http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-17-espionage_x.htm
A world of spies has its eyes trained on USA
Posted 5/18/2006 12:01 AM ET
By John Diamond, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Spying on the United States is a growth business.
Last year alone, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) investigated 2,500 cases of
alleged illegal export of U.S. munitions and
sensitive technology, arrested 101 suspects and
convicted 86, according to agency statistics.
The FBI has counterintelligence teams working in
all 56 of its field offices across the country
and has established a liaison program with four
major defense contractors designed to prevent
theft of restricted military technology, said
Timothy Bereznay, the top FBI counterintelligence official.
"We've positioned the FBI to respond to
counterintelligence threats anywhere in the
United States," not just in Washington and New York, Bereznay said.
Spying in the USA still includes traditional
embassy- and consulate-based espionage, in which
foreign agents under diplomatic cover collect
sensitive information and try to recruit
knowledgeable sources. Such activity is often
centered in New York and Washington.
Fifteen years after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, Russia still has the largest network of
spies in the USA under official cover, Bereznay
said. Cuba also has a growing network of agents
in the USA, mostly in New York and South Florida,
to keep Fidel Castro apprised of U.S. policy and possible threats.
ESPIONAGE: China emerges as leading spy threat
The rapid growth, however, is in industrial
espionage, which is aimed at acquiring not only
weapons technology, but also manufacturing
processes that can be used for profit.
The FBI and ICE are tracking efforts by Iran to
build a spy network, said Bereznay and Stephen
Bogni, supervisory special agency with ICE. Iran,
they say, is also seeking arms technology through
Iranian expatriates and middlemen to conceal the Iranian regime's role.
Before its Islamic revolution in 1979, Iran
bought advanced U.S. weapons systems, including
F-14 fighters, Bogni said. "They're constantly
looking for spare parts," he said. Sanctions
imposed on Iran after the revolution have
prevented the regime from maintaining and updating its weapons.
Congress is paying attention.
The House Intelligence Committee, in a report
accompanying the just-passed bill authorizing
intelligence spending for fiscal 2007, expressed
concern that 10 espionage suspects "face
relatively light sentences if found guilty"
because they are not being prosecuted under laws
barring the transfer of defense information to a foreign power.
"The penalties facing these accused spies are not
an effective deterrent to espionage," the committee said.
Rep. Michael Rogers, R-Mich., who chairs the
House Intelligence policy subcommittee, said
there's more spying aimed at the United States
now than there was during the Cold War.
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:27 CST