Russian spies? What is this, 1954?

[bluestarultor]

http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx/us/0/APNews/US/20100702/U_US-Russia-Spy-Arrests?pageid=1

In short, the FBI is in the process of busting a Russian spy ring. You know, I thought with all the video games coming out lately where Russia was the bad guy that people really needed to get over the Cold War, but now I wonder if we really should. Absolutely crazy. Next thing you know we'll put the kibosh on nuclear disarmament and start building the things again. You know, because we don't already have a million times the amount needed to turn the whole planet into a parking lot.

[RobinStarwing]

Don't you mean a Glass Parking Lot for the Cockroaches and Rats to fight over while the Ants secretly build their Universe-Dominating machine?

Sillyness aside, somethings never die and spying on your friends even is one of them. Welcome to the Modern World where we still live out the Cold War in some way.

[Wigmund]

What Robin said.

Just because the Cold War is over doesn't mean everyone isn't still spying on each other. It still makes sense for the Russians, Americans and Chinese to all still spy on each other. Hell, we probably even spy on the Canadians and British just to keep tabs on them.

[RobinStarwing]

What Robin said.

Just because the Cold War is over doesn't mean everyone isn't still spying on each other. It still makes sense for the Russians, Americans and Chinese to all still spy on each other. Hell, we probably even spy on the Canadians and British just to keep tabs on them.

Yes because we never know when they may want to start the War of 2012 on the Bi-Centennial of the War of 1812.:3: *Is not really serious*

I had to inject that bit of humor there...sorry. ^_^*****

[Professor Smarmiarty]

What do spies even do these days? Surely you're better off with a computer, the internet and maybe a hacker. Far cheaper and you'll get more info.

[Amake]

The job of the spy is to ensure world leaders are less inclined to do anything they wouldn't want people (particularly foreign nations) to find out, because a spy might just find what you're trying to keep secret. Paradoxically, the existence of spies make it easier for world leaders to trust each other and work together.

I learned this from the books about Swedish superspy Carl Hamilton. :)

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Yeah but you don't really need spies for that to work. You just need to be like "We've totally got heaps of spies, all peeking in on your shit" and they are like "we've never herad of them" and you are like "Exactly"

[Krylo]

The threat carries better if you've actually caught some. Because then you know they are there, and can be reasonably certain you didn't catch them all. Also, they can put a file on your desk of SOME of the things they already got from their spies, to prove it.

Also, spies aren't limited to gathering intelligence. They also work as operatives in various other things, such as manipulating people and data or setting up possible attacks. Further, most of the truly classified/we don't want them to get this shit most countries have are on servers without internet connection that are hard wired directly, and only, to the agencies which need access to them. A hacker sitting in Russia, therefore, couldn't get access to this. A hacker in the US who splices into the land lines, or even gets access to one of the agencies connected to the server, however, could.

[Bob The Mercenary]

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/06/accused_russian_spies_in_nj_us.html

lol, Montclair. If you're looking for intelligence of any kind you're in the wrong place.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

The threat carries better if you've actually caught some. Because then you know they are there, and can be reasonably certain you didn't catch them all. Also, they can put a file on your desk of SOME of the things they already got from their spies, to prove it.

Also, spies aren't limited to gathering intelligence. They also work as operatives in various other things, such as manipulating people and data or setting up possible attacks. Further, most of the truly classified/we don't want them to get this shit most countries have are on servers without internet connection that are hard wired directly, and only, to the agencies which need access to them. A hacker sitting in Russia, therefore, couldn't get access to this. A hacker in the US who splices into the land lines, or even gets access to one of the agencies connected to the server, however, could.

Yeah fair enough.

Anyone think people quite like to have a russian enemy again- more civilised, more understandable, more convential than those crazy terrorists.

[Funka Genocide]

The legacy of the Cold War is still very much alive.

We train our military under the assumption that enemy tech is mainly derived from soviet archetypes and designs. In the strange economy of arms dealership "Russia" is still supplying some of the most dangerous countries and organizations on earth (from an American perspective at least) with military equipment and weaponry.

In effect the collapse of the soviet union shot many small time military powers decades ahead and onto, if not even, at least approachable height to American technology and tactics.

An interesting anecdote concerning soviet technology is that the only time a stealth bomber was ever shot down was with a soviet made short range ground to air missile system during the Kosovo war in the 90s.

(particularly, the S-125 Pechora, NATO designation SA-3 Goa, a threat platform we actively train our pilots with to this very day.)

[Magus]

Russia's just jealous, McCarthyists have been too obsessed with Muslims and Mexicans recently and the Kremlin is feeling lonely.