POLLARD’S FATE… UNPRECEDENTED AND UNFAIR
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Pollards-fate-331098
Former CIA director James Woolsey says he would tell US President Obama to
forget that Pollard is a Jew and just release him. Indeed.
Recent revelations of unbridled American espionage against its Western
allies have exposed the hypocrisy and injustice that have kept Jonathan
Pollard in prison for nearly three decades.
Washington has always presented Pollard’s unprecedented life sentence,
including seven years in solitary confinement, as a reasonable response to
Israel’s unmitigated gall for running a spy in the US. Successive American
administrations have consistently maintained a morally superior posture,
posing as the injured party, insisting on perpetuating the excessive
punishment of Israel’s agent.
Although Israeli officials have been aware of American agents operating in
Israel for decades, they have never openly confronted the US.
Israel’s inexplicable cooperation notwithstanding, recent revelations of the
US’s massive spy operations against 35 friendly nations (including Israel)
have blown America’s cover and brought to light an egregious double standard
and a stunning example of American hypocrisy. Nowhere is this hypocrisy more
blatant than in America’s treatment of Jonathan Pollard. This has prompted
many who have never done so before to begin calling for his release.
Next week, Pollard begins his 29th year in prison for the crime of spying in
the United States for the benefit of Israel.
He never passed a single secret about America to Israel – only information
about Israel’s enemies and their plans to destroy the Jewish state.
Although the US judiciary is presumed to be independent of the political
echelon, in reality it is not that simple.
Pollard long ago used up all of his legal remedies pursuing justice, but the
American justice system failed to provide any relief. This is
incomprehensible, since the conduct of the case blatantly violated every
concept of justice America holds dear. This includes:
– A grossly disproportionate sentence,
– A broken plea agreement,
– The use of secret evidence,
– A false charge of treason,
– Ineffective assistance of counsel,
– Ex parte communication between prosecutors and judge,
– A lack of due process, and
– A sentencing procedure infected by false allegations and lies.
Cal Thomas, whose column is syndicated in 550 American newspapers and whose
voice is heard on more than 300 American talk shows, wrote in USA Today last
week: “President Obama should order the release of Jonathan Pollard, who is
serving a life sentence for spying in the US on behalf of Israel.”
“If everyone who spied on us and we on them went to prison, no one would
have any spies left,” he wrote.
Thomas’s argument seems to suggest that two wrongs can make a right: The US
did wrong. Pollard did wrong. If the US can be forgiven, then Pollard must
be forgiven.
Normally this kind of logic does not apply, but this time it must. Pollard’s
life sentence is the longest, harshest sentence in the history of the United
States for the one count of passing classified information to an ally with
which he was charged. The usual sentence is two to four years.
The US government’s own damage assessments, now declassified, put the lie to
allegations of damage against Pollard. Even Caspar Weinberger, the former US
defense secretary who drove Pollard’s life sentence, recanted before he
died, admitting that the case against Pollard was greatly exaggerated.
Nevertheless, Pollard has not been able to receive justice in the United
States for nearly three decades. All indications are that he never will. Nor
has any humane consideration ever been extended to him because of his
failing health.
Perhaps righteous indignation will be effective where justice and humanity
have failed. If enough of a ruckus to free Pollard is raised now by all
those who, like Cal Thomas, find the American administration’s hypocrisy
hard to stomach, then indeed, there may be enough momentum created to
motivate Pollard’s release.
Pollard’s petition for executive clemency – his final hope – has been
sitting on Obama’s desk since October 2010. All it requires is a stroke of
the president’s pen.
Speaking at a security conference in New York last week, former CIA director
James Woolsey renewed his long-standing call for Pollard’s release. Asked if
he had a message to send to Obama, Woolsey responded that he would tell the
president to forget that Pollard is a Jew and just release him. Indeed.
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