THE JERUSALEM POST May. 21, 2007
The US ambassador to Israel on Monday said it is unlikely that convicted Pentagon spy Jonathan Pollard will ever be released, saying the fact that he has not been executed should be seen as an act of clemency by Washington.
Responding to audience questions during an academic conference, Ambassador Richard Jones said Pollard’s crimes appear especially heinous to many Americans because he was caught spying for a friendly power.
“It came out in the trial very clearly, Jonathan Pollard took money for what he did, he sold out his country,” Jones said in comments at Bar Ilan University, near Tel Aviv. “The fact that he wasn’t executed is the mercy that Jonathan Pollard will receive.”
I busted Pollard, by Ronald Olive
Don’t be fooled by Ronald Olive
Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the US Navy, sold military secrets to Israel while working at the Pentagon. He was arrested in 1985 and pleaded guilty at his trial. He is serving a life sentence in a US federal prison.
“This is a very emotional issue in the United States,” Jones said. “I know he was helping a friend, but that’s what makes it even more emotional for Americans – if a friend would cooperate in aiding and abetting someone who is committing treason against his own country.”
Michael,
You miss the point.
No one disputes that Pollard committed a crime of passing U.S. secrets to Israel, that he was rightly charged and convicted and that he was rightly sentenced to prison.
This crime however was not a charge of treason, but of passing intelligence to an ally and friend of the U.S.
No secrets passed to Israel brought harm to America except to the extent that those secrets passed to Israel revealed America’s duplicitous foreign policy as regards Israel. America obviously believed such duplicity as regards her friend and ally, Israel was in her interests to keep secret in order to facilitate advancing American interests in the Middle East. That knowledge did not in any other way harm Americans or American interests, but that intelligence however, helped Israel protect itself and keep it from suffering even greater harm.
Pollard has been in prison for over 20 years. Others, Americans and foreign immigrants or dignitaries who were caught by American authorities spying and passing on the intelligence they secretly stole to nations that did use that information to harm America, have often spent much less time in jail. I don’t recall specifics, but do recall reading time and again over the years of America letting those who committed treason against America or other similar crimes against America out early as part of a new rapproachment reached with some foreign nation or in a spy prisoner exchange.
Pollard’s crime was to warn and protect Israel from the consequences of American secret double dealings against Israeli interests. With that in mind, on a scale of just how heinous Pollard’s crime was stacked up against others’ treasonous crimes, it would have been as many submit, less and not more hienous as Ambassador Jones made out.
Pollard got caught; that was his crime.
What do you think Iraqis would do if they caught someone selling their secrets to America?
Ambassadors rarely if ever while in active service to the government say anything without it being approved by the administration.
Taking Ambassador Jones at his and the Bush administration’s word, one must congratulate the Ambassador and the Bush administration for their candour and honesty and indeed thank them for that.
It is a matter of course of calling the pot calling the kettle black. It is actually more egregious then that, for America has been spying on Israel and in past has even communicated information gathered to Israel’s enemies.
Pollard was convicted during Ronald Regan’s Presidency in 1986 and sentenced to life. Pollard’s continued imprisonment is because of the mindset of Regan, Bush Sr., Clinton and now Bush Jr.
For Ambassador Jones to say that
goes beyond the realm of hyperbole into the disgustingly vile realm of bullshit. Pollard did not harm America. What he did do is aid Israel in being able to circumvent the damage America was trying to do to Israel behind Israel’s back.
Ambassador Jones describes Israel as a friendly power. That conjures up the expression with friends like America, Israel does not need enemies.
Finally, Ambassador Jones, speaking on behalf of the American government said
In the context of the whole of Ambassador Jones’ outrageously exaggerated words about Pollard having committed a most heinous crime against the U.S. and that Jews and Israel should be satisfied with the mercy shown Pollard by the American government by not executing him, the Ambassador was delivering an insult to Jews and Israel, laced with a heavy sprinkling of chuptzpah.
Jones ought to have been unceremoniously booted out of Israel to carry back a message to the American government and Bush Jr. in particular that Israel will not hesitate hereafter to round up every Amnerican spy and throw them in a darkest Israeli hole for the rest of their natural lives for their most heinous crimes committed against Israel which is of course America’s most friendly power.
That won’t happen of course, but that is exactly what should happen for America deserves nothing less than to receive a statement of fact Israel that Israelis will not stand for being spied on, hurt and even insulted by their very good friend America.
It appears obvious that Pollard’s unforgivable crime was to reveal to the Israelis the true nature of ths US “friendship” towards Israel. I think later historical events and the few glimpses of insight that are available into the machinations at “Foggy Bottom” confirm this view.
Olive – like most people in such high positions – assumes that the rest of the world is, well, in a word, “stupid.”
“He [Pollard] sold out his country.”
Now let me see… Did he actively fight against his country as that young Californian (can’t remember his name) did? Did he fund raise for Hamas (who get great pleasure out of killing Americans)? Did he plan to fly airplanes into tall buildings in the US? What then?
I’m trying to build a little list of what it is that traitors do to “sell out” their countries.
Perhaps someone could question Olive about exactly what he means by this statement. Perhaps someone should question Olive as to how a person can be a traitor when he’s working on behalf of a staunch ally. I wonder what would have happened during WWII if the US had caught a UK spy trying to grab US secrets for use by the UK allies… Or would the result have been the same as capturing a German spy doing his stuff? Execution.
I’m beginning to adopt a “Felix” [Quigley] attitude to the US. I’m starting to feel more strongly than ever that the US is substantially responsible for Israel’s unenviable position regarding its implacable Arab enemies; the US has continuously tied Israel’s hands at times when closure was needed. Perhaps its time to suggest that the US ambassador to Israel go home for some much-needed “consultations” with his home base, while Israel prepares to end the current potentially murderous situation the way it ought to be ended… and without any US intrusion.
If Jon Pollard wouldn’t have passed US secrets to Israel regarding the military capabilities of Israels enemies, there’s a good chance that Israel wouldn’t exist today. America obviously didn’t want Israel to know what the enemy was up to, or what armaments America was supplying to them… and we all have to question what America’s motives were for witholding the information from their “friend” Israel!!!!
Let’s face it, if someone was going to kill you, and your friend knows about it and doesn’t tell you, what does that say about the friend in question???