It is frequently said: there is no such thing as a friendly intelligence service, only an intelligence service of a friendly country. That was certainly the case with British intelligence and the United States in the early stages of the World War II. As Britain fought alone, waiting for America… Continue reading WWII: British Meddling
One of the most famous—or infamous—covert actions was the 1953 coup organized by the CIA and MI6 in Iran. The motive? Largely Oil. Iran’s leader, Mohammed Mosaddegh, had nationalized an Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, AIOC, whose profits had previously flowed to London. MI6 and the CIA’s covert action plan (operation BOOT… Continue reading CIA-MI6: 1953 Coup in Iran
Soviet illegals were officers without official (“legal”) cover. One of the most accomplished Soviet deep-cover illegals was Joseph “Grig” Grigulevich. Codenamed MAKS, later FELIPE, Grigulevich was one of Stalin’s principal assassins. Although he originally hailed from Lithuania, during his Soviet espionage career, Grig successfully masqueraded as a Spaniard and even… Continue reading Codename MAKS: Joseph “Grig” Grigulevich
In 1940, Tyler Kent was working as a cipher clerk at the US embassy in London, responsible for sending cables. He was a die-hard “isolationist,” against the US government entering World War II. Believing that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was betraying American neutrality, he decided to amass about 1,500 telegrams… Continue reading Leaker: Tyler Kent
Duško Popov was one of the most colorful British double-agents during the World War II. Originally from Yugoslavia, Popov was recruited by the German intelligence service, the Abwehr, but then secretly informed British authorities in Belgrade about his recruitment. He was thereafter run by MI6 and MI5, who would codename… Continue reading Double Agent: Dusko Popov
Soviet “illegals” were spies operating under deep cover, without diplomatic (“legal”) protection. They were out in the cold, not attached to a Soviet embassy. This meant that, if caught, they could be arrested because they did not have diplomatic immunity. Even now, eight decades later, secrets about Soviet spies in… Continue reading Deep Cover Illegal: Arthur Adams
