US media disclosed CIA top secret telegram: dozens of foreign informants were lost and espionage tec

Original title: US media disclosed CIA top secret telegram: dozens of foreign informants were lost, and espionage technology was poor
[text / observer Zhou Yibo]
According to the New York Times on October 5 local time, people familiar with the matter disclosed that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials sent a & ldquo; Top secret telegram & rdquo; It said that there was a large loss of CIA personnel recruited from other countries to engage in espionage for the United States, and dozens of foreign informants were arrested or killed in recent years.
The newspaper said that the CIA has been under & ldquo; Bad espionage Technology & rdquo& ldquo; Excessive trust in intelligence sources & rdquo& ldquo; Underestimation of foreign intelligence agencies & rdquo& ldquo; Ignore the risk of developing informants & rdquo; And other problems, showing & ldquo; Task is greater than security & rdquo; The situation. At the same time, the CIA claims that intelligence agencies in Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan have been chasing CIA informants and sometimes successfully turning them into double spies.
Meanwhile, the report quoted a number of former CIA officials as saying that there are also a large number of examples in reality to confirm the CIA & ldquo; Focus on tasks and ignore safety & rdquo; And the development of informants has become & ldquo; Ways for CIA intelligence officers to be promoted & rdquo;, But & ldquo; If something goes wrong with an agent (informant), no one will be responsible & rdquo;. And this & ldquo; Top secret telegram & rdquo; The content of is confidential details that are usually not disclosed, which is enough to show the seriousness of the problems faced by the CIA.

On September 6 local time, Afghan Taliban patrolled the bombed CIA base of the United States. Source: visual China
According to the New York Times, the & ldquo; Top secret telegram & rdquo; The content is unusual. It not only discloses that the CIA counterintelligence Mission Center has investigated dozens of cases involving the killing, arrest or possible involvement of foreign informants in the past few years, but also lists the specific number of agents executed by hostile intelligence agencies.
However, the new york times did not point out this & ldquo; Specific number of people & rdquo; How much is it, but use & ldquo; Dozens of people & rdquo; (dozens) to describe the number of informants lost by the CIA.
The report said that the telegram highlighted the difficulties faced by the CIA in recruiting spies around the world & mdash& mdash; In recent years, intelligence agencies in Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan have been chasing CIA informants and sometimes turning them into double spies who provide false intelligence to the United States.
In addition, the telegram also made it clear that recruiting spies is a high-risk work, and put forward a series of problems that have plagued the CIA in recent years: poor espionage technology, too much trust in sources, underestimate foreign intelligence agencies, act too quickly when developing informants, but pay insufficient attention to the potential anti espionage risks. These problems can be collectively referred to as & ldquo; Task is greater than security & rdquo; （mission over security）。
The cable reminded CIA intelligence officials to pay attention not only to the recruitment of informants, but also to security issues, including & ldquo; Review informant & rdquo; And & ldquo; Avoid hostile intelligence agencies;.
The report quoted former CIA officials as saying that the contents of the telegram are usually confidential details that anti espionage officials are unwilling to disclose, and this disclosure is enough to show the seriousness of the problems faced by the CIA.

William & middot, director of Central Intelligence; Bourne source: visual China
Why is the CIA so bad? The New York Times gave & ldquo; The enemy is strong & rdquo; And & ldquo; I am weak & rdquo; Two aspects of analysis.
As for the former, it is reported that the application of artificial intelligence, biometric scanning, facial recognition and other technologies makes it easier for governments to track U.S. intelligence personnel operating in their own countries, which makes it more difficult for intelligence personnel to meet and communicate with informants, and also makes these countries increasingly powerful in discovering CIA informants.
The report also quoted former CIA officials as saying that the confidential communication system used by the CIA had been damaged, resulting in the exposure of the CIA's contact network in China and Iran.
As for the latter, the report quoted a number of former CIA officials to confirm the CIA & ldquo; Focus on tasks and ignore safety & rdquo; The reality of the situation.
The report said that although the CIA has many ways to collect intelligence for its analysts to provide briefings for policy makers, the network of informants around the world is still the core of its work.
However, the CIA doesn't seem to pay much attention to the security review of online people.
Former CIA officials said that developing new informants is the way for CIA intelligence officials to get promoted, but they generally don't get promoted because of excellent anti espionage operations & mdash& mdash; For example, find out if an informant is really working for another country.
“ After all, if something goes wrong with an agent (informant), no one will be responsible for it& rdquo; Former CIA agent Douglas & middot; London said, & ldquo; Sometimes things are beyond our control, but there are also cases of carelessness and neglect, but those in senior positions will never be responsible for it& rdquo;
Another former CIA official said that there are many examples that the CIA is so focused on the task that the issue of security measures has not been properly considered, and in some cases, it will lead to the death of agents.
London pointed out that the bombing of a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan in 2009 was a & ldquo; Task is greater than security & rdquo; Examples.
At that time, a Jordanian doctor was persuaded by the CIA to break into Al QaedaBut in fact, he has already turned against the United States.
Finally, the doctor used the CIA's trust to enter the CIA base without search and triggered a suicide attack, killing seven CIA employees.
“ We are so eager to make a big achievement& rdquo; London said, & ldquo; These are actually espionage mistakes& rdquo;

On December 30, 2009, the US CIA suffered a suicide attack at Chapman camp, the base in Khost, Afghanistan
Due to the change of work tasks, the skills of CIA intelligence personnel are becoming rusty.
It is reported that in the past 20 years, the CIA has focused most of its attention on the threat of terrorism and the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, and now it needs to turn its work center to the intelligence collection of rival countries & mdash& mdash; Especially when policymakers ask to know more about China and Russia.
However, some former CIA officials believe that the CIA & ldquo; Defeat hostile intelligence agencies & rdquo; Your skills have become rusty, & ldquo; Develop, train and guide intelligence personnel and monitor foreign governments, in some ways, it is different from developing informants within terrorist networks& rdquo;