Archives:
Russian Double Agent Who Brought Down Sleeper Ring ...
Huffington Post Op Ed 6/30/10
Huffington Post Op Ed 7/8/10
Colonel Alexander Poteyev, the Russian double agent instrumental in the arrests of ten Russian spies in the United States last June 27, was convicted of treason and desertion in absentia by the Moscow District Military Court, which handed down a prison sentence of 25 years. The conviction of…
Official Charged with Betrayal Flees Russia
By Daria Carmon
In the wake of the exposure of a Russian spy ring in the U.S, Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has begun a campaign against the man who is supposedly responsible for the failure. Aleksandr Poteyev, a former Russian intelligence officer, has been accused in Moscow of betraying the spy ring and faces up to…
Raymond Davis is a Spy? Not So, Says U.S.
Relations between the United States and Pakistan are heating up as the details surrounding an imprisoned American become less clear. Raymond Davis was arrested by Pakistani officials in January on murder charges after shooting and killing two men. He claims that they approached him in his car with guns drawn in an attempt to rob him…
Iran Blames West for Stuxnet; Arrests Spies
In the aftermath of the discovery of the complicated and effective Stuxnet worm, Iran’s intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi blamed western intelligence agencies for developing and unleashing the virus on thousands of Iranian computers. He has now announced on Iranian TV that his own intelligence team has captured “several spies” implicated in the plot to derail Iran’s…
New AMC Spy Show: Seriously Smart Stuff
If you’re on the prowl for a new action-packed, fast-paced spy series, this is not the one for you. However, if you’re curious about what sort of person, with what sort of past and psychology, goes into the spy line of work anyhow, AMC’s Rubicon might just be up your alley.
A word of caution: The pace is what…
Texas Girl Arrested for Attempted Smuggling to Russ ...
A 24-year-old Texas beautician was arrested on July 15 after trying to smuggle three night-vision rifle scopes into Russia aboard a JFK-Moscow flight in March. Although rifle scopes, which allow riflemen to see more precisely at further distances, are widely available in the U.S., exporting them without a license is illegal.
Anna Fermanova, born in Latvia but…
U.S. v. Iran: Winds of War or Psychological Warfare ...
By Haggai Carmon
Did Brigadier-General Mehdi Moini, who commands Iran’s Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps (IRGC) in the Iranian West Azerbaijan province, fail to read events through, or was he conducting psychological counter-warfare? Moini was interviewed by the Iranian television channel Press TV, following media reports on the presence of American and Israeli forces in Azerbaijan along the…
A Russian-U.S. Spy Swap: What’s the Rush?
By Haggai Carmon
At this very moment, there are growing rumors about plans for a prisoner swap that would return ten suspected Russian spies to Russia, in exchange for an imprisoned Russian military researcher Igor Sutyagin, who was convicted of espionage in 2004. The rumors also suggest that the U.S. has compiled a list of 11 Russian…
The Russian Sleeper Spy Ring in the U.S. — Pr ...
By Haggai Carmon
This week the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York filed criminal complaints against ten alleged Russian sleeper agents in the U.S. Although the cases concern U.S. national security, the sleepers were not indicted for espionage but rather for lesser charges of money laundering related felonies and for failure to register as foreign agents, under…
Tango with Tehran
By Haggai Carmon
Time has come for the world to recognize that a nuclear-armed Iran could bring the economy to their knees by hiking the price of Middle East oil, and that what is needed is more than rhetoric and mild sanctions against Iran.
“Let’s tango with the Americans,” said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to his aides.
“What style?”…
Obama Forces U.S. Spy Chief to Retire?
On Thursday May 20, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair resigned from his post as head of the sixteen agencies that together create the U.S. intelligence community. Although his resignation was originally attributed to his security…
CIA to Improve Intelligence Gathering Techniques
Just about everything about the CIA is classified – including its budget – but occasionally we get a little insight into how it’s spending its money: This week, the agency announced plans to pour millions of dollars over the next five years into improving intelligence gathering techniques, technologies and communications.
Number 1 on the agenda is upping…
15 yrs in slammer for China-born engineer
Seven months after Dongfan ‘Greg’ Chung, a Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizen in his seventies, was put on trial for economic espionage, he has been issued a sentence of 15 years. His trial was a quick affair – 10 days in Santa Ana, California – and he was declared guilty of…
U.S. official gets 3 years for helping Chinese spy
In September of 2009, an ex-Pentagon official with top security clearance was put on trial for knowingly sharing military secrets with an agent of a foreign government – the Chinese government to be specific. James Fondren, 62…
China poised to win cyber war?
Google shocked the Chinese government – not to mention all us gmail users – by announcing on January 12 that the company had suffered a serious cyber security breach, likely perpetrated by China. Encouraged by Google’s bold step, other companies are now coming forward, and so we see…
New spies for film “Knockout”
The latest in spy movie news is all about the star-studded cast of Steven Soderbergh’s new revenge espionage flick “Knockout.” The film, which starts shooting next month, is about a spy who works for a security contractor not…
White House issues report on Xmas screw-up
President Obama is proactively addressing the intelligence snafu that gave Nigerian Abdulmutallab the opportunity to blow up a plane heading to Detroit from Amsterdam on Christmas day, 2009. Luck stepped in, and the bomb…
Obama open about U.S. Intelligence ‘screw-up’
On December 25, 2009, a 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was allowed to board Delta flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, even though he had explosives, which he planned to detonate en route to Detroit, sewn into…
A Dangerous Tit-for-Tat
By Haggai Carmon
Iranian officials are accusing the United States of trying to encourage a “velvet revolution” in Iran. That term was first used in 1989 to describe the nonviolent revolution in Czechoslovakia that overthrew the communist government. And indeed, as part of its velvet war against Iran, the United States is broadcasting cultural programs in Farsi…
Shoot down spy planes, orders Chavez
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused Colombia and the U.S. of sending spy drones into Venezuelan air space, calling the alleged move an “act of war,” and ordering his air force to shoot…
Bracing for the worst
By Haggai Carmon
While the world eyes Dubai’s failing economy with great concern, across the bay, Iran sees opportunity. Dubai is the only oil-free city-state of the United Arab Emirates. Until mid-November, it was best known for its spectacular economy and luxurious high-rises.
Intelligence services the world over, however, have long regarded Dubai as a rat’s nest of…
Spy drone data compromised
The U.S. military has known for about a year that the live video feeds generated by the spy Predator drones in Iraq and Afghanistan are being intercepted by insurgents. Some think the U.S. didn’t bother to…
Three hikers to face spy trial in Iran
For those of you who’ve been following this now 4.5-month long story, a quick update: the three U.S. hikers who, according to the free world, accidentally crossed the border into Iran on July 31, will in fact be…
Imprisoned spy denounces deal with Hamas
Jonathan Pollard, an American convicted of spying for Israel and imprisoned in 1987, has spoken out against the deal Israel is currently making with the terrorist group Hamas in order to…
Iran to Charge 3 U.S. Hikers with Espionage
It’s official, the three U.S. citizen hikers who were apprehended just inside the Iranian border in July, are being accused of espionage and may face trial in Iran. Does anybody actually think backpackers Shane Bauer, Sarah…