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Authors: Stuart Methven
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espionage lexicon and remains there. Agents of influence are normally “handled” by station chiefs (COSs), although there are exceptions of such agents that were developed by case officers before they reached their positions of influence.
Handling agents of influence is difficult. They balk at signing receipts, won’t write reports, refuse to submit to the polygraph, and accept “guidance” only when it is in their best interest.
One such agent of influence, the prime minister of a Southeast Asian country, had allegedly been recruited by the local station chief. The COS had a porous memory, however, and had to jot intelligence requirements from Headquarters on crib notes. He concealed the notes in his hand, glancing at them to remind him ofquestions to ask his “agent.” The prime minister noticed the COS glancing down at something curled in his hand and ordered his aide to grab the COS’s crib notes. A tug of war followed until the aide finally wrested the notes from the COS’s palm and handed them to the amused prime minister, who jokingly answered each of the questions for the embarrassed station chief.
I had been tasked to recruit an agent of influence in the labor field. Since agents of influence are usually the preserve of station chiefs, not of junior case officers, it was almost impossible for a minor functionary such as me to even contact, much less recruit, a senior official in a government ministry. When I mentioned this to my chief, he was unsympathetic, saying he didn’t have a “pool” of gray-haired or senior citizen case officers. I would have to use my ingenuity. “Grow a beard, pencil in wrinkles, walk with a cane, act like Methuselah!”
The Feather Duster
There is a high blowback potential in agent of influence operations, and I had to be careful selecting my target. I settled on a department chief in the Labor Ministry.
Machano was director of that ministry’s liaison section. He had studied briefly at Harvard, and according to the U.S. labor attaché, Machano was a “comer.” I asked the attaché to invite him to the next embassy reception.
I was introduced to Machano as a colleague interested in labor affairs, and I handed him one of the cards I had had printed identifying me as a special assistant for labor affairs. Machano gave me one of his cards, and after covering the rise of the Edo Firebirds and the approaching typhoon season, I asked him about the current labor unrest in Bushido. He seemed surprised both at the directness of my question and that the American embassy was interested in the views of a minor official.
Machano said the subject was too complex for discussion at a cocktail party. However, if I was seriously interested in the labor situation, I should come by his office, where we could discuss it in detail.
Having a secretary implies status in Bushido, so I asked the station chief’s secretary to phone Machano’s office and ask for an appointment. A date and time were settled on, and I arrived at Machano’s office carrying a copy of the Congressional Record, which contained minutes of a recent Senate Labor Relations Committee meeting.
We discussed the labor situation for almost an hour before he had to leave for a meeting. Machano apologized for cutting our meeting short and invited me to lunch the following week so we could continue our discussion. I thanked him, leaving behind the “confidential” copy of the Congressional Record.
At the lunch the next week, I told Machano that “senior officials” in Washington had been impressed by his analysis of the labor situation. He seemed surprised that I had reported his views to Washington but was reassured when I told him his comments would be treated as “highly confidential.”
After lunch, I invited Machano to dinner at my house when he was free. He seemed reluctant, but he finally accepted when I insisted on reciprocating for his hospitality.
My first objective, making contact and establishing
Handling agents of influence is difficult. They balk at signing receipts, won’t write reports, refuse to submit to the polygraph, and accept “guidance” only when it is in their best interest.
One such agent of influence, the prime minister of a Southeast Asian country, had allegedly been recruited by the local station chief. The COS had a porous memory, however, and had to jot intelligence requirements from Headquarters on crib notes. He concealed the notes in his hand, glancing at them to remind him ofquestions to ask his “agent.” The prime minister noticed the COS glancing down at something curled in his hand and ordered his aide to grab the COS’s crib notes. A tug of war followed until the aide finally wrested the notes from the COS’s palm and handed them to the amused prime minister, who jokingly answered each of the questions for the embarrassed station chief.
I had been tasked to recruit an agent of influence in the labor field. Since agents of influence are usually the preserve of station chiefs, not of junior case officers, it was almost impossible for a minor functionary such as me to even contact, much less recruit, a senior official in a government ministry. When I mentioned this to my chief, he was unsympathetic, saying he didn’t have a “pool” of gray-haired or senior citizen case officers. I would have to use my ingenuity. “Grow a beard, pencil in wrinkles, walk with a cane, act like Methuselah!”
The Feather Duster
There is a high blowback potential in agent of influence operations, and I had to be careful selecting my target. I settled on a department chief in the Labor Ministry.
Machano was director of that ministry’s liaison section. He had studied briefly at Harvard, and according to the U.S. labor attaché, Machano was a “comer.” I asked the attaché to invite him to the next embassy reception.
I was introduced to Machano as a colleague interested in labor affairs, and I handed him one of the cards I had had printed identifying me as a special assistant for labor affairs. Machano gave me one of his cards, and after covering the rise of the Edo Firebirds and the approaching typhoon season, I asked him about the current labor unrest in Bushido. He seemed surprised both at the directness of my question and that the American embassy was interested in the views of a minor official.
Machano said the subject was too complex for discussion at a cocktail party. However, if I was seriously interested in the labor situation, I should come by his office, where we could discuss it in detail.
Having a secretary implies status in Bushido, so I asked the station chief’s secretary to phone Machano’s office and ask for an appointment. A date and time were settled on, and I arrived at Machano’s office carrying a copy of the Congressional Record, which contained minutes of a recent Senate Labor Relations Committee meeting.
We discussed the labor situation for almost an hour before he had to leave for a meeting. Machano apologized for cutting our meeting short and invited me to lunch the following week so we could continue our discussion. I thanked him, leaving behind the “confidential” copy of the Congressional Record.
At the lunch the next week, I told Machano that “senior officials” in Washington had been impressed by his analysis of the labor situation. He seemed surprised that I had reported his views to Washington but was reassured when I told him his comments would be treated as “highly confidential.”
After lunch, I invited Machano to dinner at my house when he was free. He seemed reluctant, but he finally accepted when I insisted on reciprocating for his hospitality.
My first objective, making contact and establishing
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