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Cover Story - Spanish Version

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Why Spy?

Spanish Translation

By Kathryn Hoffman

Robert Philip Hanssen

In northern Virginia, there are quiet parks away from the action of nearby Washington, D.C. By evening, the rambling trails and wooded areas are deserted. One such park, Foxstone, has a stream and footbridges. It is a good place to be alone-or to hide something.

One local man particularly appreciated these quiet qualities. He visited the parks for 15 years, often at the request of an old friend. The two never met face-to-face, but they left signals for each other-a strip of tape on a sign to show one of them had been there, or a bundled package in a secret place. They wrote notes, and the local man signed his with a code name: "B" or "Ramon Garcia."

The FBI says accused spy Hanssen left secret information under this bridge for cash and diamonds.

This secret relationship ended on February 18, when FBI agents arrested the man they say is B-fellow FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen-in Foxstone Park. Hanssen is accused of being a spy. The FBI says Foxstone was one of several places called "dead drops" where B left top-secret information for a Russian "friend."

The Spying Game
"Everybody spies on everybody," says Steven Aftergood, an intelligence analyst. This may sound extreme, but it is true that nations spy on one another. The U.S. has its own spies in other countries. Most work for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a few for the FBI. These two government agencies gather information, or "intelligence," to help protect our nation.

What do intelligence agents, or spies, look for? Any information that could give their side an advantage. This includes military secrets, new technology, information about threats to the country or its leaders and about enemy spies.

It's easy to see why two countries at war would spy on each other. Wartime spies try to find out where the enemy is planning to attack and what kinds of weapons it is using. Officials say Hanssen offered to spy for Russia in 1985, when it was still part of the Soviet Union, an enemy of the U.S. The two countries were engaged in a bitter struggle known as the cold war.

Nations at peace spy on one another too. After the Soviet Union broke into many smaller countries in 1991, the FBI says, Hanssen continued spying for Russia, no longer an enemy. Although Russians are still interested in military secrets, they also use spies to find out the secrets of U.S. technology.

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Hanssen may have given Russia secrets about a high-tech intelligence program that involves "listening in" on foreign embassies and communications centers. The program has been a useful source of information about terrorism.

Terrorist groups are so tightly controlled that it's hard for a spy to pretend to be a member. The cia uses its technology to look for such terrorists as Osama bin Laden, believed to be responsible for bombing two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. Often the only way to get inside a terrorist operation is through "bugs"-listening devices-and satellites.

An Enemy On The Inside
Even in these high-tech times, old-fashioned methods make a difference. The FBI found Hanssen with the help of a low-tech clue: his fingerprints on pieces of evidence.

B was playing a dangerous game, with grave consequences. His job for the FBI was to find Russians spying on America. Instead, FBI officials believe, Hanssen used his position to give Russia the very things he was supposed to protect-U.S. secrets. If he is found guilty, he could get the death penalty. He is scheduled to enter a plea in federal court in May.

FBI Director Louis Freeh met with government officials last week to discuss ways to catch inside spies, called moles, in the future. First, the FBI must recover from this betrayal.

"For an FBI agent to be a traitor," says James Kallstrom, Hanssen's former co-worker, "to sell out his family, his country, his children, is unbelievable."

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Protect These Gadgets
The life of a spy may not be as glamorous and fun-filled as it looks in James Bond movies-but real spies do use cool gadgets! Here are some tools that help spies gather information.

1. Satellites make it possible to see from a distance and to photograph the ground from hundreds of miles in the air. Many can take detailed close-ups of areas where spies can't go without being in great danger.
2. Concealed cameras allow spies to take photographs secretly. The Steineck ABC wristwatch, used during the cold war, could take pictures while an agent pretended to check the time.
3. Dead-drop spikes are stuck in the ground to hide information. They hold money, small cameras and other items that are ready for collection at dead-drop locations. This one is designed to hold a roll of film.
4. Cipher sheets contain secret messages that are meant to be unreadable to everyone but the intended receiver. Each letter in the message is replaced with another letter or a number. These pages were small enough to be hidden inside a walnut shell.
5. Pen microphones allow spies to record conversations. Pens like this one, used by cold-war Soviet spies, were styled to match the type of job an agent pretended to have.

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