Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Israel's 'Get Out of Jail Free' Card

By Philip Giraldi

".......If you have been wondering what has happened to the other Israeli spies who are currently in court or facing trial at some future point, you are not alone. The trial of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) officials Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman has been dragging on for more than three years. The two men were arrested together with Pentagon official Col. Lawrence Franklin under the Espionage Act of 1917, which defines espionage in legal terms as "injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign country." Franklin had taken classified Pentagon documents dealing with Iran policy and had shared them with the two AIPAC officials, who in turn provided them to the Israeli embassy in Washington and to the media to support the case for going to war with Tehran......

.....Predictably, no one in the mainstream media wants to report on Rosen and Weissman or follow up on the story of Ben-Ami Kadish. Nor has the Department of Justice made any public statements, though federal prosecutors claim to have a continuing interest in convicting the two AIPAC ex-officials. In the U.S. media, stories that are critical of Israel, particularly if they challenge the fundamentals and reciprocity of the "special relationship" between Washington and Tel Aviv, tend to die immediately and, in some cases, are even expunged from Web sites and archives. The tales of Rosen, Weissman, and Kadish are all too typical, reflective of a judicial system that is selective in its application of law combined with a political and media oligarchy that is willing to compromise every operating principle if Israel is involved. Perhaps Obama will do better, but one would be right to be skeptical, as he has already bowed to the power of AIPAC. If Rosen and Weissman are convicted, as they should be, and if Kadish suddenly appears for trial and sentencing it would be a remarkable indication that change has indeed finally come to Washington."

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