There is some buzz in intelligence circles about recent Justice Department inquiries both at CIA and also at the Pentagon about the damage done by Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, suggesting to some that (a) Obama will release him and may even announce it when he addresses AIPAC on the weekend or (b) Obama knows Netanyahu will again ask that Pollard be released during their talk next week and is briefing himself up on why he has to stay in jail. Inevitably, most think it will be choice (a) and that Obama is thinking of shoring up his re-election prospects for 2012 by courting a key constituency.
The Lobby has been active lately in the lead-up to the AIPAC conference. A letter calling on Obama to free Pollard has been circulating since January and has attracted a number of endorsements including George Shultz. Last week 36 congressmen signed on to a letter originated by Rep. Steve Israel (no irony intended) calling on the Turkish government to stop the next aid flotilla planned for Gaza, which will likely depart next month. The letter implies that there will be dire consequences, and rightly so, if the ships are allowed to sail. Today the White House press secretary all but commended Israel for killing twenty protesters along the Syrian and Lebanese borders during demonstrations on Sunday, praising the “restraint” and noting that it was a proper remedy for “unauthorized border crossing.” Part of the border in question is Israeli-occupied Syrian territory in any event but one wonders if the Obama Administration is planning a similar remedy for Mexicans trying to enter the United States.
Stephen 
tbraton 
Steve Hogan 
James 
Steve 
James Canning 
The many victims of Pollard’s treachery, and the families of those victims, would be cruelly denied justice if he were ever freed.
As Grant Smith recently reported, we aren’t finished with Pollard. Members of the Israeli espionage ring he worked for are still being identified, and more prosecutions are in prospect. Netanyahu’s appeals are only half serious. They are primarily intended to give him hope that he will be released, because as long as Pollard has hope he won’t talk.
A lot of good Americans have worked this case over the years, and they would all gladly see him gripping the arms of an electric chair if it weren’t for what he knows but hasn’t told us.