Why Obama Will Free Jonathan Pollard

War in Context ^ | June 9, 2012 | Grant Smith

[pavlova]

The US Department of Justice has released new files about convicted spy Jonathan Pollard’s bid for presidential clemency. Pollard was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 after passing more than a million highly classified documents to Israel while working as an intelligence analyst for the US Navy. Documents in the Freedom of Information Act response (PDF) reference 32 pages of government agency deliberative communications and 37 pages of new communications between Pardon Attorney Ronald Rogers and Pollard’s legal team — all produced since July of 2011. While the contents have been withheld, their existence signals that the Pollard commutation request may be nearing a conclusion within the Obama administration. June 18 could mark the culmination of a massive lobbying campaign for release. Obama’s dismal record on Israeli accountability suggests Pollard will soon walk free.

[pavlova]

What's your assessment of the likelihood?

[IncPen]

On the one hand he hates Israel and would do anything possible to damage them.

On the other hand, he’s cynical enough to try to buy the Jewish vote by doing it.

[HotHunt]

And on the other hand, he’s so political that he doesn’t think leaking top-secret, highly classified information is any big deal, so why should Pollard remain behind bars for doing the same thing as his administration has done?

[HotHunt]

Sorry, but my #3 response should have been addressed to “pavlova” as well.

[fella]

Ditto #2. Plus if the administration thinks that Pollard has information that will harm our military they'll release him for sure. The big Zero is going down so he's going to do as much damage as he can on his way out like the Clintonistas did only on many orders of scales larger.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Almost nothing is too cynical to wonder about the Obama administration. I’d answer this question with a resounding maybe.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Or, might some of Pollard’s friends have dirt on Obama that Obama would rather see stay buried?

[RFEngineer]

If Pollard is released, you’ll see victory jubilation just like the Lockerbie Bomber release.

It will be just as appropriate, if it were to happens from a certain anti-American point of view.

Obama would like to release him not because he cares about Israel, but because he hates America. I’m presuming cooler heads will prevail and Pollard will stay put.

This guy is right where he needs to be, since he’s not 6-feet under where he deserves to be.

[HiTech RedNeck]

What Obama wants... Obama gets...

[brivette]

Pollard should not be released.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Obama could do this on his lonesome if he insisted. If he sees handwriting on the wall and it says Romney 2012, he’ll want as many friends as possible on the way out.

[Old Badger]

He'll free the cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal ........ wait and see! Pollard small potatoes in comparison.

[treetopsandroofs]

“On the other hand, he’s cynical enough to try to buy the Jewish vote by doing it.”

Doesn’t he already OWN the “Jewish” vote?

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Even the Slickster and his minions were smart enough not to touch that one and they were shameless opportunists.

I think Obummer will.

[Hawthorn]

>> why should Pollard remain behind bars for doing the same thing as his administration Obama himself has done? <<

There. Fixed it!

[darth]

Inside info from an old retired spook (not me personally):

The docs that Pollard stole ended up in the USSR. Apparently, the Mossad made a little dough by re-selling them.

He also had other sayonim stealing docs for him at NSA and he would not give them up. So NSA just fired all the Jews on the payroll.

The truth ain’t pretty.

BTW, we have had agents from other ALLIES spying on us including Taiwan, France, and even the UK. Yup, they all try to steal technology and influence our government.

I just wish our dumbass ally could get their heads out of the Middle East mindset sometime.

[arasina]

He will do it because every single Orthodox Jew in America will vote for him if he does. It seems to be one of their top priorities and it's as if it has taken over their brains, even the portion reserved for self preservation.

I say this only because I have witnessed their passion for the release of Jonathan Pollard. See below for only one example:

Orthodox Union President Writes Obama, Biden on Pollard
(Tuesday, April 17th, 2012)

Yesterday, Dr. Simcha Katz, president of the Orthodox Union – the largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization in the United States, transmitted a letter to President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden urging clemency for Jonathan Pollard.

SOURCE: The Yeshiva World News

Read a couple of comments following an article at that website that explain why they believe what they do:

5. Jewish Common Sense says: May 21, 2012 at 7:21 pm

#3 It is important to remember that although our hearts go out to our brother who is rotting in jail for something which he probably had the best intentions for, too much rallying on this issue can be only counterproductive. Let us not forget that the American Government sees it as a threat that Jews may have a dual loyalty or even a stronger loyalty to Israel then they do too the U.S.A. There are many Jews who hold top positions in this country and this is a very serious concern for them.

Let us also remember that although he may have had the best of intentions this is wrong according to Halacha as we are obligated first and foremost to the country in which we reside. Spying for another country is treason, and let us be more clear on this matter. Only this way we can make sure that such things will not reaccur and that the concerns of our (very benevolent!!!) government will subside.

6. Milhouse says: May 22, 2012 at 10:58 am

this is wrong according to Halacha as we are obligated first and foremost to the country in which we reside.

Really? Where is this written? Our first duty is to our own nation, which is Am Yisroel, not the USA (nor for that matter Israel). Any other duty must come second. Whether you like it or not, that is how it is, and one who puts the interests of the country where he lives above those of his own nation is truly a traitor.

They will do what their rebbes tell them to do, which is to vote for the presidential candidate who will free Jonathan Pollard.

[richardtavor]

This vindictive asshole will never pardon Pollard..

[HotHunt]

Thanks for correcting my mistake! My statement is now more accurate.

[ziravan]

Assume that he’ll do whatever is the most politically expedient. That makes it a close call.

On the one hand, a pardon would help solidify some of his Jewish support. How many votes is that though, exactly? I think I saw a poll here yesterday that said that almost 70% of Jewish voters still support him (AMAZING!). So, it might helps a segment of 30% of the Jewish vote return to the fold. If it helps half (and I think that’s generous), then the pardon is worth about 15% of that vote.

The tradeoff is who will become mad enough NOT to vote for him as a result. Here, you have to look at independents and that is a bigger subset of the population. If 5% of independents don’t vote for him because they are mad about this vote, that would likely be a net negative for the pardon.

There are two things they must look at before they make their decision: 1. Net plus/minus on who will become more likely to vote for/against based on the decision, and 2. Intensity of support as a result.

Intensity is a two-fold test in itself. Assume that a Jewish person not NOW supporting Obama that would support him over this pardon would do so because they are intensely interested in the outcome. Add to that those that were going to support him who are now MORE intense about it because of the pardon (donations?).

Intensity cuts both ways, to an limited extent. It’s not like Obama is going to lose my vote over this issue. Would it make me more intense about him getting defeated in Nov? Is that possible? (On a personal intensity scale, this pardon by a Republican President WOULD be enough - by itself - to lose any future support by me. Disclaimer: I’ve worked as a military cryptologist at No Such Agency in the past.)

The pardon would be a big deal in the Jewish community in re the outcome of the 2012 election.

It would also be intensely covered by the media. It would be a big deal to a subset of independents who come to believe that Obama pandered using national security to win. That would be a turnoff.

Is a net negative for a pardon greater than the positives? I think this has been the case in the past, and that is why Clinton didn’t pardon him. Obama has more ground to makeup in the Jewish community. That just might change the dynamic.

I just spouted a bunch of smoke to end up where I started: it’s a close call.

[IncPen]

By the way, regardless of the outcome of the election, look for an A list of pardons in December to include the likes of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Bernadine Dohrn, Eric Holder and a raft of others.
It will be calculated to outrage the right.

[Popman]

His poll numbers with the Jewish community is in the toilet...large Jewish donors have stopped donating to his campaign all in reaction to his tough stance on the never ending Jewish Pali question, which has been completely one sided....jews must make all the compromise

Releasing Pollard is simply a move to open up the Jewish coffers...

[canuck_conservative]

BTW, we have had agents from other ALLIES spying on us including Taiwan, France, and even the UK.

The UK? And France?

I'm calling BS on that. Let's see some proof for that ridiculous statement.

[PapaBear3625]

He'll free the cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal

He can't. He only has the power to pardon FEDERAL crimes. Mumia is jailed on PA state charges of murdering a police officer.

[Verginius Rufus]

Maybe he will secretly promise to pardon Pollard but not do so before the election--those who are "in the know" would spread the word quietly to their followers but the public at large would be unaware.

Of course if after that he lost the election he could renege on the promise. Except that if he loses his goal will be to do maximum damage to the US in the two months or so he has left.

[Pharmboy]

I do not doubt it. Remember when Clinton pardoned the FALN bombers to get even more of the Hispanic vote?

[HiJinx]

Ping...

[darth]

Hell, I was there.

During my aerospace career I encountered agents from many countries.

A few examples:

In the early 1990s my company was approached by an Israeli company with a stereolithography machine that could create molds and models of 3 D parts overnight from a CAD drawing. The female rep was very beautiful and told me of spending a lot of time exploring South America. She set up a meeting with her executives when they visited the USA. After the meeting, I asked her, “XXXX (name redacted), why do all of your top execs look like paratroopers?”

I never heard from her again. Of course, the Israeli company would have to “service” the machine regularly and download all of the CAD drawings of spacecraft and aircraft parts.

Mossad, of course.

A British born colleague of mine related how she got herself bayoneted while photographing a military base in Yugoslavia. She was in charge of our company’s technology databases. I think she owed her allegiance to the Queen.

In 1986 I was working on a Star Wars laser project. The ceramic mirror we designed was being fabricated in France. The French were behind schedule and so our Chief Engineer, who spoke the language, called the French plant. He got his call transferred to the factory floor where a worker asked him which mirror he was inquiring about. Our engineer was puzzled, “But we are only purchasing one mirror”. “Oui”, the Frenchman replied, “But we sold two more of your design to the Russians”.

In the early 1990s my company had a contract with a Japanese company to help them develop a space launch vehicle. The FBI went to my boss and told him, “The Japanese rep is not working for the Japanese aerospace company. He works for the government of Japan. We busted an engineer from YYYY (company redacted) and he got 30 years for selling classified info to the Japanese rep. We did not get enough evidence to convict the Japanese agent last time. Will you help us set him up?”

My company brass decided to NOT cooperate with the FBI for fear of losing the contract. So much for patriotism in the defense industry.

As for the Brits and France trying to steal tech and influence our politicians, didn’t they tell you about this in your security briefings? Maybe you did not get the same briefing I got.

Our companies steal technology from each other all the time. Do you think countries don’t protect their industries and pursue national goals?

[darth]

BTW, just noticed your screen name.

I don’t think our friends to the North spy on us. However, we probably spy on them.

It’s just Big Power politics.

[okie01]

“But we sold two more of your design to the Russians”.

St. Gobain, right?

[ASA Vet]

MI Ping

Thanks Hyjinx for the tipoff

[darth]

Duh, its been so long I forgot the name of the French company.

It was the one that was famous for leading edge ceramics in defense and aerospace components.

[okie01]

It was the one that was famous for leading edge ceramics in defense and aerospace components.

That would be St. Gobain, I do believe.

[ColdSteelTalon]

I would be stunned if this happens..

[Ax]

NSA fired all the Jews on the payroll? I didn’t know people had to put their religion down on their apps for employment. Got any supporting documentation?

[Grampa Dave]

Several of Obozo’s favorite left wind non profits will get some big donations from Mossad Front organizations.

The faux left wing non profits will take their usual money laundering fee of 10-20% and “donate” the rest to various liberal PAC money machines to help Obozo during this election.

He and the rats in charge are desperate for money after Romney raised more money in May than they did.

Obozo has used the rich gays and Follywood crowd like his personal reelection ATM’s recently.

[null and void]

Poison Photo-Drop .. decision to release photographs .. will imperil nation .. its defenders.

Tue May 12 09:52:58 2009 · 13 of 21
null and void to Sergeant Tim

Before he is done I fully expect him to release the names, addresses and phone numbers of anyone anywhere in the world who has ever provided any information to agency workers.

The damage to US intel will last multiple generations.

[allmendream]

Obama has a dismal record on Israeli accountability???

Please explain what they are accountable for and how you think Obama should hold them to account.

[Liz]

Israel is the only place in the world where one can debark with a suitcase full of cash, go to a bank, and nobody asks where it came from.

NOTE When he was OBAMSA's COS, and controlled the US Treasury at the same time, Rham Emanuel made several scheduled (and unscheduled?) trips to Israel. God knows the deals Emanuel made there---so that Ohaha can get his hands on his 2012 reelection money.

Ohaha undoubtedly has billions stashed away in Israel---taken from the trillion dollar Treasury programs he contrived for the "failing economy" he "inherited" from Bush.

=======================================================

FOURTEEN TRILLION DOLLARS Behind The Real Size of Obama's Wall Street Bailout; A guide to the abbreviations, acronyms, and obscure programs that make up the $14 trillion federal bailout.
SOURCE motherjones.com
Mon Dec. 21, 2009 12:23 PM PST

The price tag for the Wall Street bailout is often put at $700 billion—the size of the Troubled Assets Relief Program. But TARP is just the best known program in an array of more than 30 overseen by Treasury Department and Federal Reserve that have paid out or put aside money to bail out financial firms and inject money into the markets.

To get a sense of the size of the real $14 trillion bailout, see our chart at web site. Below, a guide to the pieces of the puzzle:

Treasury Department bailout programs
(Remember that Obama's Treasury Dept was controlled by his then-COS Rahm Emanuel---a savvy, connected G/S lobbyist in the WH)

Money Market Mutual Fund: In September 2008, the Treasury announced that it would insure the holdings of publicly offered money market mutual funds. According to the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), these guarantees could have potentially cost the federal government more than $3 trillion [PDF].

Public-Private Investment Fund: This joint Treasury-Federal Reserve program bought toxic assets from banks and brokerages—as much as $5 billion of assets per firm. According to SIGTARP, the government's potential exposure from the PPIF is between $500 million and $1 trillion [PDF].

TARP: As part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Treasury has made loans to or investments more than 750 banks and financial institutions. $650 billion has been paid out (not including HAMP; see below). As of December 21, 2009, $117.5 billion of that has been repaid.

Government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) stock purchase: The Treasury has bought $200 million in preferred stock from Fannie Mae and another $200 million from Freddie Mac [PDF] to show that they "will remain viable entities critical to the functioning of the housing and mortgage markets."

GSE mortgage-backed securities purchase: Under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, the Treasury may buy mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to SIGTARP, these purchases could cost as much as $314 billion ---SNIP---.

LONG READ---go to web site to read more and checkout the shocking financial charts.

SOURCE http://motherjones.com/politics/2009/12/behind-real-size-bailout

[Liz]

.....a ridiculous statement....."other US ALLIES spy on us including Taiwan, France, and even the UK"......

You got that right.

Comparing Israel's spying w/ US "allies" in other parts of the hemisphere is just plain stupid.

Taiwan, France and the UK, etc do NOT get trillions of US tax dollars jet-streamed to them 24/7 from every US govt agency----over and above the $10 Billion foreign aid "ceremoniously" announced each year---

----nor do our other allies have massive supplies of US arms stockpiled, nor have our other allies duped the US into fighting trillion dollars wars for them in various Mideast hellholes.

Israel loves to brag about how THEY keep the US safe. Balderdash----never have Americans been so threatened-----we have never incurred the level of violence and enemity now going on since Israel became our "best friend in the Mideast."

[darth]

One of my goals in life is to bring enlightenment to my naive and innocent Freeper Brethren.

Are you so young that you do not remember the scandal? It was over 20 years ago, but I remember it was whispered about in Aviation Week (which we called Aviation Secrets Weekly). When I say they fired them, I mean that they downgraded their clearances and sent them to less sensitive jobs in the fedgov. I remember that the move decimated the capabilities of the photo analyst ranks.

Did you expect the government to have a press conference? The very name of the NSA was classified at that time. We called it No Such Agency. I visited in the early 1990s to brief them on an invention of mine and my lofty security clearance only allowed me to go into the LOBBY.

My source is an old retired spook.

[darth]

Have you seen the responses I got on this thread? Some of our friends have not had the experiences that I have.

In my years working in aerospace it was like the X Files without the aliens.

At least, I never saw any aliens.

What I did see was that the story in the media was NEVER CORRECT. Indeed, the most earth-shaking things never saw any ink.

I have tried to record, for posterity, the parts that I can disclose.

All modesty aside, my management was always astounded when I would show up at the Proposal Team with our competitor’s Org Chart, Technical Approach, and, sometimes, their price. I obtained this info through legal means and analysis.

[Condor51]

If I was Barry I wouldn't be counting on any help from Rahmbo anytime soon. The Rahmfather of Chicago is up to his a$$___ in alligators right now with all the carnage that his 'Amish' residents leave behind every weekend:

'Eight dead, 43 wounded in weekend shootings' Chicago Sun-Times

And that doesn't include all the Flashmob Attacks by more Amish Yutes on the silly white folks who thought they could go to the (free) Chicago Blues Fest held over the weekend in Grant Park then leave in safety. [The MSM in Chi won't touch these stories, only a Chi Cop Blog had all the gory details. (and I wanted to go this year -- ha!)]

Anywho, the people are getting fed up fast with the Rahmfather and he may be packing his bags and scooting out of town in the middle of night before the Torches and Pitchforks come for him and won't be around to help Barry. So Rahmbo will need any cash he's got stashed away in his 'other home country'.

And per that Cop Blog I read yesterday afternoon -- The Chi PD had such a busy Fri and Sat night that they were literally rushing from one violent crime scene to another. Many times having to leave their own district to assist cops in other districts. And that takes approval on a Command Level (Statistically, Kabul Afghanistan is actually safer than Chicago!).

So Rahm's screwed, big time, and so is his new Police Superintendent. Everything they try to stem the carnage turns into a Chinese fire drill - but they're trying to stop it the PC way so natch it'll fail.

[Liz]

Jonathan and Anne Pollard on their wedding day. They
divorced after they got caught spying. She lives in
Israel after her release from jail. He remarried in prison.

Pollard is an evil, evil person. He's in jail this long b/c he greatly undermined US ntl security for the benefit of our "best friend in the Mideast."

Pollard said he only spied on the US b/c of idealogy. Yet, he was paid to do the dirty work and his then-wife got paid w/ expensive jewelry. She went to jail but was released when she faked illness.

One of the terms for Israel getting trillion in US tax dollars is that they are supposed to share their Mideast intel with us. I guess they never got wind of 9/11---and dozens of other bombings---which were planned in their backyard (/snix).

"To you stupid Americans, Pollard is a criminal.
In Isreal we consider him a hero."

[Liz]

When Chicagoans tar and feather Mayor Rahm, do not stress——he has a place to go (/sob).

Rahm chairs Obama’s reelection team-—and appeared on Fareed Zacariah’s GPS cable program recently outlining how Obama will win the election.

[allmendream]

Do you also believe Jewish people were warned to stay out of the World Trade Center that day?

Do you actually think that if Israel had intelligence on the 9-11 plot that they would not have informed the U.S.A., when they have most certainly given us treasure troves of invaluable intel of lesser import?

[Ax]

Granted I spent most of my 33 years working there deployed abroad but I think I would have heard of it. I started in 1964 and this is the first I’d ever heard of it, and I know some Jewish guys that spent their whole careers there and a couple that are still working.

[darth]

Thanks for the datapoint.

My spook buddy may have exaggerated.

It is possible that the NSA only transferred people known to associate with Pollard or those who behaved suspiciously.

The problem in detecting espionage by sayonim is that they don’t do it for money most of the time.

The moral of this story is that Israel may be a close ally, but that does mean that they will not cross the USA.

I remain a strong supporter of Israel, but we need to be realistic about the world.

[Liz]

THIS JUST IN Obama is conferring the prestigious US Presidential Medal of Freedom on Israeli president Shimon Peres. This is touted as a major opportunity to gain Pollard's release. News reports say Israel at first refused to acknowledge Pollard's spying---but in 1995 Pollard was made a citizen of Israel by then-prime minister Netanyahu (now the current PM).

==================================================

DARTH POSTED I remain a strong supporter of Israel, but we need to be realistic......The moral of the Pollard story is that Israel may be a close ally, but that does not mean that they will not cross the USA.

It's possible the super-secret NSA only transferred people known to associate with spymaster Pollard, or those who behaved suspiciously. The problem in detecting espionage by sayonim (Yiddish term for thousands of "Israel's helpers" with citizenship in the US, and elsewhere)---is that they are idealogues. Their espionage, money transfers, and the like, are reimbursed for expenses only......so goes the legend.

COMMENTS Those hate-filled (yuck) anti-Semites would claim that the "helpers" use "the good cop/bad cop" routine---to throw others off the scent.

The "helpers" may not get paid overtly but there are ways: In 1995 (year Newt Gingrich became powerful Speaker of the House), his then-wife Marianne Gingrich landed a plum job with the Israel Export Development Company (IEDC).

Marianne had previously been employed as an “image consultant” for a beauty cosmetics company....and was now IEDC’s Vice President.

IEDC was the brainchild of Larry Silverstein---developer of the WTC.....infamous 9/11 bombing target.

Two of Marianne's tasks were (1) to develop Americans to relocate jobs and businesses to Israel and (2) to get jobs for Israeli interns in Congressional offices.

======================================

(Snicker) Sure would like to see the paper trail of financial bombs "The Interns" planted in US govt agencies that jetstream zillions to Israel without oversight.....over and above the billions in US foreign aid ceremoniously announced each year.