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by pokpokpok 4322 days ago
you're correct I'm astonished. Is there some vast cultural difference with respect to government power that this is considered bearable?
2 comments

The relevant paragraph in TFA is as follows:

""" James Olson, a former Chief of Counterintelligence at the C.I.A., who was involved in clandestine operations overseas for many years, described undercover sexual involvements as “something that we should not do in the C.I.A., absolutely not.” He went on, “Our liaison friends in other services think that we Americans are ridiculously puritanical and that we avoid using something that works.” The masters were the East Germans—particularly Markus Wolf, whose Romeo agents seduced government secretaries in the West. As for Bob Robinson, Olson said, “It’s very easy to fall into that trap—the righteousness trap. Some people are so convinced that what they’re doing is for the good of the country that they’re willing to excuse what would ordinarily be gross misconduct on their parts. They lose sight of ethical constraints.” """

I note that he doesn't say the US doesn't do this, merely that the CIA shouldn't do it, which UK authorities have also said about the UK police, while seeking to conceal the fact it happened and defend their right to do it again. I doubt the CIA actually refrains entirely from using this effective infiltration technique. If they didn't, they would lie. If it hadn't been for Mark Kennedy being outed by political activists in 2010 this probably wouldn't be widely known about in the UK either.

Yes, it was called the Boston Tea Party.
Yep, taxing tea in the colonies was just too damn far.
Actually it was an anti-monopolistic protest against a lower tax on East India Corps tea.

Today, we celebrate monopolies or think they can't exist via deregulation.