Did the cold war really end?
Russian spies have been an undercover issue ever since the cold war, but us as Americans are unaware due to the fact that they are people we probably call close friends and co-workers. The government has also left us uninformed to the fact that Russian spies have been found undercover. I’ve looked through numerous news articles in the previous 5 years and now to find out about Russian espionage. I think other people think that we don’t have the best relationship with Russia, but we are civil with them. Not too many people think about whether or not Russian spies are in the U.S, or if they know any people who are spies.
I know that the cold war has been said to be over in 1989 or around that time, the Cold war ended when the U.S.S.R (Russia) collapsed. When the Berlin wall fell down it was said to be over, this wall separated Eastern and Western Berlin. Eastern Berlin was communism and West was Democratic, the big issue was that Russia wanted everyone to be communist and The U.S wanted to stay democratic. Since the two countries never officially resolved their issues, to me the cold war didn’t end. They might not have missiles aimed at each other, but there are still unresolved issues between the two; as well as undiscovered spies.
"The current atmosphere in the US is that we're having a love affair with Russia, that the Cold War is over, but there are more Russian spies here now than during the Cold War." If we have no issues with Russia and the cold war is over why are their spies here? The cold war was put on pause when communism fell, but now Russia is back up and trying to find out our business and what’s happening over here. They can even be plotting against us, but we wouldn’t know that people either don’t care or don’t know about Russia and their spies.
“On Monday, federal prosecutors accused 11 people of being part of a Russian espionage ring, living under false names and deep cover in a patient scheme to penetrate what one coded message called American “policy making circles.” This not only proves my point that the Cold War hasn’t been resolved, but that Russia and their spies are here and are hiding undercover posing as people that maybe very close to us. Before these 11 captures they could’ve been here for years plotting and learning things about our country we don’t even know, and there maybe more than we even know just watching and waiting.
“They were, however, infiltrating themselves into American society, apparently successfully, and were meeting a number of people--social networking. This puts them into a good position for spotting possible recruitment targets for Russian intelligence. So at a minimum they could make good spotters. It is hard to tell what kind of valuable intelligence they could collect in their present positions.” Russian spies that were found in the U.S in 2010 were here and undetected and could’ve taken Americans on to the Russian side if they are preparing to attack us. Russian spies are able to enter America undercover with no problem. They can come here and live like they belong here with us not knowing what they have against us and what they know. We may not even know that there are more of them in different states and more than ten or twenty. They can be people we have known for years or maybe our bosses and teachers.
“The Soviet Union and the United States have cooperated to end the division of Europe and to help heal Cold War wounds in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and southern Africa. Provided that the peoples of the Soviet Union can avert a violent discontinuity as they reconstitute their state.” The United States and Russia have worked as allies, but since war is the only thing they had in common they no longer are similar. They are two different powerful countries. They want to be the most powerful country and be supercilious to each other. However since they’ve worked together they should be able to be civil without spies in each other’s country, and should be able to be different without the thought of war against one another. Why can’t either country be powerful together? If they used their resources and energy for other things Russian espionage and C.I.A are a few things they don’t have to worry about in either country.
“Ten Russian spies arrested last week were handed over to Russia on the tarmac of an Austrian airport Friday, in exchange for four agents accused by Moscow of spying for the U.S., ending an espionage drama that brought back Cold War memories.” Both Russia and the United States have spies in country unregistered and watching. If we are not in war with them why are C.I.A agents there and Russian spies here? We have not ended the cold War; we still have tension between us. The U.S and Russia are being cunning towards one another. They’re like two friends who aren’t really friends but act like they are friends; they’re nice in the eye of public but are deceitful in spite of one another. They want to know what going on with the other person and act interested just to use it against the person later on.
“The arrest also appears to be a calculated attempt by Russia’s new president, Vladimir Putin, to send out a political signal both at home and abroad.” Russia can be signaling other spies in our country and Russia politically. We need to find out how many spies are here and what they want here. They can be setting attacks up that we have been blaming on wrongly accused people. We are too ignorant about what the government knows; they don’t tell us the full story of things. The government controls what we do and do not know.
There have been Russian spies in the United States and C.I.A agents in Russia, but more than when the Cold War was going on. They’ve posed as people we know, people in high positions, and people we may admire. Now it is worse than the cold war because Americans don’t even know what I going within their country between Russia and America. People we call our friends, co-workers, and peers are authentic and are here for false reasons.
Work cited
Callahan, Maureen, “ '1000s’ of Russian spies in U.S., surpassing Cold War record”. New York Post, July 4, 2010, April 3, 2012.
•"I would say there are a few thousand here," said Boris Korczak, a former double agent who worked for the CIA, spying on the KGB from 1973-1980.
•"The current atmosphere in the US is that we're having a love affair with Russia, that the Cold War is over," agreed Eugene Poteat, a retired senior CIA operative who served from 1960-1990. "But there are more Russian spies here now than during the Cold War."
Shane,Scott and Savage, Charlie, “In Ordinary Lives, U.S. Sees the Work of Russian Agents”. New York Times, June 28, 2010, April 3, 2012.
Earnest,Peter, “Russian spies espionage exposed.” Washington Post, Jne 30 2010, April 3,2012
•They were, however, infiltrating themselves into American society, apparently successfully, and were meeting a number of people--social networking. This puts them into a good position for spotting possible recruitment targets for Russian intelligence. So at a minimum they could make good spotters. It is hard to tell what kind of valuable intelligence they could collect in their present positions.
Horelick, Arnold L.. U.S.-Soviet Relations in the Post-Cold War Era: Implications for Korea. , RAND Corporation, 1990. April 3, 2012
•“But the longer-term character of their relationship remains an open question, one that depends on what happens in the Soviet Union, on the character and configuration of the new political entities that finally emerge from the crisis now engulfing what has been known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.”
•“The Soviet Union and the United States have cooperated to end the division of Europe and to help heal Cold War wounds in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and southern Africa. Provided that the peoples of the Soviet Union can avert a violent discontinuity as they reconstitute their state, there will be other opportunities for U.S.-Soviet cooperation to avoid or resolve international conflicts, chief among them the instability on the Korean peninsula. The author concludes that the two superpowers have never had stronger incentives to cooperate nor fewer inhibitions about doing so.”
“U.S. and Russia Swap Spies, Ending Espionage Drama”. Politics Daily, 2011, April 3,2012.
•Ten Russian spies arrested last week were handed over to Russia on the tarmac of an Austrian airport Friday, in exchange for four agents accused by Moscow of spying for the U.S., ending an espionage drama that brought back Cold War memories
•The Russian spies pleaded guilty in a New York court Thursday to conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign country. U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood immediately sentenced them to time served and all were ordered deported, The Associated Press reported.An 11th defendant remained a fugitive after fleeing following his release on bail in Cyprus.
Karon, Tony, “ ‘Spy' Arrests May be a Message From Moscow”. Time, Apr. 06, 2000 , April 3, 2012
•Being a private citizen, the American detainee lacks the traditional diplomatic cover under which spies tend to work, which includes diplomatic immunity when caught.
•The arrest also appears to be a calculated attempt by Russia�s new president, Vladimir Putin, to send out a political signal both at home and abroad.
