Jonathan Pollard's Release: See, Obama Really Is Israel's Friend

As we've seen, there has been lots of contention between President Obama and Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, mostly over the issue of the Iranian nuclear deal. It if weren't for the fact that the nuke deal is so serious, and has the potential for such far-reaching implications, it would actually be quite entertaining watching these two.

President Obama's deal with Iran is the best we could do, because any deal is better than no deal at all--at least according to President Obama.  But Netanyahu maintains that no deal is better than any deal, especially this one, which Congress has a little over a month to vote on.  Since the signing of the premliminary agreement, we've learned several things about the deal, and none of them are very good.  Clearly, all of this wrangling over nukes and Iran has intensified the friction between Obama and Netanyahu.  It's also clear that President Obama is feeling...well, maybe a little guilty about this deal. It's only a hunch I have, but why else would President Obama release Jonathan Pollard (he's scheduled for parole in November), a man who is alternately called the biggest spy in U.S. history or the worst traitor in modern history?  Either way, his dasterdly deeds were of historical proportion.

Pollard, if you'll recall, is the former anaylst in the U.S. Navy's Anti-Terroist Alert Center, who was
convicted in 1985 of selling top secrets to Israel (Pollard's wife was also charged and convicted. She served three years in federal prison).  At that time, US intelligence officials assessed the damage done by Pollard and found that in just one year, 1984 until his arrest in 1985, Pollard passed over 200,000 documents, including the 10-volumn Radio and Signal Intelligence manual--considered to be the crown jewel--to his contact in Israel (who reportedly turned it over to Russia).  Then-Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger wanted the death penalty for Pollard. Others, such M.E. "Spike" Bowman, a former high-level official with the FBI, NSA and Navy Intelligence, said Pollard "should never see the light of day."

However, not everyone saw Pollard's actions deserving of the level of punishment that most everyone in the intelligence community wanted. After Pollard was sentenced to life in prison, a major campaign began for his release. Several high-profile people such as famed Nazi hunter Elie Wiesel, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and a host of others pleaded for Pollard's release.  It almost happened too, when former President Clinton agreed to release him, but backed off after former FBI chief George Tenet threatened to resign.  Clinton also received a letter signed by seven former Defense Secretaries urging him to not release Pollard.  Additionally, former Clinton Administration officials Attorney General Janet Reno, Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Defense Secretary William Cohen recommended that the master spy remain behind bars. There was even talk that if Pollard were released, the Joint Cheifs of Staff would step down.

The quest for Pollard's freedom continued during the Bush Administration.  On three separate ocassions, Israel requested Pollard's freedom, but Bush flatout denied the requests. There's no way that man should be released from prison--ever!  But of course he will be on November 21st. So let me give you a head's up--watch for the trickery, because it's sure to come.  We'll be told that the U.S. Parole Commission reviewed his case and they know he's a changed man and has been a model prisoner, therefore they had no choice but to grant parole.  But that won't be true. They've denied him before, and they should do it again. Clearly, this is what President Obama wants.

But, times change, and so do people. Apparently stealing highly classified U.S. intelligence is no longer that big a deal. Right? And if given another chance, Pollard probably wouldn't steal the nation's crown jewels of top secret information. Right?  But with Pollard's release, one thing's for sure, who could ever call President Obama an enemy of Israel again?  Right? Still, this won't change anything when it comes to the nuclear deal with Iran.  It's still a bad deal...and we know that's right.