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the invisible man On Monday, FBI agents arrested ten individuals (an eleventh remains at large), alleging that they were part of a Russian spy ring. But here's the catch: they were not charged with espionage or the acquisition of classified information, but rather with such things as conspiracy to commit money laundering and failure to register as the agents of a foreign government. Hunh?! So long as they did not, in fact, commit espionage, the FBI should have continued to watch them, should not have arrested them, and had they become overtly aware of FBI surveillance and attempted to flee, should have let them go. They were little fish, not worth having.

Presumably it's Vladimir Putin who originally put the Russian teams in place years ago. But looking at how inept they appear to be, and how they obtained literally nothing of value, one must speculate that their real purpose may have been merely to be caught, eventually, to distract from other, more able and productive spies. That would seem consistent with the Putin we know.

The arrests raise an interesting question which may not be answered for decades: who made the decision to wrap up the gang and for what reason? Whoever, he lacks a certain sang-froid.



Home FAQ Contact Archive EP Store EP Alerts © 2012 ElectricPolitics	Spy Stories On Monday, FBI agents arrested ten individuals (an eleventh remains at large), alleging that they were part of a Russian spy ring. But here's the catch: they were not charged with espionage or the acquisition of classified information, but rather with such things as conspiracy to commit money laundering and failure to register as the agents of a foreign government. Hunh?! So long as they did not, in fact, commit espionage, the FBI should have continued to watch them, should not have arrested them, and had they become overtly aware of FBI surveillance and attempted to flee, should have let them go. They were little fish, not worth having. Presumably it's Vladimir Putin who originally put the Russian teams in place years ago. But looking at how inept they appear to be, and how they obtained literally nothing of value, one must speculate that their real purpose may have been merely to be caught, eventually, to distract from other, more able and productive spies. That would seem consistent with the Putin we know. The arrests raise an interesting question which may not be answered for decades: who made the decision to wrap up the gang and for what reason? Whoever, he lacks a certain sang-froid. Posted by George Kenney on June 28, 2010 11:46 PM « Tails, You Lose \| Main \| Plato's Time Capsule » Share this post: Leave a comment Name Email Address URL Remember personal info? Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)

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