Russia Spying Returns to 'Cold War Levels'

WASHINGTON -- Russian efforts to obtain secrets on U.S. political and
military decision-making have reached levels not seen since the Cold War,
the top U.S. counterintelligence official said on Thursday.

Joel Brenner, the Bush administration's National Counterintelligence
Executive, said a new intensive assault by Moscow is intent on gaining
insights into "the upper echelon of U.S. decision-making" rather than
stealing secrets about sensitive U.S. technology.

"The Russians are back to Cold War levels in their efforts against the
United States," he said in a speech to the American Bar Association.

Brenner, whose job is to oversee counterintelligence strategy and policy for
U.S. intelligence czar Mike McConnell, did not provide details about
suspected Russian intelligence operations in the United States. Sensitive
counterintelligence activities are classified.

But he said Moscow appears less interested in U.S. commercial and military
technology than other countries including China, which U.S. officials have
described as the greatest counterintelligence threat facing the United
States.

Brenner's remarks come at a time when Russian officials including President
Vladimir Putin have become more openly confrontational about U.S. policy
such as Washington's plan to deploy a missile defense system in Eastern
Europe.

Putin, himself a former KGB official, accused the United States of trying to
dominate the world in a February speech.

U.S. officials and independent analysts view Russia as a country determined
to return to great power status it enjoyed during the Cold War, largely
through its oil wealth and the reconstitution of its military and
intelligence capabilities.

McConnell also warned the Senate last month that Russia was taking a step
backward in its democratic progress and could be heading for a controlled
succession to Putin. Moscow responded by describing his remarks as "outdated
assumptions."

The U.S. government has suffered several embarrassing security breaches at
the hands of Russian and Soviet intelligence moles, including former CIA
case officer Aldrich Ames and former FBI agent Robert Hanssen.

Brenner said Ames provided the Soviets with enough information about U.S.
officials to "decapitate" America's leadership in the event of war.

But Moscow intelligence does not now appear interested in posing a physical
threat to American leaders. "It's not a strike threat they're after. I don't
want to give that impression," Brenner said.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/arti...128.shtml?s=lh

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