The Mighty KGB Reassembles Itself

HT:StrategyPage.The Mighty KGB Reassembles Itself.There's a bureaucratic battle going on in Russia, as angry intelligence officials try to resurrect the Cold War era KGB. When the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, the new Russian government broke up the KGB, creating a domestic intelligence agency (the FSB) and a CIA like operation for foreign intel (the SVR), and several other separate operations that used to be part of the KGB. But because of a recent SVR debacle, and a certain nostalgia for the powerful KGB of yore, FSB officials want to absorb the smaller SVR.According to Russian officials, the ten Russian spies arrested in the United States last June were betrayed by a Russian SVR official (identified only as "colonel Shcherbakov"). The U.S. claimed they had been watching the ten sleepers for several years, which may indicate that Shcherbakov revealed a lot more if he was on the American payroll all that time. Shcherbakov was in charge of the SVR sleeper cell operation. The Russians use military ranks in the police and intelligence services, and colonels are middle-management. There is political pressure on the head of SVR to resign, indicating that the damage was greater than anyone wants to admit. That escalated into calls for SVR to become part of the FSB.The FBI were puzzled by how little useful information these ten were able to obtain. As far as the FBI could tell, these ten spies never obtained anything important. But the Russians were eager to get them back, and avoid a trial in the United States. It's unclear why Russia undertook such an inept operation, although Shcherbakov should know. If he did, that information has not gone public.The FSB still relies on conscripts for many low level security jobs. But, as in the Soviet period, getting drafted into the FSB is an attractive proposition for many young Russian men. Doing well in this job (guarding nuclear weapons, or other important national assets) marks you as someone worthy of other jobs within the security services. What bothers many Russians is the ultimate purpose of the FSB. The KGB was known as the main protector of the Communist Party. The FSB is seen as the supporter of wealthy criminals who used their KGB connections and powers after the Soviet Union collapsed, to grab ownership of many state owned assets. The current Russian government is acting more and more like the autocratic rulers Russia has suffered under for centuries. The FSB seems to act more like the palace guard, than public servants. The guards want more power, and are likely to get it.Hmmmmm....Tsar Putin?Read the full story here.