet representatives. One of the documents cited is "The SAC Tactical Doctrine for SR-71 Crews." At that time, Beale AFB was the home base of SR-71 "blackbird" reconnaissance aircraft. It is reported that Ott tried to contact representatives at the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco during the month of January. His communication was intercepted and no classified information actually changed hands. Military prosecutors contended that Ott hoped to be paid up to $160,000 for his information. Following an eight-day court martial proceeding, Ott was found guilty and on 7 August was sentenced to 25 years in prison. New York Times, 29 Jan 1986, "Airman in California Charged in New Spy Case" New York Times, 1 Feb 1986, "Details are given on Spying Charge" ***
5. 1986 - VLADIMIR M. ISMAYLOV, senior Soviet military attaché, was arrested on 19 June at a remote site in Prince George's County, Maryland, after retrieving Secret documents left by a US Air Force officer who was working undercover with counterespionage agents of the AFOSI and the FBI. Until his expulsion for activities incompatible with his diplomatic role, Col. Ismaylov was the highest ranking air force officer at the Soviet Embassy. Ismaylov, apprehended as he buried a milk carton with $41,100 for the US officer, scuffled briefly with FBI agents. According to an FBI spokesman, the Soviet attaché was after information about the Strategic Defense Initiative research program, and data on the cruise missile, stealth bomber, and a hypersonic passenger jet known as the Trans-Atmospheric Vehicle. The operation was run by the GRU. According to the US officer, the Soviets evaluated the USAF officer for nearly a year before asking him to photograph classified documents. All transactions and communications were to be carried out by the use of dead drops at remote locations. Washington Post, 21 Jun 1986, "Soviet Attaché Arrested, Expelled for Receiving Document" ***
6. 1986 - ALLEN JOHN DAVIES, former Air Force sergeant and, at the time of his arrest, a lab technician at a Silicon Valley defense contractor, was formally charged on 27 October with trying to pass classified information to the agents of the Soviet Union. Davies, a ten-year veteran who was separated from active service for poor job performance in 1984, had held a Secret clearance during his military service and worked as an avionic sensors system technician. According to the FBI, on 22 September Davies met with an FBI undercover agent posing as a Soviet official in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. During the meeting Davies provided detailed verbal information and a hand drawing concerning US reconnaissance technology. At a second meeting in October he provided additional classified information. According to Davies's recorded statement, he was motivated "out of revenge because of the unfair way he was treated while in the Air Force." He is also quoted as saying that he wanted to do something to embarrass the United States and to interfere with the effectiveness of its reconnaissance activities. Asked why he waited two years before providing the information, Davies said he waited "just to make sure they couldn't link me with it if I told anybody, just sort of ... hide my trail." Davies, born in Eastleigh, England in 1953, became a naturalized US citizen at the age of eleven. Since October 1984, he had been employed by Ford Aerospace and Communications Corporation in Palo Alto. Federal officials stated that the former airman did not currently hold a clearance and that no information from the contractor facility was involved in the case. Davies was released on $200,000 bail with the condition that he undergo psychological evaluation. But on 27 May 1987 he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempting to communicate secrets to an unauthorized person.Davies was sentenced on 27 August 1987 to five years in prison. Washington Post, 28 Oct 1986, "FBI Arrests Ex-Airman on Espionage Charges" Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct 1986, "San Jose Man Angry at AF Is Arrested as Would-Be Spy" ***
7. 1985 - EDWARD OWEN BUCHANAN. In early May 1985, an Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) human source provided information that Airman Edward O. Buchanan, in training at Lowry AFB, Colorado, had been phoning the East German Embassy in Washington, DC. He reportedly wanted to know if Embassy officials had received a letter he had sent in April 1985. According to the source, the letter contained an offer by Buchanan to commit espionage for the East German Government. Unsuccessful at making an East German contact, Buchanan then mailed a letter to the Soviet Embassy in Washington, DC, fully identifying himself and stating that he had information of a scientific and technological nature that he wanted to sell to the Russian Government. He indicated he would continue to conduct business with the Soviets if they liked his material. At this point AFOSI agents, posing as Soviet representatives, contacted Buchanan. Believing that he was doing business with Soviet Intelligence officers, the Airman offered to commit espionage and sell classified documents. He then provided documents to the undercover AFOSI/FBI agents which he claimed were classified Secret and was paid $1,000. Buchanan was apprehended immediately. A later examination of the documents disclosed that they were copies of unclassified articles from an electronics magazine. During an interview following his arrest, Buchanan admitted contacting the East German Embassy and the Soviet Embassy for the purpose of committing espionage. Buchanan also admitted that, although he did not have access to classified information at that time (because of his student status), he planned to sell classified information once his clearance had been granted and he was assigned to a base in Germany. At the time he was being processed for a Top Secret - Special Compartmented Information clearance. His stated intention was to establish a business relationship with the Soviets by selling bogus material to "get my foot in the door" and then later sell classified information. He would then "sell as much classified material as he could until he made enough money to live comfortably." Buchanan was court-martialed on 26 August 1985, and sentenced to 30 months confinement, reduction to Airman Basic, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge. ***
8. 1983 - FRANCISCO DE ASSIS MIRA, an Air Force computer specialist stationed in Germany, was charged in April with providing classified defense information to East Germany. Mira, a naturalized American born in Spain, and two West German accomplices sold information on American codes and radar to the East German State Security Service. In August 1982, while assigned to duties at a US air base at Birkenfeld, West Germany, Mira photographed the cover and random pages of code books and maintenance schedules of air defense radar installations. He processed the photos, with the help of his girlfriend, and asked two local minor drug dealers to carry the material to East Germany and attempt to make contact with the KGB. They made several trips between September 1982 and March 1983, each time passing information provided by Mira, and were paid between $1,136 and $1,515 per visit. Realizing he was in over his head and feeling used by his accomplices, Mira sought to extricate himself from a bad situation. In March 1983, Mira went to the AFOSI and related what he had done, not realizing how thorough the investigative process would be. Under questioning, Mira claimed that he wanted to become a double agent and that he "wanted to show the Air Force I could do more with my intelligence." But in subsequent interviews he admitted he had originated the idea to commit espionage to make some money, and enlisted the two West Germans to assist him. He was disgruntled because he had not gotten the assignment he had wanted. In August 1984 Mira was dishonorably discharged and sentenced to 10 years confinement. Under a plea bargain he served only seven years of the sentence. Stars and Stripes, 29 Aug 1984, "Airman is Sentenced for Spy Activities" ***
9. 1981 - CHRISTOPHER M. COOKE, deputy commander of an Air Force Titan missile crew, was arrested on 21 May and charged with passing classified information to the Soviets which seriously compromised US strategic missile capabilities during the 1980-81 time frame. On his own volition, Cooke began to phone and visit the Soviet Embassy in late 1980 with offers to provide classified information. Cooke's motives were never fully established, but it is reported that he was attempting to establish his credentials with the Soviets for the purpose of academic research. It is also known that he sought employment with the CIA on at least two occasions. Believing that Cooke was part of a larger spy ring, Air Force prosecutors offered him immunity from prosecution for a full disclosure. After being given immunity, Cooke admitted to providing classified defense information to the Soviets. The US Court of Military Appeals ordered his release in February 1982 and Cooke resigned his commission. Washington Post Magazine, 4 Dec 1983, "Spy Rings of One"

[af_vet_1981]

For the second time: are you an American, or are you an Israeli?

You have asked the question more than twice. I find it amusing, as it displays more about your character than you fathom. My only answer to you is "are you a Christian or a heathen ?"