“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” said Captain Renault to Rick in Casablanca as a croupier hands him a pile of money. The police captain had the good sense to at least feign indignation when he found himself in an awkward situation involving illegal activity. Renault, of course, condoned the gambling by participating in it.
Obama administration spokesmen, on the other hand, weren’t the least bit indignant last week, feigned or otherwise, when the Justice Department announced, on the heels of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to the White House, that 11 people were accused of being Russian spies. Their reaction was just the opposite. They described the incident as “a mere bump in the road to better relations with America’s former Cold War foe.” (More)
Filed under: National Security, Captain Renault, Casablanca, cold war, Earl Pitts, George Trofimoff, GRU, hamburger, Harold Nicholson, indignation, Jonathan Pollard, Justice Department, KGB, ldrich Ames, lies, nice guys, obama administration, President Dmitri Medvedev, Robert Gibbs, Robert Hanssen, russia, Russian spies, shocked, soviet union, Stanislav Lunev, White House, White House press secretary, world war II
SVR is new to me. But KGB is not. Just another form of relabeling to mask espionage. Great article about our nation’s fine reputation as a magnet for Russian spying so they don’t have to do any R & D. We have lots to lose, they have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
Indoctrination by education in the former USSR etched the communist mechanisms firmly in the mindset of the KGB/SVR. Bait and switch tactics are at work here, even the finest CIA spys cannot uncover lies by a nation known for its subterfuge for over 100 years. You do not undo 18-50 years of communist training in brainwashing, interrogation, spying in a decade, or a lifetime. Those in power in Russia know how to use those cold war manipulations like it was yesterday, they have practiced such. The Russians have probably handed many techniques down to the next generation of SVR agents just to keep the indoctrination going forward without change–because it works.
We have turned our backs in foolish pride thinking we defeated communism. While it is nice to look back upon the good old days, Russians were still in the background sulking, biding their time waiting for the right opportunities given in a free society that gives to the world. Now we pay the price. They will take what they want, rather than us selling it to them when our govt controls time release technologies to the world. Naive nation that we are, open societies pay a huge price because others more skilled at their tradecraft know how to ‘know the enemy’. We the people have been in the dark and haven’t considered that we were still classified as Russias enemy–til now. Good one Ed!
It’s just more of a failed presidency. We’re gonna regret this more and more as time goes on. Jimmy Carter is finally off the hook.
This administration continues to send the wrong messages to our foes, they need to stand up and be tall in the face of adversity in lieu of complacency! Nice piece!
Your statement: “We don’t know exactly what President Obama said to President Medvedev, if anything,” is a major problem we have with this administration that treats the citizens like mushrooms. We have been kept in the dark and fed BS for too long. We see the results of the George Soros direction of this executive light weight. I am very concerned of the direction, either on purpose, or because he can’t govern and lead, that our country is taking.
Great article but is anyone really surprised? Our current administration is made up of clueless, arrogant fools who think the world is one big group hug. God help us all.
You do know that the CIA were quite aware of what the Russians were trying to do, starting in the George W Bush era, and were tracking down and arresting the espionage group during Obama’s term, don’t you? That’s how spies are caught.
Yes, I know. I spent a few year on both sides of the spy game myself. My column was not a criticism of the CIA, which spent nearly a decade on this case, it was a criticism of the administration for attempting to minimize it.