Accused Russian Spy Makes Bail, While Pollard Rots in High Security Prison

One of my objections to the way the United States has punished Jonathan Pollard concerns precedence, who others are punished for espionage crimes.  I don't deny that he went against American law, but his punishment is out of proportion compared to others convicted of similar crimes.

Now there's news of a Russian spy ring that has been operation in the United States for a number of years.  This isn't one individual working alone, this is a much more complex operation, but somehow the media is trying to make it seem almost benign, like in this Newsweek article:

As we previously reported, charges issued so far against the alleged “illegal” long-term Russian penetration agents do not accuse them directly of espionage—stealing or attempting to steal U.S. intelligence or defense secrets. Instead, court documents portray them as talent spotters, alleging that they were assigned to identify and ingratiate themselves with influential Americans who had access to U.S. policymakers or government secrets, the idea being that those individuals could then be targeted for more aggressive recruitment by other Russian spies.

Another strange thing is that the New York Times is already downplaying it.  I subscribe to the daily headlines and the subject wasn't included.  I had to search the internet paper.




Maybe I'm just some dumb grandma, but I think the Russian spy ring is more dangerous to the security of the United States than one lone guy giving information to an ally.