North Korea And The US: How Two Dissimilar Countries Must Right Their Wrongs
Isi Stein - EliteDaily.com - September 23, 2014
http://elitedaily.com/news/politics/north-korea-and-america-similar/767493/

Several American “officials,” including personalities like Bill Clinton and
Dennis Rodman, continue to campaign for the releases of Kenneth Bae, Matthew
Todd Miller and Jeffrey Fowle — three Americans North Korea is holding
hostage.

Bae was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for what the regime claims was a
plot to overthrow the government. Miller was arrested for allegedly ripping
up his tourist visa at immigration, a move somehow interpreted as attempted
espionage, and was later sentenced to six years of hard labor.

Fowle’s crime? He left a Bible inside of his hotel room, an offense which,
come sentencing, will no doubt reveal another disproportionate result, again
a great example of North Korea’s “legal system” at work.

Considering North Korea’s actions over the years and the negative global
image that it has created for itself, it is impossible for many Westerners
to believe that Bae, Miller and Fowle are truly criminals.

One might even question whether the North Koreans genuinely feel that the
three prisoners pose any danger to North Korean society or to their own
government.

Clearly, there are other interests at play. Holding three Americans hostage
can either be viewed as a move to assert national power — to ironically
attain greater levels of international standing — or to extract political
and economic concessions from the United States.

Regardless, the reality remains: Three human beings are serving unwarranted
punishments for their purported infractions. This will not only spell the
end of their freedom, but, no doubt, also put extreme strain on their
physical and mental health.

The United States, a sovereign nation that is dedicated to its citizens and
to upholding the ideal of justice, must do everything possible to ensure the
speedy and safe return of those who were captured.

Somewhat ironically, a case of comparable egregiousness has been taking
place within our own borders. While President Clinton, Dennis Rodman and
others continue to pay attention to the three North Korean prisoners 6,500
miles away, similar corruption exists a mere 250 miles from the White House.

Jonathan Pollard, who was jailed in the 1980s for passing classified United
States documents to Israel while working for the US Naval Intelligence
Command, is living a similar nightmare.

Jonathan Pollard is sitting in prison, almost 30 years into a life term that
has already included seven years in solitary confinement and stints at
various holding facilities.

This disproportionate punishment is the harshest ever assessed by the United
States to an accused spy who passed information to a US ally.

Precedent dictates that Pollard’s crime warrants an average of two to four
years and a maximum of 10 years in a federal prison. He has now served
roughly ten times the average.

To make matters worse, Pollard’s health is rapidly deteriorating, and those
who are intimately familiar with the ex-spy’s situation are skeptical that
he will live much longer. Simply put, if Jonathan Pollard dies in prison,
our country will be responsible for ignoring one of the greatest
miscarriages of justice ever recorded.

History will not be kind to us if we don’t take steps to mitigate the great
injustice that Pollard has already suffered.

There are those who will naturally argue that comparing the cases of Bae,
Miller and Fowle with that of Pollard, is preposterous. After all, Pollard
committed an actual offense, while it is doubtful that the same can be said
for the three Americans held in North Korea.

However, that objection only makes sense with a view to the first 10 years
of Pollard’s sentence, since that length of time is, by precedent, an
appropriate maximum punishment for his crime.

After that 10-year threshold, the prisoner’s status changed; just like Bae,
Miller and Fowle, Pollard is a victim. I can say without reservation that
Jonathan Pollard’s reality and that of his three comrades thousands of miles
away is no different.

That is why President Obama must immediately listen to the calls for Pollard’s
release from thousands of political officials, former and current
intelligence chiefs, human rights activists, business professionals and
religious leaders.

Lawrence Korb, Jimmy Carter, John McCain, James Woolsey, Alan Dershowitz,
Michael Mukasey and others are supporters who have called on the President
to end this madness, once and for all.

We must bring our leaders to task for failing to act in accordance with the
values that our country, and every single American, holds dear, even when it
is difficult to do so. We are not North Korea. While there is no doubt that
Pollard committed a crime, there is also no doubt that it is now time to
release him.

As Americans, we understand the importance of affording a human being due
process, regardless of nationality or race. When we fail to do so and make
mistakes, we must fix them.

While I am by no means comparing Barack Obama and Kim Jong Un, both of them
share a common responsibility: At their hands collectively lay the lives of
these four human beings.

These leaders must decide whether to preside over the signing of unjust
death certificates or to do the right thing and allow the prisoners to have
new chances at life. We must demand answers, and we must act, before it is
too late.