The power of secrets
Still, despite Soviet penetration of American government, says Poteat, the KGB made its share of intelligence mistakes, sometimes because it just didn't understand our open society. The Soviets were convinced, for example, that the United States was run by a secret underground government. "They were from a place where leaders picked their citizens," Poteat says, "and the ones they didn't want, they killed off. They just couldn't understand how we accomplished what we did from the bottom up."
When the Department of Homeland Security opens its doors January 24, its goal will be to collect and coordinate intelligence from the CIA, the FBI, and the National Security Agency, among others--to gather in a central location the kinds of facts that fell by the wayside before 9/11 and, ironically, became harder to obtain after the Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen scandals. "Do you know what happens when we catch a spy?" asks Major. "We put up higher walls. But if you don't share intelligence, you don't connect the dots."
The trick, says Judge William Webster, the only CIA chief to have also served as the director of the FBI: "Getting as much information out as possible without impairing the rights of privacy that Americans have always considered dear. Everyone has a right to question, `Why are they doing these things?' "
These are questions that did not keep the ancients up at night but will continue to occupy nations indefinitely. "I cannot think that espionage can be recommended as a technique for building an impressive civilization," remarked journalist Rebecca West, who covered the Cambridge Spy Ring. "It's a lout's game."
Civilized or not, spies have won wars and influenced culture since long before America was born. Here are the lessons from those who have done it best--or worst, depending on your perspective. The playboys, the seductresses, the traitors, the enthusiastic but inept celebrities--all have tales to tell. So do the quiet heroes whose stories remain, for now, the most closely guarded of secrets.
Nancy Bentrup contributed to the reporting of the stories in this package.
Q & A
About this project.
Since the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., opened its doors in the summer of 2002, it has been one of the capital city's most unusual resources. Shedding light on a subject that had long lingered in the shadows, the museum highlights exhibits that range from spy gadgets of yesteryear to treasures of popular culture. Its board of directors, tradecraft experts and former officials at the CIA, the FBI, and the National Security Agency, as well as distinguished authors and professors, agreed to answer a series of questions posed by U.S. News on the nature of spycraft. They weighed in on queries that included naming the most underrated spy in U.S. history, the most damaging traitor to America, and the dumbest thing a spy has ever done. The questions prompted a great deal of lively discussion; by no means do their responses represent a consensus. Their answers are sprinkled throughout this package.
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