Top 10 REAL LIFE Spy BUNGLES
On July 21, 1973, Israeli agents of the Mossad killed a waiter in Lillehammer, Norway, seeking
revenge for the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre of Israeli athletes.
The hapless victim was innocent and had nothing to do with the terrorist event, and the murder
was just another blunder by a country attempting to conduct spy games.
Over the years there have been some egregious errors by secret agencies, and here we list
10 of those “oops” moments.
Which incidents would you add to the list?
10.
Soviet Gift to US Found to be Bugged, 1952.
The Soviet organization, Young Pioneers, gave the US ambassador to Moscow the gift of a
large wooden replica of the great seal of the US in 1945.
It hung in the Ambassador’s study until it was discovered in 1952 to contain a microphone
and radio transmitter.
The treachery exposed by a gift of friendship and peace having actually been a Trojan Horse
was embarrassing for the Soviets and a propaganda coup for the US.
9.
US Caught Spying on Germany-Again, 2014.
Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany was irritated by revelations in 2013 that the
US NSA spy agency had been monitoring her cell phone and otherwise spying on her and
Germany, when German security forces discovered the CIA was still spying on Germany.
Merkel expelled the CIA station chief and relations between the US and Germany became
even more strained.
8.
Weapons of Mass Destruction, Iraq, 2003.
Convinced that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein must have a nuclear program in place and stockpiles
of chemical and or biological weapons, the Bush administration pressured the CIA into
producing evidence of such activity.
The CIA in an apparent desire to please the boss instead of properly analyzing data gave
a false report that Iraq did indeed have weapons of mass destruction.
The US congress authorized an invasion of Iraq based on this erroneous report and no
weapons of mass destruction were ever found.
This blunder cost the US thousands dead and maimed, over a trillion dollars, worldwide
respect, and killed well over 100,000 Iraqis in the process.
On top of it, Iraq is now a hotbed of terrorism when it was not before the invasion.
7.
Failed Attempts to Kill Castro, 1960’s.
Despite years of denials, in 1975 it was revealed that the United States had made 8 assassination
attempts between 1960 and 1965 on Fidel Castro, communist leader of Cuba.
Not only did this show the world the US was lying, but also that we did not follow international
law.
Some of the goofy methods attempted to take Castro out included exploding cigars, poisoned
cigars, poisoned scuba suit, hypodermic needle disguised as a ball point pen, and blowing
him up while visiting a museum.
To further the embarrassment, none of these attempts was successful.
6.
Israeli Attacks US Spy Ship, 1967.
During the Arab-Israeli 6 Day War of 1967 the US had a spy ship, the USS Liberty, stationed
in international waters off the coast of Israel monitoring the war with electronic devices.
The Liberty was attacked by Israeli fighter bombers and torpedo boats, repeatedly, despite
the Liberty being clearly marked and flying the US flag.
Pre-attack over flights were so close to the ship that the crew and the pilots waved to
each other.
Israel also claimed the Liberty was moving along at 30 knots, a high speed associated
with combat vessels, when in fact she was only making 5 knots.
The ship was heavily damaged and 34 US sailors were killed.
Either Israel blundered severely on identifying the ship or they deliberately attacked her,
resulting in strained US-Israel relations.
5.
Admiral Canaris Working for Allies, 1944.
Holding the critical and most trusted position in the Nazi regime as the head of German intelligence,
Canaris not only was working with the Allies against Germany but also was actively involved
with plots to depose Hitler and the Nazi regime.
Discovered as a double agent in 1944, he was sent to a concentration camp and executed
in 1945.
4.
German Agents Surrender/Are Captured in US, 1942.
A Nazi plot to land 8 spies/saboteurs on US soil by U-Boat initially went well with the
men being safely landed.
Things quickly went wrong, as an unarmed US coast watcher ran into one of the spies.
The spy threatened and bribed the American with $260 of counterfeit money, but the American
immediately reported the encounter.
Realizing the mission was compromised, the German spy contacted the FBI and ratted out
his mission and the other spies, all of whom were arrested within 2 weeks.
All 8 were found guilty by military tribunal and 6 were executed.
3.
Snowden Reveals US Spies on Allies, 2013.
A contract computer geek employed by the NSA, the US super secret spy agency, Snowden revealed
to the world that the US was spying on friend and foe alike, even normal Americans not suspected
of terrorism and without legal warrants.
Highly embarrassing and giving terrorists a heads up on US techniques to monitor terrorists,
Snowden’s revelations seriously compromised American anti-terror efforts.
2.
Israeli Agents Kill Wrong Guy, 1973.
In a revenge plot designed to kill all the terrorists involved with the terror attack
on the 1972 Israeli Olympic team, Israeli agents killed an innocent man, causing some
serious reflection about whether or not such revenge killings were morally justified.
1.
Francis Gary Powers Shot Down over USSR, 1960.
Shot down by an anti-aircraft missile the US thought could not reach his high flying
U-2 spy plane, Powers was captured alive while President Eisenhower publicly denied the US
had been overflying Soviet territory.
Eisenhower was embarrassed internationally when the Soviets produced a living Powers
and U-2 wreckage, proving the president
was lying.