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"Russian Spies Evade Detection By Not Spying !"
If this is what it's like to be a Russian spy in America, can I be one, too ?
I would like to go under "deep cover" and have the Kremlin buy me a house and a laptop (can I have an Apple, please ?) in exchange for weekly transmissions of encrypted intelligence concerning... well, whatever I learn over the course of the week while pretending to be an ordinary American citizen. Like the accused Russian spies, it may be true that I am far removed from the cloisters of American foreign policy or the vaults where state secrets are kept. But my lack of access to privileged information is really an asset because no one would ever suspect me of being a spy ! And I am well placed to report on many interesting things I learn while surfing the web at Starbucks. Plus, my next door neighbors both work for the U.S. Postal Service. There may be only 5 or 6 degrees of separation between me and the Obamas !
It is hard not to make light of a story that reads word for word like something straight from the pages of The Onion (a hilarious parody newspaper). I have read the Washington Post and NYT articles, wading through detailed descriptions of how astonishingly ordinary these people appear to be, looking for the skeleton in the closet, the smoking gun, the "beef". I even read the Justice Department complaint against "Sexy Russian Spy" Anna Chapman. Nada.
Oh, there is plenty of suspicious stuff, all right. These people quite possibly are or were Russian "spies". They apparently took money from Moscow and used it to buy houses and clothes. And they did not report the source of the money, which probably constitutes some form of money laundering. They also communicated clandestinely, like teenagers sharing pirated songs over peer-to-peer networks. Who knows what they were talking about ?
I am not claiming they are innocent victims of a Kafka-esque bureaucracy run amok. But in what way were they an immediate and serious threat to our national security ? And why did the FBI choose to pounce on them now ? Why not just string them along and feed them false information ? They have been under close observation for years. How did this suddenly become an episode of "24" ?
There must be another story behind this story. But so far, most of the news media seems to be just playing along, perfectly happy to publish "hottie" pictures from Facebook under headings like "Didn't Rake Leaves" and expressing outrage at those dastardly Russians for sending money in secret to buy distressed American real estate without reporting it to the proper authorities.
At least the Economist has noted the absurdity: "Read After Burning". I eagerly await the next installment: "Russian Spy Under Deep Cover now has 6 Million Followers on Twitter !"
And why did the FBI choose to pounce on them now ? Why not just string them along and feed them false information ? They have been under close observation for years. How did this suddenly become an episode of "24" ?
shafique wrote:What's the argument now - Israel is just as criminal as the Ruskies when it comes to faking passports and killing people?
We knew that already.
You may want to look up how the British government and public reacted with the Ruskies killed Litvinyenko in London. They didn't remain silent and didn't do to the Ruskies what they later did to the Israelis when they were exposed in the Dubai murder.
Fanboi Fail. Again.
Do you guys enjoy failure? Next you'll be comparing yourselves with Ghadaffi and wondering why he get's good press these days (it could be that he just kisses behinds now and doesn't go around killing Europeans on ships)
Cheers,
Shafique
...there is no outrage. No chorus of condemnation. No leftist loons shrieking bloody murder and 'Won't someone pleeeze think of the children!'. No UN council meeting. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
How dare you imply that Israel is subjected to a disproportionate amount of criticism. I mean, it's not like Yemen is blockading its own people of essential supplies; like food, medicine and water.
event horizon wrote:You mean like this reaction:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulim_Yamadayev
Somehow, I don't think there was a comparable reaction - either in the West or in the Muslim world.
As for Russian/Soviet assassinations, to compare those to how the Muslim world and leftist loons react to Israeli assassinations is beyond ridiculous.