Response to Dr. Brandstetter

Submitted by Merry Whitney (United States), Jan 27, 2006 at 00:35

Sorry, Doc, no cigar.

Mr. Franklin was not "persecuted" because he was a friend to Israel. He was prosecuted because he pilfered and passed on classified information to unauthorized recipients.

Franklin, or anyone else, has a perfect right to disagree, even vehemently, with American policy, foreign and domestic. And, they have a perfect right to broadcast their views, publish their views, and hang their views on billboards, so long as they do not include classified information in their rants. That, they do not have a right to do.

Franklin, who was in a trusted position with access to classified information, was not in a polition which gave him authority to determine US policy. But he did have specific channels to go through in our own government, to express his disagreement and his rationale. The law specifically prohibits sharing restricted data with agents or representatives of foreign governments.

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