Hanssen Case: Sign of Russian Endgame?
Christopher Ruddy
Tuesday, March 13, 2001
Robert Hanssen has been caught. We can breathe a great sigh of relief.
Only if you dare.
The Hanssen case is remarkable on several levels.
Perhaps the most important lesson is that the Russian bear remains on the prowl and still views the United States as its great prey.
FBI Director Louis Freeh said that Hanssen’s espionage was "exceptionally grave."
This is true because Russia continues to keep the U.S. in its crosshairs – its nuclear crosshairs, that is. Since Russia maintains the largest nuclear arsenal, larger than that of the U.S., Russian activities shouldn't be taken lightly.
Clearly, the seriousness of the Russian threat is not apparent in reading daily newspapers or by tuning in to Dan Rather. In fact, Americans are led to believe that Russia is a democracy, a friend, harmless, and so disorganized they have difficulty making vodka.
But that picture doesn't jibe with the fact that the FSB, the KGB's successor, continued to run Hanssen at the highest levels of the U.S. government. Though the FBI couldn't turn up evidence that Hanssen was spying between 1991 and 1999, prosecutors told the Washington Post they had little doubt he was an active spy during that period.
Hanssen wasn't the only spy at work since the 1991 "breakup" of the Soviet Union.
When news about Aldrich Ames' betrayal hit in 1993, we took it for granted Ames was nothing more than a Cold War relic.
Apparently he wasn't.
Press reports now indicate that the FBI and CIA believed Ames was not alone, and continued their mole hunt after continued U.S. intelligence breaches.
At the time Ames was caught, some intelligence officials worried quietly that there were bigger spies at the CIA and at the highest levels of America's national security apparatus. Raising this worry was the fact that Russian counterintelligence likely had full knowledge that the U.S. government was closing in on Ames and that he could have been "rescued" by the Russians – that is, spirited out of the U.S. to Russia.
It would be a good question to find out if Hanssen knew whether Ames was under investigation.
If he did, it would be further evidence the Russians "sacrificed" Ames for other, more important, spies.
It is doubtful that Ames was sacrificed for Hanssen, because each dealt in completely different areas of U.S. intelligence.
Revelations about Hanssen's capture are disturbing in this light.
According to the U.S. government's criminal complaint and press reports, federal officials only uncovered Hanssen’s treason because "Russian sources" apparently leaked his KGB file. This file included original messages from Hanssen to the KGB between 1985 and 1991.
This obvious breach of Russia's own intelligence establishment raises some interesting questions.
One that stands out is whether Hanssen was "sacrificed" deliberately by the Russians. This may have been done to quash FBI and CIA interest in finding, again, other more important moles.
Why, for example, did the FBI not catch Hanssen’s Russian handlers who should have been ready to pick-up his cache at the Virginia park he made his last dead drop?
If the Russians did sacrifice Hanssen, he was a convenient pawn to sacrifice. Since Hanssen was about to retire from the FBI, the Russians could have viewed him as an asset ready to depreciate to almost zero.
If Hanssen’s file was deliberately leaked, it should be viewed as an extreme measure taken by the Russians. While clearly moving the heat of investigators onto Hanssen, such a move also undermines the confidence other moles may have in their Russian handlers.
Perhaps, the U.S. government has such a pipeline into the headquarters of the FSB (once the KGB) – and the leak was not deliberate.
Perhaps, too, the Russians have such important moles more important than Hanssen, they were willing to take this very extreme measure to have him captured and allow other moles to continue their work.
If the Russians were taking such a measure, then they may be playing out their end game, one more daring than anyone could believe.
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20011128072606/http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/3/12/212402.shtml
Hanssen Case: Sign of Russian Endgame?
Christopher Ruddy
Tuesday, March 13, 2001
Robert Hanssen has been caught. We can breathe a great sigh of relief.
Only if you dare.
The Hanssen case is remarkable on several levels.
Perhaps the most important lesson is that the Russian bear remains on the prowl and still views the United States as its great prey.
FBI Director Louis Freeh said that Hanssen’s espionage was "exceptionally grave."
This is true because Russia continues to keep the U.S. in its crosshairs – its nuclear crosshairs, that is. Since Russia maintains the largest nuclear arsenal, larger than that of the U.S., Russian activities shouldn't be taken lightly.
Clearly, the seriousness of the Russian threat is not apparent in reading daily newspapers or by tuning in to Dan Rather. In fact, Americans are led to believe that Russia is a democracy, a friend, harmless, and so disorganized they have difficulty making vodka.
But that picture doesn't jibe with the fact that the FSB, the KGB's successor, continued to run Hanssen at the highest levels of the U.S. government. Though the FBI couldn't turn up evidence that Hanssen was spying between 1991 and 1999, prosecutors told the Washington Post they had little doubt he was an active spy during that period.
Hanssen wasn't the only spy at work since the 1991 "breakup" of the Soviet Union.
When news about Aldrich Ames' betrayal hit in 1993, we took it for granted Ames was nothing more than a Cold War relic.
Apparently he wasn't.
Press reports now indicate that the FBI and CIA believed Ames was not alone, and continued their mole hunt after continued U.S. intelligence breaches.
At the time Ames was caught, some intelligence officials worried quietly that there were bigger spies at the CIA and at the highest levels of America's national security apparatus. Raising this worry was the fact that Russian counterintelligence likely had full knowledge that the U.S. government was closing in on Ames and that he could have been "rescued" by the Russians – that is, spirited out of the U.S. to Russia.
It would be a good question to find out if Hanssen knew whether Ames was under investigation.
If he did, it would be further evidence the Russians "sacrificed" Ames for other, more important, spies.
It is doubtful that Ames was sacrificed for Hanssen, because each dealt in completely different areas of U.S. intelligence.
Revelations about Hanssen's capture are disturbing in this light.
According to the U.S. government's criminal complaint and press reports, federal officials only uncovered Hanssen’s treason because "Russian sources" apparently leaked his KGB file. This file included original messages from Hanssen to the KGB between 1985 and 1991.
This obvious breach of Russia's own intelligence establishment raises some interesting questions.
One that stands out is whether Hanssen was "sacrificed" deliberately by the Russians. This may have been done to quash FBI and CIA interest in finding, again, other more important moles.
Why, for example, did the FBI not catch Hanssen’s Russian handlers who should have been ready to pick-up his cache at the Virginia park he made his last dead drop?
If the Russians did sacrifice Hanssen, he was a convenient pawn to sacrifice. Since Hanssen was about to retire from the FBI, the Russians could have viewed him as an asset ready to depreciate to almost zero.
If Hanssen’s file was deliberately leaked, it should be viewed as an extreme measure taken by the Russians. While clearly moving the heat of investigators onto Hanssen, such a move also undermines the confidence other moles may have in their Russian handlers.
Perhaps, the U.S. government has such a pipeline into the headquarters of the FSB (once the KGB) – and the leak was not deliberate.
Perhaps, too, the Russians have such important moles more important than Hanssen, they were willing to take this very extreme measure to have him captured and allow other moles to continue their work.
If the Russians were taking such a measure, then they may be playing out their end game, one more daring than anyone could believe.
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20011128072606/http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/3/12/212402.shtml
