Russian "Spying" Alive and Well

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright July 3, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

            When the FBI busted an 11-member Russian spy ring June 29 camouflaged in American suburbs, intelligence officials didn’t exactly jump for joy.  While uncovering clandestine foreign operations lies with the FBI, law enforcement has to discriminate between “spying” and foreigners making innocuous observations from American life.  Whether the arrested “spies” were involved in academia, finance, technology, politics or anything else, it’s not altogether clear what constitutes “spying.”  Just ask New England Patriot Coach Bill Belichick who was accused Sept. 11, 2007 of “spying” on the New York Jets.  National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell didn’t think too kindly of Belichick, fining the Pats $500,000 for what amounts to corporate espionage.  While the FBI builds its case against the Russian “spies,” the hype and burden of proof gets tougher.

            Since Sept. 11, the nation has been in lockdown mode, with Congress passing the Patriot Act Oct. 26, 2001, a sober reminder of the country’s weak national security.  When Osama bin Laden’s programmed assassins hijacked four U.S. airliners on the same day and flew them into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and almost the White House or Capitol, former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney realized the FBI and CIA were asleep at the switch.  While few heads every rolled, former CIA Diector George J. Tenet and newly minted FBI Director Robert Mueller shrugged.  They had no explanation for how al-Qaeda flew under the U.S. radar.  Since then, hyper- vigilance has ruled the day, where anyone casing-out a joint or taking snap shots can be accused to “spying.”  FBI officials claim that the newly uncovered Russian spy ring was deeply “embedded” in U.S. suburbs.

            Intelligence “experts” have come out of the woodwork commenting about the FBI’s latest sting operation.  “This is a long-term investment by an intelligence service to lead those individuals there, give them general assignment and see what they can pick up,” said John Slattery, former FBI deputy assistant director of counterintelligence now with BAE Intelligence and Security Systems.  Slattery hasn’t explained how “general assignments’ and “long-term” investment qualify as “spying,” when the surveillance was inconsequential.  Executives for Korean-based Kia Motors Ltd. weren’t arrested and charged with “spying,” for ripping off body-styles from Mercedes Benz.  “Although they aren’t trained intelligence professionals, they are available for assignments and see what they can pick up  . . .” said Slattery.  There’s nothing illegal about going to trade shows, stock exchanges or taking university classes.

            FBI agents swooped in the “ring” when one of its members named Anne Chapman tried to board a plane for Moscow.   Chapman, a model-like redhead, posted several seductive pictures on the Internet.  Her return to Moscow was regarded as “flight,” prima facie evidence of criminal guilt.  While it’s tempting to turn the incident into a Cold War spy novel, there’s got to be more evidence presented than simply some unknown Russian agent [the 11th member of the ring], initially arrested in Cyrus, paid his way out and then disappeared.  Court papers allege that some of the ring members were married and used invisible ink, coded radio transmissions, encrypted data and swapped bags at train stations.  U.S. federal prosecutor Michael Farbiarz said the arrests were “the tip of the iceberg” by Russian Security Service called the FSB, the successor to the old Soviet-era KGB.

            FBI officials refused to say what exactly the so-called spy ring found or what type of intelligence was collected.  Collecting data on various domestic activities is not considered illegal, since anyone has access to the same data.  Whether the alleged spies worked at newspapers, technology companies or academic institutions doesn’t mean that the data collected violated some U.S. spying statute.  Under the Patriot Act, the government has increased latitude for wireless wiretapping, arrests and defiining "enemy combatants,” individuals arrested without access to habeas corpus, access to an attorney and right to petition a court.  Whether or not the member of spy ring earned university degrees, received cash from Russia or lived in U.S. suburbs under pseudonyms doesn’t automatically qualify them as spies.  Recording harmless information and sending it to Russia doesn’t qualify as spying.

            Like the untold story of missing WMD that led to the 2003 Gulf War, today’s Russian spy thriller doesn’t add up.  Whether or not the Russian government wants to place information-seekers in the U.S. has nothing to do with real espionage or spying to the degree that anyone can record observations without committing a crime.  Calling the operation “classic KGB-style,” former CIA officer Bruce Riedel insisted that the Russians “hope that they will produce something years and maybe even decades later,” the same vague and ambiguous logic used to engage in preemptive war.  Bush insisted we must attack Iraq for Saddam’s “evil intent” or what he called “gathering threats.”  Unless the FBI can show substance to what looks like inconsequential information-gathering, the government’s case will get tossed out.   What looks like an Alfred Hitchcock movie doesn’t qualify as spying.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.