First off this month, I'd like to let you know that the guys at ENIGMA have finally gotten their own corner of cyberspace. Check out http://reachus.at/enigma for their website.
Former CIA agent Philip Agee, who exposed CIA agents in Cuba in his book Inside the Company: CIA Diary has opened what he calls the first American-run business in Cuba in 40 years. According to the Associated Press, Agee has opened a travel website aimed at Americans to get them to visit Cuba. It is, of course, illegal for Americans to travel to Cuba due to the trade embargo. The website, www.cubalinda.com, offers tour packages in Cuba and other help with Cuban tourism that would otherwise be difficult if not impossible to obtain. Maybe they offer a few package deals to some numbers station transmitter sites?
According to CNet News.com, international espionage has turned dramatically toward industrial espionage as opposed to political or military espionage. From dumpster diving to international data theft, cases of legal and illegal espionage at all levels are on the rise. Companies such as Microsoft, Intel, and Oracle have been struggling to protect their information not only from each other, but from international spies as well. This concurs with sources that stated that after the cold war ended, the KGB turned most of its attention toward industrial espionage. It should, however, be noted that they definitely aren't going to completely ignore political & military spying.
A Mossad spy was convicted in Berne, Switzerland for taking part in a wiretapping operation. The spy, known as Issac Bental (not his real name) was convicted of political espionage, illegal acts for a foreign state and entering the country under a false name. He was arrested in 1998 with several other Mossad operatives while they attempted to place a listening device in an apartment building. Their target was Abdallah el-Zein, a Swiss citizen of Lebanese descent, who the Mossad believed had ties with the Hezbollah, a terrorist organization. Bental received a one-year suspended prison sentence and was barred from entering Switzerland again for five years.
I wonder if they received their instructions to bug the apartment from E10?
The kicker to this story is that other Mossad agents threatened to refuse to carry out missions in protest over what they saw as lack of support by their superiors. After Bental was arrested in 1998, he was bailed out of jail by none other than the Israeli government which paid his $2 million bail and promised that he'd show up for court.
Hmmm... whatever happened to "plausible deniability?"
The other Mossad agents voiced their anger that Bental was turned over for trial by the Israeli government. They stated that they expect the full backing of the Mossad leadership, even if their mission fails. It's been a long way since "in case you are discovered, we will deny any knowlege of you or your mission..."
See you next month.