Russia is crazy

You think that Norm would not comment on the spy scandal? Hell - I love spy scandals - but I think this one is especially interesting.

First of all - you have the Russians going all Cold War on our ass. Literally. None of this digital stuff, we are talking about dead drops, secret passwords, maps with stamps on them, microdots etc. They did also do a little bit of online transfers (embedding things in images for example) and a lot of lying and building up cover stories on social networking sites, but overall the tradecraft was pretty much in line with the beautiful 1979 Lada.


The interesting thing is that these people were pretty much living their legend (legend being the long-term cover story, background, and current livelihood of the spy) - these spies were seriously embedded - like a tick on a rhino's ass.

So deeply embedded that it is kind of hard to imagine. Many of them were married, with kids, yet living in the US with false documents, false pretenses, etc etc. The idea of building a family while giving your life also to the motherland - pretty interesting stuff, and pretty screwed up really.

But what is perhaps more interesting is Russia's reaction to the whole thing.

The near universal reaction in Russia is that is was all made up by US hawks, and is an attempt to derail the improving relations lead by Obama. Most Russians think the spy scandal clearly plays into Putin's hands, and shows Medvedev in a bad light. Yes - Russia is a different world.

"So stupid! US special services let their president down conducting the silliest operation to capture sham Russian spies."
- Tvoi Den, one of Russia's most popular tabloid newspapers

More, from a news article:

'Mass-circulation newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets -- known for its close ties to the Kremlin -- said that "it would be more logical to assume that the main target in this story is Obama who has a lot of ill-wishers in his own country."

"There's more politics than intelligence in this scandal," it added.

Quoting an unidentified high-ranking source in diplomatic circles, Kommersant said all the country's "eloquent speakers" had been ordered to refrain from making public comments so as not to fan the flames of the spy scandal.

Many of the commentators, who usually speak on behalf of the Kremlin, refused to comment on Tuesday.

The White House said Obama knew the FBI was closing in on the 11 alleged spies when he met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for a warm White House summit and chummy burger bar trip last week, though did not mention it.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was repeatedly goaded in his daily briefing to condemn Russia's action, but styled the operation as solely a "law enforcement" matter.

Gibbs said Obama had known about the unfolding operation against the alleged ring of sleeper spies, in four northeastern states, before he met Medvedev here last week and at G8 and G20 meetings in Canada'

Then there is the whole President vs. Prime Minister aspect of it:

Here is the Russian reaction:

"It really looked like Medvedev was gaining points, starting to close the gap between him and Putin in terms of who is most capable," says Alexander Konovalov, president of the independent Institute for Strategic Assessments in Moscow.

But now Medvedev looks like he fell into an American trap, by making concessions on Russia's Iran policy and other issues amid the warm glow of Obama's hospitality, then getting hit with these spy allegations just as he was leaving, Mr. Konovalov says.

"This scandal shows Medvedev as not so tough, not so experienced as the former intelligence officer Putin," in the eyes of people who really matter in Moscow, meaning the military and security establishment. "So, objectively, this can only play directly into Putin's hands," he adds.

You see - Medvedev is not so weak as Putin would have liked, and has been setting himself up to challenge the modern-day iron man of Russia. Elections are still two years off, so there is still plenty of time to invade former Soviet Republics or commit genocide against ethnic groups within Russia, not to mention illegally take over national or foreign assets, or murder critical reporters.

Politics is just more exciting in Russia. And by exciting, I mean a power, revenge, and vodka fueled rampage.