NEWS
March 18, 2013
I agree with Kenneth Lasson's article "Obama should free Pollard" (Feb. 27). Mr. Lasson made a good point in comparing the president's very low record of clemency grants to that of past Presidents like Lincoln, Wilson, Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower and Bush. Meanwhile, numerous illegal immigrants, drug pushers, and other more hardcore criminals have been released from our prisons as part of the president's recent sequester cuts. Also, in Israel there have been thousands of terrorists released from prisons (some with blood on their hands)
NEWS
March 7, 2013
In Kenneth Lasson's commentary, "Freeing Pollard benefits all" (Feb. 27), who is "all?" Jonathan Pollard passed classified information to Israel to circumvent U.S. policy. Is "all" the thousands of Americans with security clearance who do not betray that confidence, or does it refer to the country Mr. Pollard betrayed? He is serving a life sentence because of a plea bargain. His cooperation was in no way exculpatory. Mr. Lasson writes, "It is now more clear than ever that he is being severely punished for deeds he never did. " Mr. Pollard confessed, and Israel acknowledged his espionage years later.
NEWS
January 18, 2011
With momentum building for clemency on behalf of Jonathan Pollard, those involved in his conviction are again coming out of the woodwork with fabrications of fact and misleading statements. Last week Joseph DiGenova, the former U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case, was quoted in the Washington Times as alleging it had cost the Defense Department between $3 billion and $5 billion to fix the damage Mr. Pollard caused. Haviland Smith, a retired CIA station chief, charged in The Baltimore Sun ( "Freeing Pollard would be a terrible mistake," Jan. 12)
NEWS
January 13, 2011
While I am no fan of Jonathan Pollard, I must take issue with Haviland Smith's commentary in the January 13 edition of The Sun ( "Freeing Pollard would be a terrible mistake" . Jonathan Pollard pleaded guilty to a charge of passing on classified information to an ally, a crime which on average has yielded a seven-year sentence and about four years of actual prison time served. Mr. Pollard has been incarcerated now for more than 25 years. He has served longer than most murderers, rapists and, yes, war criminals.
NEWS
By Haviland Smith | January 12, 2011
In September, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported that filmmaker Michael Moore had launched a campaign to free Pfc. Bradley Manning, who has been accused of providing most, if not all, of the classified documents being revealed on WikiLeaks. Mr. Manning has not yet been charged with a crime. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he will soon, again, seek the release to Israel of Jonathan Pollard, an American citizen employed by U.S. naval intelligence, who was convicted in 1987 of espionage on behalf of Israel and sentenced to life in prison.
NEWS
November 5, 2010
John G. Bailey ("Pollard should not be freed," letters, Nov. 4) is as misguided in his opinion as he is ignorant of the facts. To suggest that Israel is not a staunch and steadfast U.S. ally belies both history and context; the Middle East is a caldron of anti-American vitriol, with the tiny Jewish state standing out as a lone exception. To claim that Mr. Pollard violated a plea agreement with prosecutors simply flies in the face of the government's own admission that he did not. Jonathan Pollard was charged with one count of passing classified information to a friendly government.