America's Double-Standard Morality

Maariv News Service - November 22, 2010

Translated to English by J4JP - may be reprinted

They were arrested around the same time as Jonathan Pollard or years later. They sold sensitive secrets, passed technology, and did not hesitate to expose other American agents. Dozens of spies have been caught operating on American soil. They received substantial sentences which were followed by reductions and early release. They are all free today. Only Jonathan Pollard remains in prison.

While Jonathan Pollard, who was arrested 25 years ago and sentenced to an

unlimited life sentence

for spying for the benefit Israel, remains in prison, countless other spies who operated on American soil, committing far more serious crimes than Pollard, received much lighter sentences. This includes not only those who worked for friendly nations, but also those who spied for the greatest enemies of the US, from the former Soviet Union to Iraq. They received sentences, which when compared to the one Pollard received, seem light indeed.

Michael Walker, part of the infamous WALKER SPY RING, was arrested in 1985, the same year as Jonathan Pollard. The spy ring he belonged to operated for 17 years, selling sensitive US military secrets to the Soviet Union, causing what authorities described as "extensive damage to national security". He was sentenced to 25 years. He served only 15 years.

Richard Miller, the first FBI agent ever tried for espionage, turned over secrets, including a counter-intelligence manual, to the Soviets. He was sentenced to 20 years. He served only 6 years.

Albert T. Sombolay, a specialist 4th class with the Army artillery, pleaded guilty in July 1991 to espionage and aiding the enemy during the Gulf War. After Sombolay's arrest in March 1991, he admitted to providing DESERT SHIELD deployment information, military identification cards, and chemical protection equipment to Jordanian officials for transfer to Iraq. He was sentenced to 34 years. A year later his sentence was reduced to 19 years. With further reductions to his sentence, he served less than 10 years.

Richard Craig Smith, a former Army counterintelligence agent, was arrested on April 4, 1984 and indicted for selling information to Soviet agents regarding the identities of six double agents in the United States. Smith met on three occasions with KGB officers in Tokyo and received $11,000 for classified information. After months of pre-trial litigation over the admissibility of evidence, Smith was released, with no jail time.

Michael Schwartz, a non-Jew, confessed to and was indicted for the same offense as Jonathan, spying for an ally. In this case, the ally was Saudi Arabia. In order to appease the Saudi ally, a deal was worked out whereby Schwartz was punished only by loss of his job, his pension and his Navy rank. He received NO JAIL TIME at all.

Another spy, Abdelkader Helmy, a missile researcher, was sentenced in 1989 for selling technology for the Condor Missile to Egypt which was then transferred to Iraq. He got less than 5 years. He served only 2 years and was released.

Samuel Morrison, a Navy analyst, stole scores of SCI confidential material. ("SCI" classification is even more sensitive than "Top Secret") The material included photos which he sold and which were published in Jane's Defense Weekly, a British publication. Because of his famous Navy grandfather, Morrison was treated with kid gloves. In 1985, he was sentenced to only 2 years. He served only 3 months.

Steven Lalas, a US State Department official, out of ethnic loyalty to Greece, exposed the identities of countless CIA agents operating in the Balkans. He put the lives of all of these American agents in jeopardy. Lalas did not even honor the terms of his plea agreement, and yet in spite of this, and in spite of the enormity of his crimes, the government still honored its plea agreement with him. Lalas was sentenced to 14 years in prison. He served 11 and was then released and permitted to return to Greece.

Steven Baba, an American soldier, was arrested for having sent documents relating to electronic warfare secrets and indices of code words to the South African Embassy. The court imposed a sentence of 8 years at hard labor, yet under a plea bargain the sentence was reduced to 2 years. He served only 5 months.

A female spy, Sharon Scranage gave her boyfriend, a Ghana national, information gained as a CIA employee relating to the names of CIA operatives in Ghana. Although this information could have resulted in the loss of lives, the court sentenced Ms. Scranage to only 5 years. Shortly thereafter, the court reduced the sentence to 2 years. She served only 8 months.

Is the United States discriminating against the Jewish spy, Jonathan Pollard?

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