"If Russia is relying on hobbyist-agents like these to snoop on the
political-military situation in the U.S. prior to visits by state dignitaries,
nothing can stand in the way of friendship between these former Cold War
adversaries."
Alleged Russian spy Anna Chapman: She was arrested with ten others on June 27 and faces charges of money laundering and conspiring to act as a foreign agent.
It
isn't yet known if the Russian spies who have been exposed in the U.S. were as
amateurish, lazy and unworthy of their expense as it seems. But as the prosecution
points merely to “conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government" rather
than actual spying, their lack of effectiveness is clear. If Russia is relying
on hobbyist-agents like these to snoop on the political-military situation in
the U.S. prior to visits by state dignitaries, nothing can stand in the way of
friendship between these former Cold War adversaries. George W. Bush's method
of looking into the eyes of Vladimir Putin to get a quick “sense of his soul” was
similarly well-researched.
The ridicule that has greeted the agents, whose lives there seemed to be far too good to spoil the fun with espionage, will probably not be viewed with amusement in Washington and Moscow. Espionage is no trivial matter, not even between partners. Even today, espionage isn’t kid stuff - even among partners. And the
fear that Russia's mortal enemies (or those of the U.S.) are skimming off
information in similar sloppy fashion can't be dismissed out of hand.
WEST IS MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE
It
may seem curious that even after the Cold War, spies deployed to the
comfortable West would be enticed into idleness. But in Moscow, and certainly
Pyongyang, Tehran, Baghdad or Kabul, due to a lack of distractions and the
ultimate threat of being exposed and losing one's head, agents work far more
diligently. And there is little chance of disappearing into middle-class anonymity like that achieved by the Russian agents in the U.S.
One
need not worry about the fate of the ten arrested agents. They'll face a few
uncomfortable weeks or months in detention until their motherland makes an
exchange for them and takes them into its care. It may be, however, that no
medal awaits them upon their return, but rather secret service accountants and
a stack of dubious expense vouchers.
