Work Like a Spy: Business Tips from a Former CIA Officer by Carleson J.C

Author:Carleson, J.C. [Carleson, J.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Itzy, Kickass.to
ISBN: 9781101608173
Amazon: B008EKMC5Y
Publisher: Portfolio
Published: 2013-02-09T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

Staying Clean in a Dirty World: The Ethics of Espionage

The asset chain-smoked through the turnover meeting, but did not otherwise seem fazed to learn that he would no longer be meeting with the officer who had been his handler for the past several years. Tom introduced me as the officer who would be replacing him, and then handed the asset a large envelope of cash—a substantial payment for the last several months of clandestine work.

The asset shook hands cheerfully with Tom, wished him luck in the future, and then pulled from the envelope a stack of large bills. Smiling broadly, he handed the money to Tom and said that the money was “for charity.” “Perhaps you have a fund for the children of fallen CIA officers?” he asked with a wink. He was from a part of the world where bribery and kickbacks were a normal part of doing business, and it was crystal clear to me that the money was intended as a farewell gift for Tom in the form of a sizable kickback.

I didn’t say a word about this exchange, during or after the meeting. I was still a junior officer, and I thought that it would be better to simply watch and see what happened to the money.

Almost immediately upon our return from the trip, then, I was pleasantly surprised to be copied on an internal e-mail from Tom earnestly describing the “generous donation” and documenting the transfer of the money to the agency’s scholarship fund.

To this day, I do not know whether Tom even realized that the asset intended for him to pocket the money. I am, however, quite certain that keeping it never crossed Tom’s mind for a second.

Why on earth would anyone ever trust a CIA officer? Not only are we selected in part because of our willingness and ability to tell a convincing lie, but we also receive specialized training in deception. We can expertly evade, fabricate, obscure, equivocate, distract, and just flat-out lie to your face. We understand the roles that body language, eye contact, timing, and detail play in persuasion. Add to that years of practice in our professional capacities, plus lying even to friends and family in order to maintain our cover, and it seems hard to believe that any of us even remember what the truth is.

And yet, as I stated earlier in this book, CIA officers are some of the most principled people you will ever meet.

How can this level of integrity and this skill at deception possibly coexist?

CIA clandestine service officers can simultaneously possess these two ostensibly contradictory traits because they live by a strict ethical code that keeps them clean in what can sometimes be a filthy, dirty world. In fact, the concept of integrity is pervasive throughout the agency, running like lifeblood through the veins of an organization that operates primarily in the shadows.

If undercover CIA case officers were known more for their ability to tell a lie than for their integrity, they would never be effective.

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