[Intelforum] Pollard's Life Sentence

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From: LevinMJ at aol.com
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:33:34 EST
Subject: Re: Pollard's Life Sentence
To: intelforum at lists101.his.com

In a message dated 1/22/2008 9:04:41 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
intelforum at lists101.his.com (Anthony Damato)writes:

MY COMMENT: I do not have any specific evidence that has not been 
made public regarding Pollard's disclosures to Israel. However, as 
just a layperson reading what the government makes available, does 
Mike Levin's comment follow that `I am telling fairy tales or that I 
am just another pro-Pollard apologist? In Intelforum, is Mike in 
favor of suppression of all hypotheses or conjectures unless they are 
backed by evidence that is in the exclusive possession of himself or 
the government?

In addition, examining Mike's statement further, he appears to be 
saying that Pollard could not have sent Israel compromising 
information because Pollard was not aware of the details of bilateral 
intelligence exchange agreements with Israel. I'm sorry, but this is 
quite a howler. (1) Pollard could have sent to Israel whatever 
intelligence information he might have grabbed whether or not it was 
allowed or prohibited by the bilateral intelligence exchange 
agreement. (2) Even if Pollard knew what the bilateral intelligence 
exchange agreement contained, he certainly could have decided to 
violate it.

As for "evidence" that backs up my hypothesis, as I said I have no 
direct evidence. But I did observe Casper Weinberger's livid and 
furious reaction to Pollard's activities. Weinberger lobbied everyone 
to get the death sentence for Pollard, or at least a lifetime 
sentence. People like Weinberger do not get furious if secrets are 
leaked to Israel or to the Soviet Union. We have had all kinds of 
major spies leaking sensitive information to the Russians for years, 
but they are not serving life sentences (as far as I know).  What, 
then, is a reasonable conjecture that explain's Weinberger's anger? I 
suggest that Weinberger must have given the Israelis his personal 
guarantee that he would not withhold intelligence from them that we 
were required to disclose under the terms of the bilateral 
intelligence exchange agreement. It is furthermore deducible that 
Pollard gave Israel precisely such information, thus making 
Weinberger out to be a liar.. That, to me, would "explain" what lit 
Weinberger's fuse.


Mike Levin replies:

If anything I wrote could be interpreted to suggest that Pollard 
"could not have sent Israel compromising information ....." let me be 
crystal clear. Pollard gave Israel a veritable truckload of Top 
Secret sensitive compartmented information, the largest single haul 
of intelligence documents in US espionage history.
Re Casper Weinberger: The business about what intelligence Weinberger 
may or may not have promised to the Israelis is a non-starter. The 
Secretary of Defence has no responsibility for intelligence exchange 
with foreign countries. The pre-sentencing memorandum provided to the 
court represented the consensus of the intelligence community and was 
signed by Weinberger only because he was the chief executive of the 
department where Pollard worked. I am surprised to learn from Damato 
that "Weinberger lobbied everyone to get the death sentence for 
Pollard .......". He had platoons of lawyers in the DOD that could 
have told him that the section of the Espionage Statutes to which 
Pollard pleaded guilty called for a maximum of life in prison.

Finally, I do not believe that Anthony Damato is either a teller of 
fairy tales or a pro-Pollard apologist. I do believe that he has 
fallen prey to frequently repeated Pollard propaganda. And today he 
has done it again! He says "We have had all kinds of major spies 
leaking sensitive information to the Russians for years, but they are 
not serving life sentences (as far as I know)."  Unless I am 
mistaken, John Walker (Navy), Ronald Pelton (ex-NSA), Aldrich Ames 
(CIA), Robert Hanson (FBI), all sentenced to life for espionage are 
still in their cells in federal penitentiaries.

Mike Levin
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