Time to Set Pollard Free, Says Woolsey to Hamodia

Michael Stein - Hamodia - May 16, 2007

James Woolsey, director of the CIA during the Clinton administration, is an interesting figure. He is known as a person who is not afraid to buck the trend. A declared Democrat, Mr. Woolsey's positions on certain issues are more conservative than that of most Republicans.

Woolsey's stance on the Pollard issue is perhaps typical. In a wide-ranging interview with Hamodia, he declared for the record that Jonathan Pollard has served enough time for his crime and should be released. This is the first such declaration from a Washington insider since the beginning of the Pollard saga.

"Woolsey's statements will do a lot to further Pollard's cause," says Rabbi Pesach Lerner, executive vice president of the National Council of Young Israel and a long-time Pollard activist.

Woolsey has a history of taking positions that would later become policy. During the months following the September 11 attacks, with war being waged in Afghanistan, Democrat and Clinton appointee Woolsey (together with famed hawks Wolfowitz and Perl) was a major force behind the push for regime change in Iraq.

While the Bush administration spoke circumspectly about a possible war with Saddam Hussein, Woolsey became its unofficial point man in the growing war of words with the Iraqi dictator. Woolsey was dispatched to London by the Pentagon in November 2001 to investigate possible links between Saddam and the Sept. 11 bloodbath, and was widely seen in the media arguing the hawks' position on Iraq. While Secretary of State Colin Powell, leader of the administration's dovish faction, tried to keep Woolsey at arm's length, his views became increasingly influential in the Bush White House.

Senator Joe Leiberman is the recipient of most of Mr. Woolsey's political contributions. There is a kinship between them beyond the fact they are both graduates of Yale Law School; they are both hawkish Democrats, a breed which is fast disappearing from the Democratic Party. As such, they are both strong supporters of the war against Iraq and the need to stay there until things stabilize.

Woolsey has made it his major crusade in the past few years to bring the issue of alternative energy sources to the forefront. He has testified before Congress, urging the passage of laws supporting alternative energy sources and has recently been considered Senator McCain's presidential campaign adviser on energy issues.

Many will find that Woolsey's positions on the Middle East and his strong, unwavering opposition to conceding any ground to Islamic fundamentalists resonate. In his interview with Hamodia, he stated that negotiating with the Iranian regime to stop propagandizing against Israel, Jews and the West is like negotiating with Hitler, ym"s, to forgo his anti-Semitism. He warns against those in Washington who are willing to make concessions to Iran. Let us hope that his views win the day in Washington on the Iranian issue, on Pollard, and on releasing the West from its bondage to the oil-rich Islamic Middle East. For full interview, see Section F, pages 4-5.