The Volunteer by Michael Ross

Author:Michael Ross
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2011-01-17T16:00:00+00:00

While “Galaxy-Quest” and his suicidal predecessor were the source of much humor and U.S.-directed schadenfreude at the hands of the ISA, as luck would have it, the last joint-operation with the ISA and FBI turned out to be just as big—if not bigger—an embarrassment for the ISA.

Udi, the ISA’s man in Washington, had been conferring with his colleagues at ISA HQ located near Tel Aviv University and proposed to the FBI another joint operation. Only this time, the ISA wanted to infiltrate one of their sources to be deployed into the Islamist network in Chicago. The ISA was pretty cocky about its success rate and some of their officers were using a crude old Yiddish saying that roughly translated as, “Now we’ll show them [the FBI] from which hole the fish pisses from.”

The source, code named “Brazil-Nut,” was in his early twenties, had been a Koranic scholar, and had good Islamist credentials. He had never left his village in his short life and I was already wondering how he would be affected by the sheer size, grandeur and pace of a city like Chicago. His English was rudimentary at best.

The preparations were long and arduous and the Chicago field office sent out a special agent named Roger, who was tasked with running the operation. Roger was a tall, lean, clean shaven man with the usual Boy Scout-in-Brooks Brothers look. Like all the FBI people I met, he was also courteous and professional in all his dealings with us. I knew that the FBI thought the Mossad was always trying to spy on the U.S., but they never appeared hostile or confrontational in their dayto-day dealings. If they had any reservations, they never showed them. Personally, I think the paranoiacs in the FBI are in their D.C. HQ and are probably people who have seen too many beltway conspiracies to have a clear perspective on the Israel-U.S. intelligence relationship. Having been in Israel’s most covert of units, Caesarea, I can say that I never caught even a trace of covert operations in or against the U.S.

We had a round of meetings and agreed that the ISA would dispatch “Brazil-Nut” to the U.S. The FBI would fund the operation and give tasking and direction to operational targets in Chicago. It was the FBI’s patch after all, and it was only fair, given that they understood the nuances of the area where “Brazil-Nut” would be operating. “Brazil-Nut’s” ISA handler would deploy to Chicago and monitor his progress. Sources and their handlers build up a relationship of mutual trust over a long period of time and you can’t simply pass them around like collectible figures. Sources go wobbly from separation anxiety. It felt like “Brazil-Nut” was getting the jitters despite assurances from his ISA handler, and the last thing he needed was a non-Arabic speaking FBI agent who looked like he came from central casting suddenly telling him what to do.

Once we’d established the mission parameters, essential elements of intelligence, finances and logistics of the operation, we all went out for a celebratory dinner.

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