FBI Probing Suspected Israeli Spy at Pentagon
Fri Aug 27, 2004 10:26 PM ET
By Joanne Morrison
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=6093314&src=rss/ElectionCoverage§ion=news
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI is investigating a high-level Pentagon
analyst suspected of
being an Israeli spy who passed secret documents about Iran to the Jewish
state, U.S.
government sources said on Friday.
The officials told Reuters the analyst was connected to Defense Secretary
Donald
Rumsfeld's office and allegedly passed the documents to Israel via the
American Israel
Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the powerful pro-Israel lobby in
Washington.
The sources declined to identify the suspect and said no arrests had been
made and no
charges brought. "No one has been charged," one government official said.
The Pentagon issued a statement saying it was cooperating with the Justice
Department in
the investigation and playing down the possibility that the suspect had
sought to sway
U.S. policy in the Gulf or Middle East.
"The investigation involves a single individual at the Department of
Defense at the desk
officer level who was not in a position to have significant influence over
U.S. policy,"
it said.
"Nor could a foreign power be in a position to influence U.S. policy
through this
individual. To the best of the Department of Defense's knowledge, the
investigation does
not target any other DOD individuals."
The Israeli embassy denied the allegations. "They are completely false and
outrageous,"
said a spokesman for the embassy who asked not to be identified and
declined further
comment.
CBS News, who first reported the story, said federal agents were about to
arrest the
alleged spy, who it said may have been in a position to influence Bush
administration
policy on Iran and Iraq.
The network said the analyst had ties to Rumsfeld's deputy Paul Wolfowitz
and Defense
Undersecretary Douglas Feith, both regarded as leading architects of the
war on Iraq which
President Bush launched in March last year.
According to the network, one of the documents passed to Israel was a
draft presidential
directive on U.S. policy toward Iran -- lumped by Bush in an "axis of
evil" with Iraq and
North Korea.
"This put the Israelis -- according to one of our sources -- 'inside the
decision-making
loop' so they could 'try to influence the outcome'," CBS reported.
The network described the spy as "a trusted analyst" assigned to a unit
within the defense
department tasked with helping to develop Iraq policy.
The Washington Post reported on its Web site on Friday night that the
official under
suspicion specialized in Iranian affairs and was a veteran of the Defense
Intelligence
Agency who was nearing retirement.
The Post said the investigation started more than a year ago, and it was
not clear if the
charges would be espionage or the lesser allegation of mishandling
classified information.
Officials at AIPAC called the charges "baseless and false."
"We take our responsibilities as American citizens seriously. We would not
condone or
tolerate for a second any violation of U.S. law or interests," the group
said in a
statement. It said its members were "fully cooperating" with authorities.
The United States is the main military, diplomatic and financial ally of
Israel and
supporters of Israel wield considerable influence in Washington.
One of the most damaging blows to U.S.-Israeli relations in recent times
was dealt by a
1985 spying case in which U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard
was charged with
passing secrets to the Jewish state.
He was sentenced to life in prison and his continued incarceration is
still an irritant in
U.S.-Israeli ties.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
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