TO CATCH A SPY

What do you know ? The FBI captured 10 Russian spies with their families who were embedded in the US for around 10 years as" Rezidenturas"or deep cover agents. What is surprising is that they were not Israeli agents; these Zionists are nestled deeply in the US. They have appeared as the main target of the FBI since the end of the Cold War. The FBI problem with the Israelis is that , in the main , they capture them, but cannot easily convict them, because of domestic political pressure.

The 10 Russian spies were swaped for four western agents held by the Russians--two that appeared to spy for the United Kingdom and the other for the US. All were Russian nationals. The swap, however, did not have the pathos and drama of the Cold War exchanges. For example:

""On February 10, 1962, Powers was exchanged along with American student Frederic Pryor in a well publicised spy swap for Soviet KGB Colonel Vilyam Fisher (aka Rudolf Abel), a Soviet colonel who was caught by the FBI and put in jail for espionage.""{GOOGLE}

Gary Powers was the U2 ill-fated pilot and Colonel Abel was a Soviet super spy who was a spymaster,. Powers was later to die in California when a helicopter he was flying ran out of gas. The USAF was to award him medals after his death. CIA Chief Tenet awarded him a CIA star despite the fact, according to procedures, he did not destroy his U2 or take a poison pill when captured,. Abel was treated as a hero in Moscow. By reputation he is the most skilled spy of his era,

last time I saw the U2 was at the Red Army Museum in Moscow in 1967..the Soviets captured it with all sensitive camera equipment as the aircraft was not completely destroyed.--I would not have traded Powers for Abel.

The recent spy incident was curious as the !0 Russians were not charged with espionage, but rather failing to register as representatives of a foeign government and money laundering .This should make the busy dual- citizenship Israelis, Mexicans and Chinese start looking over their
shoulders.-- Many in these nationalities have difficulty with the priority of their citizenship--there are other nationalities with confused loyalties as well .

The US seems to agree that this Russian group did not collect classified information, but it appeared the members were exercised regularly by the Moscow Center to practice spy craft procedures. Their main threat appears to be as spottters for higher qualified Russians to recruit American spies. The most valuable Russian spy handlers in the US are protected by diplomatic immunity. Those who were pulled in by the FBI drag net are small fry--you can bet there are still many more of them to keep the FBI 0n their toes,

Ihe retuned Russians will be used as American experts in language and analysis of US affairs by Russian Intelligence organizations. So despite damage to their web in the US, the Russians will treat them as foeign area specialists, once they figue out countermeasures for the conduct that ensnared them by the FBI.

While the US gives priority to National Technical Means{NTM}, the Russians ,like the Soviets, rely on Human Intelligence[HUMINT}. The US thinks in terms of strategic missile and air targeting, the Russians think in terms of facing the enemy on the ground--both countries have both means, but the US crippled its HUMINT capabilitiees when Admiral Turner was the CIA chief under President Carter. And this may go to explain later US failures on WMD in Iraq. as well as GWB's ditzy behavior on the run-up to 9/11

The Russians scored big in the Cold War with HUMINT. It pentrated the FBI in the late 80s in the Robert Hanssen affair; it was characterized as the worst intelligence disaster in history--Hassen sold out for 1 million 400 thousnd over a 22 year period. At CIA Alrich Ames sold out for a little less than a million dollars. Ames was responsible for the deaths of af least 10 pro US agents and the compromise of a 100 intelligence operations run against the Russian Soviets.

This recent US/Russian spy incdent had almost a Gilbert and Sullivan aspect. Both sides appeared to have agreed it is okay to read each others mail, but it should be done more discreetly. One of the Russian female agents had a frisky Mata Hari reputation with a British passport; she is set to open a modeling agency in London. KGB Honey Trap.? Sometimes it appears the Russians consider espionage as a form of entertainment.

Noone wants spies around unless you need the special information they can provide--the problem is you never know when you need the information. Unlike NTM , you just can not press a botton for HUMINT. The Russians think long term about it and set up for it. The US still prefers to press NTM buttons and hope for the best.. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret.