By Lubna Abdel-Aziz Is the cold war over? It all depends! It seems that everyone spies all the time, using all manners and methods of spying. Electronic surveillance, cyber-hacking and spy satellites may have replaced the dashingly suave agent and "femme fatale" operatives, but spying is alive and kicking and is vigorously pursued worldwide. Said Dame Stella Rimington, the first female director of Britain's Intelligence Service,(MIS), " I think espionage is forever". We have become addicted to the many thrills and chills of espionage activities for near a century, since spy literature became prevalent. The cinema took those delightfully frightful tales to a whole other level, amassing thereby, millions of gaping and gasping fans. The most commercially famous of the many fictitious spies is the creation of author Ian Fleming, himself a British naval spy. His marvelous character of agent OO7 James Bond, has become the image of the quintessential super spy, of whom we cannot get enough. With the James Bond movies in hiatus at present, a real live act of a so- called spy, has grabbed the headlines of late. How it pales in comparison to everything that is identified with spying, whether real or the product of a writer's imagination .Has the cyber-age ruined the hair-raising, blood-curdling adventures of a stealthy sleuth? Who will then provide a tickle and a tingle to our otherwise dull lives? Can the pale, bland, blond, Assange, and his lifeless leaks, wiki and weak, replace the daring assignments and threatening plights of missions impossible? The Assange affair,( or affairs), is at most an embarrassing mess of dubious loyalty and gross negligence. Transmitting stolen information on a secret website ,for ultimate profit , maybe at best, a low form of journalism. Espionage, it is not. Espionage is as old as war, which, among humans, is very old. History is replete with examples of nations engaging in seeking information clandestinely, from friend or foe. The ancient Egyptians developed spying into a fine art. Ancient Chinese writings contain information of deception and subversion. India made use of spies and assassinations. Could the Mongols have swept through Asia and Europe, without the aid of spies? Why, Moses himself, sent spies into Canaan, according to the Old Testament. Feudal Japan used ninja to gather intelligence from the enemy. Mistakes resulted in heads literally rolling. How utterly breathtaking are those Japanese films, depicting their infinite valour and ultimate sacrifice. Those ancient methods are not altogether obsolete. Many of the ancient spy's methods are still in use today. Frederic the Great of Prussia is credited with establishing systematic organized espionage. .What about the numerous acts of penetrating the iron curtain, during the cold war? In the spies went, but , did they always come out?. Such positively hair raising ventures of spies coming in from the cold, are a far cry from an idle , so-called journalist, sitting in the comfort of his home, feeding his lap-top ill-begotten information, no sweat, no swelter. Whatever happened to the good old- fashioned art of spying? Governments and other groups, recruit secret agents, called spies, to enter into enemy territory, to gather valuable military, political, scientific or production information. Spies are also used to spread disinformation, such as giving fake reports about their country's military movements. In the commercial world, spying is constantly used against competing companies and products. Many governments spy on their allies as well as their enemies, which proved to be an embarrassment for the US when the Wikileaks leaked. Agents can also function as double-agents for two opposing security services, providing or withholding significant information from one or the other. There are also those rare triple agents who often get into deep trouble. Those we do not envy ,for their risks are great. The whole profession attracts only special types, who crave excitement and adventure. Who are those people who pursue such risks that may cost them detention, incarceration, torture, or even their very lives? Spies come from varied backgrounds. Some are high- principled and dedicated, ready to die for a cause. Some crave that incomparable, intoxicating , adrenaline rush. Some spies are blackmailed into espionage, and some cannot resist the money. Generally, however, they are highly intelligent members of an organization who receive special training and instruction in the clandestine collection of human intelligence. They are disciplined and daring, follow orders to the letter, or pay the consequence. Despite the new sophisticated technology of this cyber- age, experts concur that old-fashioned techniques are still most effective. Spies have developed ingenious methods for gathering information. "The best intelligence still comes from human- beings There is no replacement for human decisions."Spy satellites, cyber spying, satellite photography, steganography , etc. are all intelligence gathering devices, but espionage involves accessing the people or place of information. All countries have their spying agencies. Sometimes it seems that they all spy on each other, like North and South Korea, India and Pakistan, and Israel spies on the rest of the world. The Americans have their CIA, the British their MIS, and the Russians, though they claim the dissolution of the KGB, are vigorously engaged in practicing and excelling in the art of spying. Espionage literature was popularized by Rudyard Kipling , (The Great Game), and James Fenimore Cooper, (The Spy), in the early 20s. It was left to Ian Fleming to popularize the secretagent to the degree of adulation. Ofcourse no spy is as drop-dead gorgeous as Sean Connery, the embodiment of the stealthy sleuth 007. Most MIS agents only carry one zero; the double 00 means he isa licensed to kill, and kill he does, to our great jubilation. No fiction writer would bother with a plain Plame , as in Valerie Plame of CIA fame. Spying has often been considered a noble, gentlemanly pursuit, but if we considered the notorious Assange, he is no gentleman considering his Swedish double deception. He is no ace journalist either, no smooth operator, no gifted writer. At best, he is an internet addict yearning for the spotlight, and was able to find it, for an insignificantly minute moment in history. O what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive! -- Sir Walter Scott (1771- 1832)
