Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Russian "spies"
Doesn't make a lick of sense. From the available info, these agents weren't looking for "sensitive information" at all, so they're not spies (not competent spies anyway!)
They weren't even Agents of Influence in the classic sense, because the Soviet influence now runs in the opposite direction. The Soviet takeover of America was completed in 1989, and America is now the center and wellspring of Soviet ideology. Russia has turned back toward old-fashioned authoritarian/nationalist rule, without much of an ideology.
Two hypotheses that might make sense:
(1) Catching these folks was a form of blackmail, either punishing Medvedev for not going along with Obama, or trying to push Medvedev into doing something he doesn't want to do.
(2) Medvedev wanted these incompetent leftovers to stop operating, so he told Obama that it's OK to pull the string on them now. Perhaps this also provided a convenient distraction against some Russian domestic story.
If the Feds really wanted to pick up some spies, there are several thousand Chinese spies working in government and industry, hardly bothering to hide.
= = = = =
Update 6/30: We're getting a little more "information".
One of these suspects does sound like a proper Agent of Influence:
Okay, that's the A of I type ... but why would the Russians pay her, why take all the trouble of running a clandestine operation, when 100% of American journalists are already doing this job without any payment or hassle?
Nope, these particular sleepers weren't meant to be doing real work. They're low-hanging fruit, for a purpose that's not yet clear. Possibly their "capture" was designed to keep our incompetent FBI occupied with busy-work while more serious actions happen elsewhere. ¶ 11:11 AM
They weren't even Agents of Influence in the classic sense, because the Soviet influence now runs in the opposite direction. The Soviet takeover of America was completed in 1989, and America is now the center and wellspring of Soviet ideology. Russia has turned back toward old-fashioned authoritarian/nationalist rule, without much of an ideology.
Two hypotheses that might make sense:
(1) Catching these folks was a form of blackmail, either punishing Medvedev for not going along with Obama, or trying to push Medvedev into doing something he doesn't want to do.
(2) Medvedev wanted these incompetent leftovers to stop operating, so he told Obama that it's OK to pull the string on them now. Perhaps this also provided a convenient distraction against some Russian domestic story.
If the Feds really wanted to pick up some spies, there are several thousand Chinese spies working in government and industry, hardly bothering to hide.
= = = = =
Update 6/30: We're getting a little more "information".
One of these suspects does sound like a proper Agent of Influence:
defendant Vicky Pelaez worked as a both a print and television journalist for decades. She had risen to become a columnist for the prominent New York Spanish-language newspaper, El Diario/La Prensa.
In her column, she voiced strong criticism of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America in weekly pieces.
Gerson Borrero, a former editor in chief of El Diario, described Pelaez as soft-spoken but forceful in her opinions and stridently ideological. She stood out too, because she liked to wear traditional Peruvian garb to the office.
Okay, that's the A of I type ... but why would the Russians pay her, why take all the trouble of running a clandestine operation, when 100% of American journalists are already doing this job without any payment or hassle?
Nope, these particular sleepers weren't meant to be doing real work. They're low-hanging fruit, for a purpose that's not yet clear. Possibly their "capture" was designed to keep our incompetent FBI occupied with busy-work while more serious actions happen elsewhere. ¶ 11:11 AM
