US capital a magnet for foreign spies

A highly respected US State Department official was arrested last week, suspected of passing secret government documents to Taiwanese intelligence agents. And earlier this month, word leaked that the FBI is investigating a Pentagon official for possibly providing classified information to Israel.

The cases are alarming enough, in that two men in sensitive positions may be betraying their country. But together they also highlight one less well-known fact: Espionage against the US is increasing, rather than decreasing,in the post-cold-war era, experts say. Because the US has become the sole dominant military and economic power in the world, friends and foes alike want access to more information than the US readily shares with them.

"There is an ever-present threat of foreign intelligence collection against the US," says a US law enforcement official. "And it's not only the traditional, like military capabilities. It's foreign policy planning, and there is a vast interest in patent materials, not only for machines, but for research."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation regularly updates a closely held list of the countries that threaten national security due to espionage operations. "The top five countries on that list are China, Israel, Russia, France, and North Korea. Others include Cuba, Pakistan, and India," says an official close to the FBI.

The latest unclassified information - a 2000 report prepared for Congress by the National Counterintelligence Center - lists the "most active collectors" against the US as China, Japan, Israel, France, Korea, Taiwan, and India. And, experts say, Al Qaeda conducts espionage here as well.

Of course, the US isn't above snooping on its friends and foes either. Just a couple of years ago, France deported two Americans accused of conducting espionage there.

Arthur Hulnick, a professor of international relations at Boston University, former CIA official, and author of a new book, "Keeping us Safe: Secret Intelligence and Homeland Security," says a student recently asked him, "Do we ever spy on our friends?"

"Only when we have to," Professor Hulnick responded, tongue in cheek. "Of course we do," he adds. "Why wouldn't we do it, if they don't give us what we want? And why wouldn't they do it to us?"

Government officials and outside experts say foreign agents focus on four primary areas: US military capabilities, foreign policy strategy, technological expertise, and business plans. The first two are the most common, according to the US law-enforcement official. But he says that foreign intelligence agents don't target just people who work at the Pentagon. They try to make inroads with contractors - those responsible for, say, a ship or airplane. Or subcontractors - those responsible for small parts that make up the larger ships, airplanes, and tanks.

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