thread: 2007-02-13 : Exorcism
On 2007-02-14, Ron Edwards wrote:
Did you guys know that the CIA has historically employed a disproportionately high number of LDS members?
Recruiting and handling assets (jargon for seeking gossips and manipulating them into being traitors) means creating the illusion to the spy that it's all about them, when it reality they are the most expendable feature of espionage. It also means convincing the spy that he or she is valued personally and hence must deceive family, friends, employer, and nation, but constantly maintaining such control that the spy will be truthful to the handler.
Blackmail is the favored reference point for such control in official agency presentations, but historically it tends to blow up quickly. Every spy handler who's written about the process stresses instead the manipulative, one-step-ahead emotional tactics between handler and spy, as the favored approach.
The kind of training you're describing would seem to be a precious commodity from the agency's point of view.
Best, Ron
