In a letter to President Obama recommending Pollard's immediate release, former National Security Advisor Bud McFarlane unequivocally blamed Weinberger's "anti-Israel agenda" for his disproportionate sentence and called it a "great injustice." Similarly, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb stated that the sentence was entirely due to Weinberger's "visceral hatred of Israel." The pathological animus that surrounded Pollard's sentencing found a potent soul mate in Weinberger, one who not only shared the hatred but possessed the motivation, means, and influence to assure Pollard's internment for three decades.
But as we've seen, Weinberger was not the only voice calling for Pollard to remain in jail. To the impartial observer, there appears to be a anti-Pollard agenda deeply ensconced among the leaders of the U.S government. Which begs the question: What type of damning information could Pollard have transferred to Israel that caused such malicious players in Washington to send him away for life?
First note that Pollard never sought to betray the U.S. or bring harm to any of its institutions. His only crime was wanting to aid Israel by supplying it with information he felt was vital to its security and yet being withheld from it. He transferred the pick of U.S. intelligence on Arab and Islamic military activity conducted by both "friendly and unfriendly" Arab countries, such as Morocco and Pakistan. The data included essential details about Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan, and Iranian nuclear, chemical, and biological-warfare capabilities, as well as planned terrorist attacks against Israel.
Pollard's revelations could not have sat well with the Arab world, but fortunately for them there was one country positioned to raise the cudgel: Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia's possession of the world's largest oil reserves, its strategic location, and its unique role in the Arab and Islamic worlds are the reasons Saudi friendship is valued by the United States. They share common concerns and consult regularly on regional and global issues. These close ties with America, in addition to their vast oil-based wealth, provide the Saudis with the means to establish a huge network of pernicious influence throughout the United States. Firstly, they export Wahabism, the most extreme form of Islamic religious practice. They achieve this by financing the construction of hundreds of mosques and madrasas across America, and pay for the training and support of the fanatical imams that spread these teachings. Secondly, the Saudis invest millions of dollars 'buying up' departments of Middle East Studies and Political Science in select universities in order to spread their biased ideologies. And still more baneful is the Saudis' accumulation of out-going U.S public officials on their bloated payrolls. As former CIA case officer Robert Baer puts it, there is hardly a living former CIA director, White House staffer, or member of Congress who hasn't ended up on the Saudi payroll in one way or another. It therefore comes as no surprise when we learn of the Saudi funds going to the Carter Center, established by the former President.
I fear that Pollard, while delving into the various intelligent reports, may have discovered the more detailed accounts of Saudi influence on America's government as well as on past and present public servants. He did not stand much of a chance against Weinberger's deeply-rooted hatred of Israel or against Saudi Arabia's unlimited funds being channeled toward Muslim extremism.
Zev Chamudot
Petach Tikvah
[Banner image credit: Wikimedia user udi Steinwell]
