Was Condi Rice a Spy for Israel?
by Jeff Davis
Anyone who gives military or national secrets to a foreign power outside of official government channels is guilty of espionage. Jonathan Pollard is in prison today for spying for Israel, should Condi Rice join him?
A recent news article reports “Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaked national defense information to a pro- Israel lobbyist in the same manner that landed a lower-level Pentagon official a 12-year prison sentence, the lobbyist’s lawyer said Friday.”
The AIPAC Israeli spy scandal just gets better and better. Now it looks like defense lawyers for AIPAC lobbyists and accused Mossad agents Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman will be calling none other than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the stand, and asking her to testify that she herself has repeatedly given classified American defense secrets to Israel, in the same manner that landed a lower-level neo-con Pentagon official a 12-year prison sentence.
It is believed that Rice’s defense against the spying charge will be the same one George W. Bush will eventually raise against accusations that he violated Federal law by disclosing the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, in order to discredit her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson. That’s what might be called the Imperial Presidency defense, i.e. the idea that the President decides what’s classified and what isn’t and he can decide who to tell. Condoleezza Rice can either claim that she herself has the power to reveal anything she pleases to anyone (she doesn’t) or that Dubya himself authorized her to tell the Israelis many of our military secrets.
Not that the case is ever likely to come to trial, in any event. During Friday’s hearing, U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III said he is considering dismissing the government’s entire case because the law used to prosecute Rosen and Weissman may be unconstitutionally vague and broad and infringe on freedom of speech. (Disclosing secret military information is now classified as “freedom of speech” for the neocons. Of course, that doesn’t do much good for that poor bastard Larry Franklin who drew a 12 year prison stretch for exercising his “freedom of speech” in the same manner.) Ellis also stated that Rice doesn’t have to appear before the court if she can cite “compelling reasons such as prior commitments,” i.e. if she’s too busy to fit courtroom testimony into her hectic schedule. You know, it wasn’t so many years ago that even Hillary Clinton didn’t have the legal muscle necessary to quash a subpoena. It will be interesting to see if Bush’s Sheba does.
It is known that Condoleezza Rice’s lawyers are seeking to quash the subpoenas, and most likely some way will be found around her testifying in the embarrassing court case. The judge also granted a subpoena for Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni. The latter name is interesting: Zinni recently participated in the so-called “revolt of the generals” against the inept Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, criticizing his handling of the disastrous American invasion and occupation of Iraq as “stunningly incompetent,” disorganized, unfocused, and needlessly bloody.