Convicted spy to be set free

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: Examiner

Convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, 61, is set to be released from federal prison Friday after serving nearly 30-years of a life sentence. Pollard, a US Navy intelligence analyst was arrested November 21,1985 and found guilty of selling secrets to Israel in what became one of the most sensational spy sagas of the late 20th century and served to be a thorn in relations between the 2 countries for 3 decades.

“In terms of the quantity of stuff he gave away and the damage to relations, it certainly was a significant case,” remarked Jeffrey Richelson, a senior fellow at thr Nstional Security Archive at George Washington University.

Pollard’s arrest came as he was trying to seek asylum in Israel. He is the only American citizen to ever be given a life sentence for passing classified information to an ally of the United States. However, he maintained that he committed the espionage only because "the American intelligence establishment collectively endangered Israel’s security by withholding crucial information Israeli officials.

Although, a number of (active and retired) US officials, such as Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, former CIA director George Tenet, multiple former U.S. Secretaries of Defense, and congressisonal leaders on sides of the aisle have long opposed any form of clemency the US Parole Commission has decided to finally free him in hopes of thawing heated relations between the US and Israel over a nuclear deal brokered by the Obama administration with Iran.

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/article/convicted-spy-to-be-set-free

[Scootaloo]

1. Oh for fuck's sake.

[MADem]

2. The Examiner's shade on this article is blatant bias.

Of course that's not a real paper, it's an aggregator and anyone can 'publish' in it, pretty much.

The reason he is being released now is because that's what the sentencing guidelines are. They're pretty much cast in stone, too.

POTUS could interfere WRT clemency issues but he's said, long ago, that he is not touching this with a ten foot pole. Thus, Pollard has got to do his parole and last I heard, he's going to have to do it in NY, not Israel.

[Jesus Malverde]

12. Pro American bias?

always appreciate your comments, MADem.

jking with the gif, sort of

[MADem]

17. That whole "Obama wasn't tough enough, Cheney and Rumsfeld complained" bias.

My point is that the sentencing guidelines were in place when Obama was doing neighborhood outreach. They're hard-and-fast. The Republicans are posturing and playing a "We're tougher on national security" card.

[Jesus Malverde]

19. Could be...

But indeed 10 minutes of congressional investigations by Democrats in congress could have laid waste to the "bush" brand. Instead they are coddled and encouraged.



Its almost like we can't do without.

[MADem]

20. There aren't that many ex-presidents.

It's a club, and though many of the members might not agree with one another, it's like being the members of a small high school class--it's a transformative, unique experience that can only be shared with those who have done it, and that transcends party, to some extent.

Obama is a classy guy, of course he'll graciously receive a one-term ex-president and his wheelchair pushing son.

He and his wife, more than once, have courteously received the "Actual President in the Waning Days of the Reagan Regime," too.




It doesn't mean he's taking their counsel.

The GOP in Congress made it their business to fuck with Obama at every turn--they made it difficult for him and for Democrats on the Hill. That's fine and dandy, though--what goes around eventually comes around.

He's been one of the best POTUS's in our history. We've been lucky to have him--I can't imagine what the past would have looked like if RMoney or McCain had been at the helm.

[Jesus Malverde]

26. If it wasn't for some hacker

We would never know how kozy the bush and Clinton clans are.

http://gawker.com/5982694/hacker-exposes-bush-family-emails-photos-and-george-w-bushs-amazing-self-portraits

Funny how Carter isn't a member of the club.

[MADem]

28. It's not "funny at all." Jimmy Carter is a helluva human being, but he was notoriously

hard to get along with. Part of his "failing" as POTUS was his unwillingness to delegate anything. He second-guessed his staff to the point where they didn't kill themselves making Decisions of the Highest Order, because they knew he'd play the Smartest Guy in the Room game and undo all their work. He depressed any motivation for going the extra mile with all those 'Rickover-like' leadership tactics he learned while in the Silent Service.

Now Clinton would beat an issue to death, nightmarishly, sometimes, and he could be demanding of his staff, but he did it far more collaboratively. AND he was more avuncular, big picture. He never feared the concept of "stoop to conquer" -- in fact, he'd disarm with it, and use his opponent's strength against him.

He always worked harder at trying to be liked. Carter didn't do that.


Don't paint Carter as some kind of victim. He's his own man.

And as for your accusations of 'kozy' (cheesy use of the K there, were you trying to go for the KKK thing or was that just cutesy?) I fail to see how this paragraph in your 'gotcha' link offers anything even close to cozy:

A large number of the stolen emails, which dated from 2009 to 2012, dealt with George H.W. Bush's recent stay in the hospital. One email from Jeb Bush described H.W.'s friendliness toward Bill Clinton, noting "how kind he was with President Clinton and he helped restore his sordid reputation. A very tough thing to do but with kindness, dad probably helped Bill Clinton than anything he himself has done." He added, "Might be tough to say it that way in a eulogy with President 42 there."

It sounds more like JEB is jealous because Elder Bush liked Clinton better than than him, and he's trying to justify Poppy's ease with Old Bubba as kindness instead of what it really is--Pops liked the SMART guy better. Bar did too, apparently.

People forget that when the two former POTUS's went abroad in support of disaster relief, it was Bill Clinton--fresh out of the hospital--who gave the one bed on the plane to Old Bush, and slept on the floor.

Bill is a good guy, fun to be around--he has the ability to make people feel like they are important, and deserving of his full interest. People LIKE him and are drawn to him.

Weird how you try to hold that against him and make his personality 'his fault.'

[Ken Burch]

3. There was never any reason for Israel to be spying on the U.S. government.

We were already telling the Israelis everything.

[jmowreader]

6. Almost everything, anyway

You're not the Ken Burch who was in Berlin, are you?

[cstanleytech]

7. I kinda doubt our government was telling them everything but that does not give this guy a valid

excuse to break the law and provide classified intel to Israel so he was properly sent to prison just like Manning was and where Snowden should be.

[Elmergantry]

11. Agreed.

What kind of ally is this?

I don't think traitors should get paroled.

[MADem]

18. They do this ALL the time.

They're smart as hell, exceptionally creative, and often helpful allies, but I have personally experienced Israeli personnel trying to gain access to information, spaces and briefings to which they were just not authorized. I had to be the unpopular bastard who blew the whistle on one guy--it infuriated me to be put in that position, to toss a guy out on his ear, but NOFORN means what it means and the parameters of the material were well understood ahead of time.

[Jesus Malverde]

25. How is Israel a helpful to our national security?

Seems we spend an inordinate amount of time destroying their enemies, and pretending to work on a peace process with the Palestinians that inevitably goes no where.

[MADem]

29. They are an aircraft carrier in the MIddle East, in essence.

They do a lot of our wet work, too.

Do I seriously have to explain the relationship?

When one does a cost-benefit analysis, they still come out ahead, even with all their issues and baggage.

[Jesus Malverde]

31. An aircraft carrier from which we don't fly missions.

Wet work we can easily do ourselves. We have competent killers at the pentagon and CIA.

Do you have any specific examples besides a place we spend billions and get little if anything in return. An ally whose army doesn't fight beside us, they don't die for us, they really seem to use us more than we use them. They sell our technology to china.

Do you have a specific example of an enemy of America they have taken out for us? I can think of a few times Americans have died fighting for Israel, a good example were the marines killed in Beruit after the Israeli invasion. Its obvious that Saddam will never ever target an Israeli city with scud missiles, nor pay the families of suicide bombers in Israel. Qaddafi will never support the PLO or Palestinian nationalists.

We have plenty of allies in the region who have actual US bases - Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, Djibouti, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

I think this answer from Quora sums up my feelings on the matter quite well.

Not very much. The cornerstone of the US-Israeli relationship was the fact that Israel would be the lightning rod for Arab anger in SW Asia making the US appear to be, if not neutral, then less of a threat it may have been perceived as being. Unfortunately, this has largely proven to be a disaster.

Israel has been unable to keep up its end of the partnership (it's launched several wars for questionable reasons that had even more questionable endings, and it has largely proven ineffective settling its own internal disputes with the Palestinians forcing the US to heft its diplomatic weight to protect it) and at this point the purpose of the current relationship is to allay the misgivings of the American Jewish population and nothing more.

The United States:

Can't use Israel as a forward base for operations in SW Asia.
Can't depend upon Israel not to churn the already turbulent waters of its Arab neighbors.
Can't depend upon Israel to act as the responsible regional military superpower its unconscionably large nuclear arsenal makes it.
Has to essentially block the other nations of the world from sanctioning/embargoing the nation out of existence.
Still has to deploy its own forces in SW Asia to protect its interests and those of its European and Asian allies.

Frankly, any skeptical and unbiased assessment of the US-Israel relationship finds that the US derives little from the partnership and provides more to its client state than it can ever hope to receive in return. The realpolitik perception of this may be the foundation of the current administrations cooling of relations with the country.

As the memory of the Holocaust fades and as the US' interests gravitate more towards its eventual conflict with China, it's likely that the "special relationship" with Israel will cool even further. Supporting and defending a largely undependable ally will become more politically unpalatable given the economic belt-tightening at home and Israel's refusal to bring closure to the decades-long issues with what will soon be its Arab majority will rankle a US populace which itself is becoming more multicultural.

In short, the United States "alliance" with Israel is becoming an expensive extravagance from which it garners precious few benefits and which costs it goodwill and international credibility it is sorely lacking and which is being eroded every day its war with fundamentalist Islam continues. The future of this alliance depends on Israel's willingness to accept this fact and move forward.

That future doesn't appear to be promising.

https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-US-support-Israel-What-benefit-does-the-US-get-out-of-this-alliance

The special relationship really isn't that special.

[MADem]

32. Well, there are other answers at your Quora link that take a very different view.

You have your mind made up.

Obviously, the national security infrastructure in the government of the United States doesn't see things your way.

They're unlikely to, any time in future, either.

[Jesus Malverde]

34. Most of those other answers

Relate to the claim of it being the only democracy, economic relations, shared values, not really addressing how Isreal takes out Americas enemies for us. One was close saying that we didn't face a nuclear armed Saddam because they bombed his reactor but it was as much self interest as anything else. After all Saddam was at various points an ally of the US and counterweight for the US fighting Iran.

[MADem]

35. One could say we don't have friends, we have interests.

And at this stage of the game, it's in our interest to remain allied with Israel, to a fair extent, at least.

[blackspade]

4. There is a double standard here, but I think 30 years is plenty long.

However, I think he should stay on parole and he should not be allowed to travel outside of the country.

[marble falls]

5. As much as I'd have no problem with him being tucked away for more time, thirty year IS plenty...

long as well as a parole that leaves him here in the US. I think its even money that Israel smuggles him out.

[cstanleytech]

8. If he should end up in Israel in violation of his parole then imo Israel should get cut off

from all military and financial aide from the US but thats just my opinion.

[marble falls]

9. I agree. Thats what SHOULD happen.

[Jesus Malverde]

10. Yeah right

It's like the idiot bully cousin you can't disown.

[blackspade]

15. Agreed.

[BlueMTexpat]

13. Let Israel have him, IMO.

The Israeli government has been lobbying for his release for a LONG time.

Deport him, let him have asylum in Israel, and never let him enter the US again. JMHO

[Jesus Malverde]

14. Screw dat.

Parole him to a halfway house in Brooklyn, he doesn't need a heros welcome or anything but scorn and a hard end to his miserable life. We'll see if NY's finest give him a heros welcome. It will speak volumes.

[BlueMTexpat]

36. If that's what happens, fine.

I think that his US citizenship should be revoked. Period. He is a traitor, no matter where he is. I just would like him to be somewhere else altogether.

I believe that we both probably hate his actions equally.

[saidsimplesimon]

16. Will Congress give bibi the $5bn ransom?

[leveymg]

21. Israel's been trying to get him out for decades. Part of a package deal.

What did we trade away?

[tammywammy]

22. Nothing, it's part of the federal sentencing guidelines.

After 30 years the person goes on parole. Neither Obama or anyone in Israel had anything to do with Pollard's pending release.

[leveymg]

24. If the USG wanted to hold him, they could.

[MADem]

33. On what basis? He has complied completely with his guidelines for incarceration, and

he was jailed damn near BC--Before Computers. He has no actionable, operational intelligence knowledge. He has no national security benefit that could be compromised any more.

A parole board has granted him "mandatory parole" in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines. He will be monitored during his parole period, and he'll have to stay out of trouble.

There comes a point in time where you have to stop beating a dead horse.

[bobthedrummer]

23. "What did we trade away?" indeed-kick. n/t

[Calista241]

27. "Sorry about that whole Iran deal thing. We'll let Pollard go for you."

Possibly?

[MADem]

30. The clock on his release started counting down on the DAY he was sentenced.

That was THIRTY years ago.

There's no "We let Pollard go for you" in this equation at all.




Justice says Israeli spy gets 'mandatory parole' in November

...Alistair Baskey, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said Pollard's status "will be determined by the United States Parole Commission according to standard procedures," and added that "there is absolutely zero linkage between Mr. Pollard’s status and foreign policy considerations.”

Israel officials who oppose the Iran agreement have appealed for Pollard's release for years, but have been rebuffed.

In a 2011 letter to President Obama, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for Pollard's spying, but said that “I know that the United States is a country based on fairness, justice and mercy. For all these reasons, I respectfully ask that you favorably consider this request for clemency. The people of Israel will be eternally grateful.”

Netanyahu repeated his request to Secretary of State John Kerry as recently as 2014.

Pollard, working as a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty to selling classified information to Israel.

Under federal guidelines at that time, a person with a life sentence is eligible for mandatory parole after 30 years unless the Parole Commission "determines that he has seriously or frequently violated institution rules or that there is a reasonable probability that he will commit any Federal, State, or local crime."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/24/justice-says-pollard-gets-mandatory-parole-november/30634061/