U.S. Arrests 10 on Charges of Being Agents for Russia

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/06/28/us/politics/AP-US-DOJ-Russia-Arrests.html

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Yikes!

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I always knew there were still Russian spies. This goes to show that we must always be careful.

There are spies everywhere...I'm sure we have spies in Russia.

Yeah - we're just better at not getting caught.  But honestly, we do it just as much as everybody else.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Why would Russia be angry at us if we caught their spies?  It's their job to spy on us (and us on them) and it's our job to find their spies (and them ours).  Shouldn't we be angry they had spies?  Or maybe they should be angry/embarrassed at having such bad spies?

That's what I've never understood.  We all get so, "Oh gosh!  Spies!" when these stories come up - but we all do it.  Obviously, we don't want people spying on us, and we should try to stop it, but I think there's an attitude that spies are evil, and that's just dumb.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

The best part is we don't just spy on our enemies, we spy on our friends too (and they us).  If you're doing it right you'll have spies everywhere....which we sadly don't.  We still have issues getting and keeping spies in a couple of places we really need to have spies at.

Where don't we have spies where we should?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I would've liked to have seen Bush do that to get Bin Laden.

Spy on who?  Afghanistan?  While we were there?  That makes no sense.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I would've liked to have seen Bush do that to get Bin Laden.

Spy on who?  Afghanistan?  While we were there?  That makes no sense.

Spy on anyone. What? I don't know I don't call the shots. Why not?

It makes no sense to spy on a country that you're occupying - that's just - dumb.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I would've liked to have seen Bush do that to get Bin Laden.

Spy on who?  Afghanistan?  While we were there?  That makes no sense.

Spy on anyone. What? I don't know I don't call the shots. Why not?

It makes no sense to spy on a country that you're occupying - that's just - dumb.

Yeah, spying on the Taliban in Afghanistan would be really, really idiotic.

I mean, if we were planning on allowing them to keep power in some regions, then it'd be ok, but Derek's proposal just doesn't make sense.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Are you guys really that clueless as to how counter insurgency works?  Of course you spy on and have informers on the payroll in the Taliban.  This can often quite literally blow up in your face (as happened a few months ago) but having inside information is one of the few effective ways to fight such a campaign.

Right - that's understandable.  But that's not spying on Afghanistan to get Bin Laden - that's something different.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Are you guys really that clueless as to how counter insurgency works?  Of course you spy on and have informers on the payroll in the Taliban.  This can often quite literally blow up in your face (as happened a few months ago) but having inside information is one of the few effective ways to fight such a campaign.

Right - that's understandable.  But that's not spying on Afghanistan to get Bin Laden - that's something different.

If we don't have assets within the Afghan government then we are dumber than I think we are.  The Karzai regime is not trustworthy and is more than willing to sell us out.  We should have contacts within telling us what is going on.

Hopefully we have that without them being "spies", otherwise our time spent there has been a complete and utter waste.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Are you guys really that clueless as to how counter insurgency works?  Of course you spy on and have informers on the payroll in the Taliban.  This can often quite literally blow up in your face (as happened a few months ago) but having inside information is one of the few effective ways to fight such a campaign.

Right - that's understandable.  But that's not spying on Afghanistan to get Bin Laden - that's something different.

If we don't have assets within the Afghan government then we are dumber than I think we are.  The Karzai regime is not trustworthy and is more than willing to sell us out.  We should have contacts within telling us what is going on.

Hopefully we have that without them being "spies", otherwise our time spent there has been a complete and utter waste.

Inks, I think that attitude is a tad naive.  Most of these government types in Afghanistan are the ultimate movers and shakers. They've survived more regime changes than Tallyrand.  They understand money and power.   If they aren't building schools in their villages without bribes and kickbacks then do you really think they will give us anything useful without the Yankee dollar. 

I'm not talking about Afghanis - I'm talking about Americans there advising and helping the Afghani government.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I heard we were getting 11 spies back (so we made out better! )

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Maybe I misread it - I think it was 11 Russians, not Americans?

Here's at least one:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/08/world/main6660228.shtml

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