Terms used in espionage - the indispensable companion to Jack's novels

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[ Various ] [ Military Slang ]

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AGENT / ASSET - person obtaining intelligence for an intelligence service, under control of a CASE officer

AGENT provocateur - for example a cop posing as member of a subersive group and enticing riots etc.

AIR America - CIA front company

ALLIANCE BASE - Alliance Base is the cover name for a secret Western Counterterrorist Intelligence Center (CTIC) that was allegedly established in 2002 in Paris. According to a Washington Post article, Alliance Base is funded by the CIA and its French equivalent, the DGSE. It allegedly hosts officers from Great Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Australia and the United States and is used for intelligence exchange and operational planning.

ALPHA Group, The

AMAN - Israel's military intelligence

ASIO - Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

ASIS - Australian Secret Intelligence Service

BIRDWATCHER - spy, usualy used in the UK

BLACK BAG operation - breaking in to install eavesdropping equipment, e.g. by the FBI

BLACK Propaganda

BLACK SITE - any classiffied facility for which the US government will deny existence (for example US torture prisons).

BLACK VAULT - funds free of governmental scrutiny - laundered, stolen, etc - every intelligence agency's fallback option

BLOWBACK - term used to describe the unintended consequences of covert operations

BLOWN - exposed as being a spy

BND - Bundesnachrichtendienst - German Foreign Intelligence Service

BRAINWASHING - in Societies where the government maintains tight control of both the mass media and education system, and were media stand firmly behind the government, brainwashing is used to disseminate propaganda on a particularly intensive scale, the overall effect can be to brainwash large sections of the population (See FOX News). This is particularly effective where nationalist or religious sentiment is invoked and where the population is poorly educated and has limited access to independent or foreign media.

BRUSH PASS - momentary person to person contact, usually to exchange physical intelligence.

BUG - a covert listening or recording device. Listening device is easier to detect as it emits signals. Recording device is 'on' only during recording, but is usually bigger. Both can be remotely turned on/off

BURNT - exposed spy, operative who became known as a spy.