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Authors: James Bamford
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Carl Holt had swiveled his narrow seat 180
degrees to the rear and was pressing hard on the fire control button for his
twin cannons. In the cloudless sky he stopped counting at about ten MiGs.
"The guns won't work," he shouted above the roar of the six powerful
turbojets. "Well, you'd better kick something back there and get the damn
things to work alittle bit anyway, or we may be a dead duck here!"
Austin roared in a deep Texas drawl. Austin quickly banked toward Finland. But
a fighter from above put a shell through the top of his port wing, destroying
the intercom and knocking a hole in the fuel tank. By the time they crossed
into friendly territory, their plane was dangerously low on fuel, but a lucky
rendezvous with a tanker saved Austin, his crew, and the mission tapes.
Largely
secret until now, the bomber overflights and ferret missions were the dark
underside of the Cold War, an invisible hot war in which the lives of more than
two hundred silent warriors were lost and morethan forty
American aircraft were shot down.
As
American spy planes were drawing protests from Russia, a major crisis was
developing in Europe and the Middle East. During the president's morning
briefings, aides with maps were beginning to run out of pins to mark the hot
spots. On July 26, 1956, following a fiery speech, Egyptian president Gamal
Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. The action would lead to a mini-war
with England, France, and Israel and a cooling of relations with the European
allies of the United States. It would also, according to a highly secret NSA
report, become "the first major test of the National Security Agency
during a short-term, 'brush-fire' crisis."
Sitting in
the director's office was Lieutenant General Ralph Julian Canine, of the Army,
the agency's first director, whom many considered the father of NSA. Portly and
white-haired, the fifty-five-year-old general had spent most of his career as
an infantry soldier, with little experience in intelligence. He often reminded
those around him that what most qualified him to be the director of NSA was his
long experience with pack mules.
"People
were scared of him," said Air Force colonel Frank L. Herrelko, a burly
one-time coal miner who worked for Canine as his director of communications
security, the codemaking side of the business. "But deep down he had a
heart of gold." Once onboard, Herrelko made the serious mistake of
pronouncing Canine like the dog, "Kay-Nine." "I paid for that
for the next eight months," said Herrelko. "After that he called me
boy. He would only call me Colonel in front of somebody else. He called me
boy."
The
seizure of the Suez Canal came as the last move in a bitter game of Cold War
poker. For months, the United States and Russia had been subtly bidding against
each other for the costly right to help Egypt pay for an important dam across
the Nile. Nasser was a key leader of the Arab world and he controlled a
strategic piece of real estate; his friendship was an alluring prize. The price
was the Aswan High Dam. Knowing his value and hoping to up the bids, Nasser
awkwardly attempted to play one side off the other. Instead, the United States
folded its cards and Russia, now without competition, began hedging its bet.
Frustrated, Nasser declared martial law along the canal and ordered shipping
companies to pay Egypt rather than the Canal Company.
Although
Nasser never indicated any desire to close the canal or restrict shipping, the
British and French governments, part owners of the Canal Company, nevertheless
feared their passage might be blocked. Like a plasma tube, the canal allowed
vital oil shipments to pass from refineries in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere to
storage tanks in England and France.
Soon after
Nasser nationalized the canal, Britain joined France in an ambitious plot to
take back the canal by force. Rather than appear as an aggressor, however,
France secretly enlisted the help of Israel. The intrigue involved
degrees to the rear and was pressing hard on the fire control button for his
twin cannons. In the cloudless sky he stopped counting at about ten MiGs.
"The guns won't work," he shouted above the roar of the six powerful
turbojets. "Well, you'd better kick something back there and get the damn
things to work alittle bit anyway, or we may be a dead duck here!"
Austin roared in a deep Texas drawl. Austin quickly banked toward Finland. But
a fighter from above put a shell through the top of his port wing, destroying
the intercom and knocking a hole in the fuel tank. By the time they crossed
into friendly territory, their plane was dangerously low on fuel, but a lucky
rendezvous with a tanker saved Austin, his crew, and the mission tapes.
Largely
secret until now, the bomber overflights and ferret missions were the dark
underside of the Cold War, an invisible hot war in which the lives of more than
two hundred silent warriors were lost and morethan forty
American aircraft were shot down.
As
American spy planes were drawing protests from Russia, a major crisis was
developing in Europe and the Middle East. During the president's morning
briefings, aides with maps were beginning to run out of pins to mark the hot
spots. On July 26, 1956, following a fiery speech, Egyptian president Gamal
Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. The action would lead to a mini-war
with England, France, and Israel and a cooling of relations with the European
allies of the United States. It would also, according to a highly secret NSA
report, become "the first major test of the National Security Agency
during a short-term, 'brush-fire' crisis."
Sitting in
the director's office was Lieutenant General Ralph Julian Canine, of the Army,
the agency's first director, whom many considered the father of NSA. Portly and
white-haired, the fifty-five-year-old general had spent most of his career as
an infantry soldier, with little experience in intelligence. He often reminded
those around him that what most qualified him to be the director of NSA was his
long experience with pack mules.
"People
were scared of him," said Air Force colonel Frank L. Herrelko, a burly
one-time coal miner who worked for Canine as his director of communications
security, the codemaking side of the business. "But deep down he had a
heart of gold." Once onboard, Herrelko made the serious mistake of
pronouncing Canine like the dog, "Kay-Nine." "I paid for that
for the next eight months," said Herrelko. "After that he called me
boy. He would only call me Colonel in front of somebody else. He called me
boy."
The
seizure of the Suez Canal came as the last move in a bitter game of Cold War
poker. For months, the United States and Russia had been subtly bidding against
each other for the costly right to help Egypt pay for an important dam across
the Nile. Nasser was a key leader of the Arab world and he controlled a
strategic piece of real estate; his friendship was an alluring prize. The price
was the Aswan High Dam. Knowing his value and hoping to up the bids, Nasser
awkwardly attempted to play one side off the other. Instead, the United States
folded its cards and Russia, now without competition, began hedging its bet.
Frustrated, Nasser declared martial law along the canal and ordered shipping
companies to pay Egypt rather than the Canal Company.
Although
Nasser never indicated any desire to close the canal or restrict shipping, the
British and French governments, part owners of the Canal Company, nevertheless
feared their passage might be blocked. Like a plasma tube, the canal allowed
vital oil shipments to pass from refineries in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere to
storage tanks in England and France.
Soon after
Nasser nationalized the canal, Britain joined France in an ambitious plot to
take back the canal by force. Rather than appear as an aggressor, however,
France secretly enlisted the help of Israel. The intrigue involved
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