[American Thinker] Rachel Neuwirth - The criminal prosecution of Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, former executives of AIPAC (the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee), which has been in progress now for over a year (although the trial date has constantly been delayed), is a national disgrace. It threatens Israel by in effect criminalizing efforts to lobby on its behalf by American citizens. In addition, it threatens freedom of the press and freedom of speech for all Americans. Neither of the two men was ever an Israeli spy or received a cent from Israel. Neither gave classified documents to Israel. They never even saw such documents. They are not even technically accused of espionage, but only of giving "national security information" to "persons not entitled to receive it." These individuals, according to the indictment, included not only Israeli diplomats, but also unnamed American journalists and other American citizens not connected with Israel. The indictment thus criminalizes the widespread practice in Washington of leaking classified information to the press. The two have been indicted under the little-used Espionage Act of 1917, which has never been used before to bring criminal charges against persons who were not employees of the U.S. government.
2006-12-15 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive