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Putin spy war on the West

IT IS time to send for George Smiley. Russia�s covert foreign intelligence operations against America have reached cold war levels under President Vladimir Putin, according to Washington officials.

White House intelligence advisers believe no other country is as aggressive as Russia in trying to obtain US secrets, with the possible exception of China.

In particular the SVR, as the former KGB�s foreign intelligence arm is now known, is using a network of undercover agents in America to gather classified information about sensitive technologies, including military projects under development and high-tech research.

Yuri Shvets, a former KGB agent, said: �In the days of the Soviet Union, the number of spies was limited because they had to be based at the foreign ministry, the trade mission or the news agencies like Tass. Right now, virtually every successful private company in Russia is being used as a cover for Russian intelligence operations.�

Intelligence experts believe that since Putin became president in 2000, the Russians have rebuilt a network of agents in the United States that had been depleted during the country�s transition from communism.

Putin served 16 years in the KGB, including a spell in foreign intelligence in East Germany. He became head of the FSB, the domestic security service. According to Shvets, the FSB has been operating widely in America because of its favoured status with Putin. Agents, some acting under diplomatic cover, are said to be trying to recruit specialists in American facilities with access to sensitive information.

A rare insight into the SVR�s methods was gained six months ago when the authorities in Canada deported a Russian man who had been masquerading as a Canadian citizen.

The alleged SVR agent had been living under a false identity as Paul William Hampel and was detained carrying a fake birth certificate, �3,000 in five currencies and several encrypted pre-paid mobile phone cards.

He claimed to be a lifeguard and travel consultant but counter-intelligence officers believe he based himself in Montreal because the city is the centre of the Canadian aerospace industry. Carrying a Canadian passport, he would have been able to travel freely to the United States.

In another incident last year, the Americans arrested Ariel Weinmann, a former US navy submariner, on charges of spying for the Russians. Weinmann was accused of making electronic copies of classified information which he sought to pass on to his handlers. He was sentenced to 12 years in jail.

John Pike, a military and security analyst who runs GlobalSecurity.org, said a surge in recruitment of US intelligence operatives since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 had presented great opportunities for the Russians to penetrate the CIA and other agencies. Shvets believes Russian agents are also entering America legally as immigrants, a rarity in the strictly controlled Soviet era.

The increase in Russian intelligence activity abroad is in step with Moscow�s more aggressive stance since Putin came to power and turned the country�s lagging economy around on the back of record high oil prices.

Putin�s abrasive style has frustrated Washington. Relations between Russia and the United States are worse than at any time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Comparisons with the tension of the cold war years have become commonplace.

�President Putin thinks the United States has been weakened by Iraq,� said Richard Holbrooke, a former US ambassador to the United Nations. �He thinks he has been strengthened by recent events and high-priced oil and he is trying to put Russia back on the international map.�

Estonia, the Baltic state, appeared last week to have become the target of a cyber attack after a row with Moscow over its decision to relocate a Soviet-era military monument. The Estonians claim professional hackers from Russia targeted the internet sites of ministries, parliament, banks, the media and large companies, causing their systems to crash.

The attack followed Russian calls to impose sanctions on Estonia, cuts in Moscow�s oil and gas deliveries and a campaign of intimidation by a Kremlin-backed youth group against the Estonian ambassador. Nato has sent a cyber-crime expert to help the Estonians, fearing that it could be next.

These concerns were raised last week at a European summit attended by Putin and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, at Samara in southern Russia. Merkel traded barbs with Putin over Russia�s human rights record and complained that critics of the Kremlin, including Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion, were prevented from attending a protest march.

Moscow and Brussels are due to start talks on an agreement to cover trade, energy and foreign policy but Poland has been blocking the negotiations as a result of a Russian ban on its meat exports. The Kremlin�s relations with Lithuania are also tense following Moscow�s decision to cut oil supplies to the Baltic state.

In February Putin accused America of imposing its will on the rest of the world. He said that Washington�s plans to install 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic � part of an anti-missile shield bitterly opposed by the Russians � �could provoke nothing less than the beginning of a nuclear era�.

Clearly Putin has this orgy to put Russia back to the top as a world power and at the same time compete with the USA at every level.

quote:

Originally posted by LatinLover Clearly Putin has this orgy to put Russia back to the top as a world power and at the same time compete with the USA at every level.

I reckon that's the goal of pretty much every world leader, given the fact that the US is the world greatest economy and military power. The difference, however, seems to be that former Communist countries are a lot more aggressive in their methods. Do you happen to have the source of that article?

Ps.: Oh, and I guess you meant to say "urge" instead of "orgy"... orgy looks funny in this context

quote:

Originally posted by Lira Ps.: Oh, and I guess you meant to say "urge" instead of "orgy"... orgy looks funny in this context

I lol'ed.

Who can really blame Putin for wanting to compete with the United States as an equal again? He grew up in a system that always viewed itself as equal or superior to the US, so it's natural for him to cling to that. Just as it will be natural for the United States to be indignant at getting passed by China in the foreseeable future.

Yeah, right, it's ok with the US having military bases all over the world, having missles all over the world. But everybody blames Putin.

What a bunch of ignorant Americans.

quote:

Originally posted by star-traveller Yeah, right, it's ok with the US having military bases all over the world, having missles all over the world. But everybody blames Putin. What a bunch of ignorant Americans.

I don't quite understand. What are people blaming Putin for?

quote:

Originally posted by star-traveller Yeah, right, it's ok with the US having military bases all over the world, having missles all over the world. But everybody blames Putin. What a bunch of ignorant Americans.

Oi, oi, oi, no need to generalise - read the post above yours

(and the post above mine)

quote:

Originally posted by star-traveller What a bunch of ignorant Americans.

let the hate overcome you. bring it into every ounce of your being. absorb it like you would a tall glass of cool water on a hot day.

only then will you find what you seek.

quote:

Originally posted by Sunsnail I don't quite understand. What are people blaming Putin for?

Well, this article openly states that Russia wants the Cold War back. Though, this time it's the US who is escalating the situation in the world.

quote:

Originally posted by Q5echo let the hate overcome you. bring it into every ounce of your being. absorb it like you would a tall glass of cool water on a hot day. only then will you find what you seek.

words words words, waste of time.

A lot of words, but the reallity tells a different story.

quote:

Originally posted by star-traveller words words words, waste of time. A lot of words, but the reallity tells a different story.

ha ha ha you make me laugh.......

quote:

Originally posted by LazFX ha ha ha you make me laugh.......

your avatars should make you laugh.

quote:

Originally posted by star-traveller your avatars should make you laugh.

hmmmmm.... too easy.....

You believe that Putin has evil plans towards the West?

quote:

Originally posted by star-traveller You believe that Putin has evil plans towards the West?

Nobody has said that. He just wants to be treated on an equal footing -- his speech at Munich basically stated as much -- the problem, as he saw it, was that the US treats Russia as an inferior nation that it can bully around. Putin wants to reassert Russian influence in the world to counterbalance US hegemony. The Bush Administration labeled him a psycho despot (for his comments, not necessarily previous actions) in an attempt to delegitimize Putin's own international legitimation attempts, and unfortunately for Putin, people are buying it.

Fear not.. Putin is only laying down the foundation for the next monarch of Russia. You think you've seen "Ivan the Terrible" in your history before? Guess what, he's lurking just around the corner. Get ready for "Sergei Ivanov the Terrible" - when Ivanov takes power next.

Forget Putin. Putin would seem more like Doby in comparison.



Ivanov is the antichrist religious right have been warning you about... and he's coming.

I'll never be able to read Harry Potter the same way again.

quote:

Originally posted by emc^2 Fear not.. Putin is only laying down the foundation for the next monarch of Russia. You think you've seen "Ivan the Terrible" in your history before? Guess what, he's lurking just around the corner. Get ready for "Sergei Ivanov the Terrible" - when Ivanov takes power next. Forget Putin. Putin would seem more like Doby in comparison. Ivanov is the antichrist religious right have been warning you about... and he's coming.

People won't vote for Ivanov, don't worry pal. Ivanov is a good co-worker but he is not a leader for the nation.

quote:

Originally posted by star-traveller People won't vote for Ivanov, don't worry pal. Ivanov is a good co-worker but he is not a leader for the nation.

Are you willing to make a wager? Say... a friendly 20 Euro bet?

quote:

Originally posted by emc^2 Are you willing to make a wager? Say... a friendly 20 Euro bet?

Easy.

quote:

Originally posted by star-traveller Easy.

You're on. So it shall be recorded here. PM me your info, I'll pm mine. The bet is on! =)

quote:

Originally posted by emc^2 You're on. So it shall be recorded here. PM me your info, I'll pm mine. The bet is on! =)

That Ivanon won't be a next president of Russia? If so it's on.

quote:

Originally posted by star-traveller That Ivanon won't be a next president of Russia? If so it's on.

Ivanov will be next Russian monarch. I got your 20 euros that says he is.... and I do take PayPal

I am sorry to spoil the party, but I am reading too much bullshit between the lines. Hmmm, like US and UK didnt have their agents arrested, expelled from Russia on charges of spying either??? So Russia's evil and the West is quite innocent for playing their dirty game! Check out the article I posted on the forum here about Azerbaijan - pretty much sums up what British, American politicians and business have been doing in former Soviet bloc since its disintegration. Litvinenko case can never be tied to Putin or the government. Putin is much more democratic than any other leader of Russia in at least 80 years. Russia is more democratic today and more west-leaning that ever before since 1917. So all those idiots who claim the Cold War is coming back and Russia is rolling back - please do a reality check, think twice or shut up.

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