Was the discovery of Russian spies still operating in the US surprising?

Russian Spys still operating here is not a surprise. Since Putin and other former KGB members are still in the Russian government, I think the bureaucracy of the KGB operation continues despite the end of the cold war. This coupled with a national paranoia sustains the spy operations. The operations of this group showed very limited success in getting anything of value. Further, they were monitored by the FBI for years.
Of greater concern is the infiltration of terrorist agents and training of sympathetic individuals in the US to carry out attacks.

I may be a little off here, but from what I’ve read, the spies were generally engaged in industrial spying vs military or defense. In this country, spies report to private corporations, not a government like these people. In that regard, there is no surprise.

I think would be surprising if Russian and Chinese spies are not operating here. We seem to forget that these governments are opposed to ours. The US has been into Russia’s business since WWII. Why would they not be concerned about what is happening here? We also seem to forget that the Chinese government owns ours. Why would they not keep tabs on their investment? Our decline in independance started when the United States stopped funding research, development and the expansion of the human boundaries. The things that NASA did well that fueled the imaginations of this country and pushed Americans to believe that we could reach farther in everyday life.

Russian and Chinese etc senior-scientists fill key-postions inside secret labs such as Raytheon, Lockheed, etc.

Yes, they are now US citizens - a trivial step for them, but many of them worked for the military either directly or indirectly in their countries of origin.

It is just so, so simple to become an effective spy in the USA with today’s communications technologies.

No surprise at all. Just like the movie “No Way Out” with Kevin Costner.
I’m sure there are more Russian spies here, but I don’t think they are as dangerous as the embedded radical Middle East nut cases whose efforts are to destroy us, not to obtain secrets.

A great number of nations have spies operating in the United States. A majority of the world would like to topple the US or at least gain some advantage. Anyone that thinks otherwise is sadly mistaken and naive.

During the cold war spies and spyng were coomonplace. If we go back in time, I believe there is communist documentation that says the United States can be defeated from within not by military engagement.

People living here as ordinary Americans experience day to day environment of the country probably had more intel about the country ( in a diiferent way) than how military prisoners were interogated.

Just because there is no longer a Cold War is no reason to believe that there is not ongoing espionage by Russia in the US. I would be surprised if there weren’t US spies (or some form of inteligence gathering) in Russia, also.

Of course there are spies in this country and every other one as well. Besides you can’t believe everything the news media tells you about ourselves

As long as we have differing technologies and political points of view there will be spying. This applies to all countries not just the old Soviet block. Scott must not have heard the story Russia is sending back I believe 4 reported US spies in exchange.

It would be naive to assume that countries don’t spy on eachother
just because they are not enemies. The US has spies all over the
world including in countries that are our allies. Why shouldn’t
Russia have spies here?

Duh! How many Israeli spies have we caught in this country? Israel is one of our closest allies. I would expect every major country has spies in the only remaining superpower - especially because it’s so easy (e.g. how many illegal immigrants do we have?).

Consider that most Russians were raised under communism. So it is not
suprising that they are still in the spy business. Also, most are atheist,
and have no moral code except nationalism. Millions and millions were
murdered in death camps around the world with no though of God and
His laws. Go figure.

Who needs spies when our high-tech companies are moving manufacturing technologies to countries all over the world? Oh right, there’s still a need to blackmail politicians.

To find out that there were no Russian spys WOULD have been a surprise. Even our friends, including the most dependent ones like Israel, spy on us. It’s part of the game. Nations protect their interests, no matter what it takes. Look at our behavior over the last 100 years for purposes of national interest.

It was surprising to me. Haven’t the rooskies heard that dubya’s gone and the earth has now begun to heal and the waters have started to recede? Let’s all hold hands (polar bears too) and sing together… Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya…

The only group that is likely surprised is the current (in power) administration who seem oblivious of the world scene.

The only surprise is that the current Administration might actually take matters of security or intelligence seriously. I still not convinced that they really do.

Brad is right on. The current admin lives in a fantasy world where there are no bad people (except perhaps evil Republicans) - it thinks it can talk anyone out of any anti USA sentiment and that a “promise” (even verbal means “the problem is solved” and we can all sleep a lot better.

What is surprising (or is it?) is that we have not been told anything about what these spies were doing.

What is not surprising is that some of these people denied anything, then jumped on the plane when given the chance.

We are not even told the status of their (?) “children”

I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
And you et an account on Twitter?

Contrary to popular belief, the cold war has never ended. As long as there is advanced technology there will be spying. Whether it be us or “them” it will always be there.

Warring factions is a different story, there are spies all over the place. Just take a look at how many times a year companies report industrial espionage. Civilian, military or other, it is real and it happens 24/7.

We have and always will be nosey about our neighbours, personally, locally, commercially, politically and militarily. There was nothing special about the cold war, communism, witch-hunts, etc. And of course friends are spied on too. The Chinese, Romans, Egyptians and Greeks did it long before the USA was invented. The difference over time is the growth of data sets originating electronically from listening stations. Feet on ground will always add color and occasionally ferret out a gem. Naturally we are spying on ’them’ and they are spying on us. Was there not a spy swap associated with this current news item? Swap = two playing ‘the game’.

But do expect smoke screens from the media as well as ‘them’ and ‘us’, pandering to prejudice.

And as for this theme of Republican savvy v Democrat naive! Gosh, do you really not think that all colors of politics are familiar with games of this nature?

I don’t think it was surprising that we found Russian spies in the US. The fact that they were so easy to find surprises me. Maybe they are decoys to take our attention off finding others.

I would like to exchange links with your site http://www.techbriefsinsider.com
Is this possible?