Russian Spy Fallout

Since the FBI has arrested 11 Russians living in the U.S. accused of spying, (four of them posing as Canadians) the fallout has been less than spectacular. In the 1050's, this would have been front-page news for months, if not years and would have almost certainly heightened the Cold War and made any fingers on the nuclear trigger even more itchy, a la the Cuban missle crisis. Their mission isn't entirely clear as of yet, as some reports have them linked to trying to retrieve energy information, others say they were in the U.S. to gather information about "social policy." The FBI say the accused communicated with Moscow by encoding instructions in otherwise innocent-looking images on public websites. One of the suspects, who the FBI say went under the name of Christopher Metsos, has dissapeared after being freed on bail in Cyprus.

But as of this writing, there hasn't been as much concern or coverage as one would expect for an espionage incident. Except, the accused haven't been charged with espionage (which carries a lengthy jail sentence) but instead have been charged with operating as foreign agents without registering, which carries a maximum of five years.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ripped U.S. authorities about the matter. The Russian media, not surprisingly, are not all that convinced that this matter is on the up and up.

One thing I have to wonder about though, is if these people are supposed to be spies (sleeper cells, if you will) one of them at least, Anna Chapman, isn't all that concerned about being covert, as she's posted more than a few videos to networking sites such as YouTube and Facebook. Google her and you'll see. She's not exactly Ethel Rosenberg, is she?

To be continued.