Israeli mole in U.S. stole info on Pakistan’s nuclear facilities

[UmarJustice]

Well before the 1998 Chaghai tests, the Pakistani lab, which produced the plutonium for its nuclear weapons, was one of the targets of an Israeli espionage effort that led to the arrest and conviction of Jonathan Pollard.

Along with the thousands of documents he passed on to his handlers, Pollard, who was Israel’s mole in the U.S. Navy’s Anti-Terrorist Alert between 1984 and 1985 also gave them information about Pakistan’s plutonium reprocessing facility near Islamabad.

This new detail is contained in The Jonathan Jay Pollard Espionage Case: A Damage Assessment, October 30, 1987 prepared by the CIA, and declassified for the second time on December 13.

A heavily redacted version of the report was first declassified in 2006. The latest version fills some of the blanks and was released as a result of appeals by the National Security Archive, a non-profit organisation working to reduce secrecy in U.S. government.

It is available at The National Security Archive NSAEBB/ NSAEBB407/

Pollard, who — according to a testimony by then Defence Secretary Caspar Weinberger — delivered to the Israelis documents that could fill a 6’x6’x10’ space, was detected and arrested in the U.S. in 1985, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The assessment report contains a confession by Pollard and reveals new details on the subjects on which he was asked by his Israeli handlers to provide intelligence, “in descending order of priority”:

“Arab (and Pakistani) nuclear intelligence; Arab exotic weaponry, including chemical and weapons; Soviet aircraft; Soviet air defenses; Soviet air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface missiles; and Arab order-of-battle, deployments, readiness.”

In the 17 months that Pollard worked for Israel, he was initially paid $ 1,500 a month; the amount was later increased to $ 2,500.

In a still heavily whited-out section titled “Implications of Compromises —What Israel Gained from Pollard’s Espionage,” the document reveals on Page 58 that “Pollard’s stolen material, from the Israeli perspective, provided significant benefits [redacted] …. Page 59, [redacted] Pollard’s deliveries concerning PLO headquarters near Tunis, Tunisian and Libyan air defenses, and Pakistan’s plutonium reprocessing facility near Islamabad.”

It is known that Israel used the information provided by Pollard for its October 1985 attack on the PLO headquarters in Tunis.

The reference to Pakistan is most likely about the Pakistan Institute of Science & Technology’s New Labs near Rawalpindi, where there has been a plutonium reprocessing facility since the 1980s. In 2009, New Labs was in the news again when a U.S think tank, using satellite imagery, said it had added another plutonium separation plant at the same site.

The Hindu : News / National : Israeli mole in U.S. stole info on Pakistan

 

[Safriz]

WASHINGTON: One of the major tasks of Jonathan Pollard, an Israeli spy in the United States, was to collect information about Pakistan’s nuclear programme, shows a document released this week. Between 1984 and 1985, Mr Pollard passed on to his Israeli handlers
several sets of official US documents about a Pakistani reprocessing
facility near Islamabad. Mr Pollard, although an American citizen, spied for Israel while
working for the US Navy’s intelligence service. In 1987, he was
sentenced to life in prison for spying but can be released on parole
on Nov 21, 2015. On Dec 14, 2012, the CIA released a classified document – “The
Jonathan Jay Pollard Espionage Case: A Damage Assessment” – it
had prepared on Oct 30, 1987. The document, declassified on an appeal by the George Washington
University’s National Security Archive project, contains previously
classified information about Mr Pollard’s activities as an Israeli mole
in the US intelligence system. The archive is a non-profit
organisation working to reduce secrecy in the US government. In a testimony to the trial court, former US Defence Secretary Caspar
Weinberger said that the documents Mr Pollard provided to the
Israelis could fill a 6’x6’x10’ space. The CIA document showed that Mr Pollard focused on “Arab (and
Pakistani) nuclear intelligence; Arab exotic weaponry, including
chemical and weapons; Soviet aircraft; Soviet air defences; Soviet
air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface missiles; and Arab order-of-
battle, deployments, readiness.” In a heavily whited-out section titled “Implications of Compromises
—What Israel Gained from Pollard’s Espionage,” the document
reveals on Page 58 that “Mr Pollard’s stolen material, from the Israeli
perspective, provided significant benefits [redacted] …. Page 59,
[redacted] Pollard’s deliveries concerning PLO headquarters near
Tunis, Tunisian and Libyan air defences, and Pakistan’s plutonium reprocessing facility near Islamabad.” Israel used this information to attack the PLO headquarters in Tunis
in October 1985. There are 10 references to Pakistan and its nuclear facilities in the
document but details have been erased from the copy posted on the
archive’s website. At one place, the CIA says that “political and economic intelligence
was deemed less valuable than military and technical material”
about all Middle Eastern countries, which one of Mr Pollard’s
handlers, Yagur, defined as ranging from Morocco to Pakistan and
from Lebanon to Yemen.” Some documents also contained information about the Afghan war
and Pakistan’s role in that war. Although the CIA document does not reveal what the Americans
knew about Pakistan’s nuclear programme, other recently
declassified documents, posted on the same website do. The records show that by 1980s the Americans knew that Pakistan
had a fairly advanced nuclear programme but Islamabad’s support
for the US-led war against the Soviets in Afghanistan prevented
them from taking any major action against the Pakistanis. In July 1982, the Reagan administration sent former CIA deputy
director General Vernon Walters to meet Gen. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
with US intelligence reports about “an upswing of clandestine
Pakistani efforts” to procure nuclear weapons. Confronted with the evidence, Gen. Zia acknowledged that the
information “must be true,” but restated earlier promises not to
develop a nuclear weapon and made pledges to avoid specific
nuclear “firebreaks.” In 1986, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency director Kenneth
Adelman also warned the White House that Pakistan was secretly
enhancing its nuclear capability but “top levels of the US
government let relations with a friendly government supersede
non-proliferation goals as long as there was no public controversy.” One document claims that the Reagan administration did not even
want the Pakistanis to share their secrets with them because they
“feared that … the ‘truth’ would have made it impossible for them to
certify to Congress that Pakistan was not developing nuclear
weapons.” And on that certification “rode the continued flow of aid to assist
the Afghanistan resistance,” the document adds. The records suggest that “lack of trust and confidence was an
important element in the US-Pakistan relationship, as it is today.” By the early summer of 1981, State Department intelligence
estimated that the Pakistanis were “probably capable of producing
a workable device at this time,” although the Kahuta enrichment
plant was unlikely to produce enough fissile material for a test until
1983. But in December 1982 Secretary of State George Shultz warned
President Reagan of the “overwhelming evidence that Gen. Zia has
been breaking his assurances” of not making a nuclear weapon. In the spring of 1987, senior State Department officials wrote that
Pakistani nuclear development activities were proceeding apace
and that General Zia was approaching a “threshold which he cannot
cross without blatantly violating his pledge not to embarrass the
President.” Since the Carter days, the US worked quietly with other nations to
prevent Pakistan from making a nuclear weapon by denying it
access to sensitive technology. US officials believed that by doing so they could “delay” and even
“set back” Pakistan’s nuclear programme. That was another reason why the White House and the State
Department worked successfully at offsetting Congressional
pressures to impose tough non-proliferation sanctions on Pakistan. In 1986, the Reagan administration certified that Pakistan was in
compliance with the Pressler amendment. In July 1987 US Customs officials arrested Arshad Pervez for trying
to buy supplies for the Kahuta enrichment plant but the Reagan
administration certified again that Pakistan did not possess a
nuclear device.

http://dawn.com/2012/12/18/how-israel-collected-information-about-pakistani-nukes-document/

 

[Sugarcane]

I think thread already exists

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I think thread already exists

multiple threads already exist on these topics

 

[Saleem]

well now the question is moot-----pervez [musharraf] already handed over any remaining "secrets".....

 

[JonAsad]

As per indians why would be israel interested in Pakistans nuclear program?- Sigh-

 

[Haseebullah]

I guess the conspiracy theory about a planned attack on Kahuta might not be much of a conspiracy theory after all.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

All Israel had to do was simple ask for this information
why all this complex and elaborate plan to spy on its financier?

well now the question is moot-----pervez [musharraf] already handed over any remaining "secrets".....

to whom? Changaiz khan or Muhammad Bin Qasim?
he must have had a time machine to do that

I wonder would would have been the reaction of both

Cangaiz Khan would have said
bla bla bla, books I hates books and papers burn them

and Muhammad Bin Qasim would have said

derk derk derka, jihad derka derka, dont stop me from Invading Sindh and plant palm trees derka derka

 

[The Deterrent]

well now the question is moot-----pervez [musharraf] already handed over any remaining "secrets".....

Musharraf contributed the most towards strengthening the existing nuclear capabilities of Pakistan as a President. He practically gave a free hand to the responsible organizations to develop and diversify the nuclear delivery systems as much as possible.
And he didn't need to pass any "secret" to the Americans, they already know enough.

 

[Umair Nawaz]

Now those enemy kids r not even close to this forum.
As this also shows how they gained info about Pak and then with IAF tried to attack us twice in 80s and then alone in 98.

 

[gangsta_rap]

and Muhammad Bin Qasim would have said

derk derk derka, jihad derka derka, dont stop me from Invading Sindh and plant palm trees derka derka

"Team America", Seriously?
You do know that when they use the derka dialogue their insulting muslims in general,not just arabs.

On a side note I do agree that Musharraf had not sold us out.But it is worth wondering why Israelis,even an Israel under Likud never points a finger at Pakistan's (active/declared) nuclear arsenal but keeps on bashing on Iran.Im not implying that they should do that,but its worth wondering why they dont.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

"Team America", Seriously?
You do know that when they use the derka dialogue their insulting muslims in general,not just arabs.

On a side note I do agree that Musharraf had not sold us out.But it is worth wondering why Israelis,even an Israel under Likud never points a finger at Pakistan's (active/declared) nuclear arsenal but keeps on bashing on Iran.Im not implying that they should do that,but its worth wondering why they dont.

yea seriously

but I was only taking a swipe at Mohamad Bin Qasim

re question quesiton why Israelis not make much fuss about Pakistan and why only Iran?

well

no Pakistani leader has vowed to wipe Israel from the map of the world. its Doctor Evil of Iran who made this statement.

 

[FaujHistorian]

I guess the conspiracy theory about a planned attack on Kahuta might not be much of a conspiracy theory after all.

It still is a conspiracy theory only acceptable among Pakistani Talibanic Jih@dist fas@dist Shait@anist circles.

You buy a deck of cards, and you get the joker card free.

Same way Israel bought 10000s of documents relating primarily to Arabs, Palestinians, and Commies and their weaponry. That was their main focus due to "existential threats" to Israel.

And yes they got a joker card aka few pages about Pakistani programs because it was in that heap of papers (6’x6’x10’ space similar to large pickup truck bed).

However as pointed out by our very own esteemed member Irfan Baloch, Israel has never threatened or pointed accusatory and hostile fingers at Pakistani government and Pakistani army.

Similarly Pakistani government or Pak army has never threatened or given hostile statements against Israel.

So please save us from these Al-manar TV, and Press TV type constipated conspiracy theories.

Thank you

 

[Solomon2]

CIA Assessment Sheds New Light On Pollard’s Sentencing, Intelligence Gathering

Jacob Kamaras
JNS.org

According to a newly declassified CIA assessment, jailed spy Jonathan Pollard received a life sentence because of an unauthorized interview he gave Wolf Blitzer for the Jerusalem Post. The assessment also reveals that the intelligence Pollard conveyed to his Israeli handlers was limited to information on Pakistan, Arab states and the Soviet Union—and did not pertain to U.S. national security.

Rabbi Pesach Lerner, who has been visiting Jonathan Pollard in federal prison for years, is accustomed to tight security to the point that he “can’t bring in a pen.”

It surprised Lerner, then, to find out from newly declassified CIA documents that an interview with Wolf Blitzer—“with tape recorders, and cameras and books” on hand—would have flown under the radar.
Pollard, the only person in U.S. history to receive a life sentence for spying for an American ally, received a sentence of that magnitude because of an unauthorized 1986 interview he gave Blitzer—the current CNN television anchor who at the time was working for the Jerusalem Post—in 1986, according to a CIA damage assessment on Pollard’s case. The National Security Archive at George Washington University published the documents Dec. 14.

“They had to apply for permits [to conduct the interview], you had to walk into a top-security prison,” Lerner, the former executive vice president of the National Council of Young Israel, told JNS.org. “Jonathan got those permits. [Blitzer] walked into a federal prison… You don’t just walk in through the back door, you walk up to the front door. Everything has to be inspected.”

“So to say, that Jonathan had an interview without permission?” Lerner asked. “It was under your nose, what do you mean without permission? Of course he had permission. Blitzer couldn’t have come in and the interview wouldn’t have happened [without permission]. So to say that the prosecution and the judge penalized him for that is, I hate to say it, is—if it would be true—it would be hilarious.”
Pollard, who on Nov. 21 entered his 28th year in prison following a conviction of spying for Israel without intent to harm the U.S., cooperated with prosecutors in 1987 return for an assurance that he would not receive a life sentence. But according to the CIA, Pollard’s interview with Blitzer violated that deal.

In the interview on Nov. 20, 1986, Pollard provided “extensive information on his motives and objectives in conducting espionage for Israel” and also gave Blitzer “a general account with important examples of intelligence he passed to the Israelis, and emphasized that the Israeli government must have been aware of and approved of his activities,” the declassified CIA assessment said.

The fact that Pollard gave the interview with Blitzer “without obtaining advance approval of the resulting text from the Justice Department,” the assessment said, representing a violation of his plea bargain.
However, the assessment also said Pollard cooperated “in good faith” while he was in custody.

“It says very clearly in these documents that he fully cooperated,” Lerner said.

The documents also revealed that the intelligence Pollard conveyed to his handlers was limited to information on Pakistan, Arab states and the Soviet Union—specifically, the handlers “did not request or receive from Pollard intelligence concerning some of the most sensitive U.S. national security resources.”

That new information on the intelligence gathered by Pollard “certainly raises a lot of questions” because it was previously presumed that his crime involved compromising American national security, said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of President of Major American Jewish Organizations.

“Some say that [Pollard’s] actions were inappropriate, but perhaps of less severity in terms of the way it has been presented” from a U.S. security perspective, Hoenlein told JNS.org.
However, Hoenlein cautioned against rushing to conclusions on the CIA’s damage assessment on Pollard because it is 166 pages long and still under review.

“We’re still reading the document, it’s very long, and we have people who are reviewing it [for the Conference of Presidents], and we’ll be meeting with attorneys and others about it,” he said.
On Dec. 10, the Conference of Presidents commended a bipartisan congressional letter urging President Barack Obama to commute Pollard’s sentence. The letter was circulated by U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Eliot Engel (D-NY) and signed by a total of 42 representatives.

Pollard’s advocates in Congress and elsewhere have long said that his life sentence is disproportionate to his crime. When he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom last June, Israeli President Shimon Peres reportedly asked Obama in a private meeting to grant Pollard clemency. But the White House, at the time, said it would not change its position on Pollard.

Lerner said the declassified CIA documents re-emphasize “that there’s no rationalization for putting somebody away for 28 years, seven years of solitary confinement” for what Pollard did.
“Our hope and prayer is that these documents will force everybody in the [U.S.] administration to take a second look, and hopefully the president, with a stroke of a pen, will be able to correct this serious injustice,” Lerner added.

In addition to Pollard’s Jerusalem Post interview with Blitzer, the CIA assessment said Pollard’s wife at the time, Anne, also gave an unauthorized interview—with the CBS “60 Minutes” program, three days before Pollard’s sentencing.

Esther Pollard, Jonathan’s current wife, told the Jerusalem Post that the U.S. government “did something highly suspicious by forgetting to send anyone to monitor these interviews.”

“Later, at sentencing, the prosecutor successfully inflamed the judge against Jonathan by falsely claiming that not only had the interviews been secretly arranged behind their backs, but that Jonathan had also disclosed highly classified material to Blitzer that compromised the intelligence community’s sources and methods,” she said.

Ultimately, Lerner said he does not get caught up in the details of the Pollard case that are already in the past, instead focusing on what he considers to be the convicted spy’s disproportionate prison sentence.

“At this point in time, it makes no difference who he was or what he was,” Lerner said. “He committed a crime, he more than paid for the crime, and it’s time that he be let go.”

Solomon2 comment: The report, if accurate and complete, is distressing. Israel and the U.S. had recently signed a strategic information-sharing agreement. If Pollard released no U.S. secrets that may mean that Johnathan Pollard wasn't guilty of treason or espionage but mere insubordination, an issue hidden - possibly even justifiable - because officials high up in the Reagan Administration wished to keep their support (or tolerance) of Pakistan's nuclear program secret.

That scenario would fit some of the facts: why the government violated its own plea-bargain agreement at Pollard's sentencing (unheard-of!) and why Pollard was in solitary for seven years (so he couldn't talk until the Reaganites had left office). Yet that doesn't explain the reluctance of successor administrations (Bushes, Clinton, Obama) to release Pollard, commute his sentence, or at least improve his living conditions. The man is in poor health: link

Johnathan Pollard would not be the first victim of this Reagan Administration policy, which was in direct opposition to the laws and intent of Congress. As described in the book Deception: Pakistan the analyst at the CIA & Defense Department responsible for tracking the program was first decorated, then had his government career systematically destroyed under a veil of secrecy.

Presumably there's more that's still classified that actually justifies the Pollard conviction - or is there?

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Great he knows how big the mushroom cloud will be on Israel`s head