The Laughing Wolf

A Quick Declaration

I am a writer, and I am not now, nor have I ever been, the employee of any intelligence agency. My knowledge of this field comes from study, and from getting pissed off with the Soviet Union over something attempted/done.

When I was first getting started as a journalist and writer, I did a series of articles on Soviet space efforts. One of these, never published, predicted that a major launch failure was due soon. This came not from sources or knowledge of sabotage, but from identifying a cycle in such events. It turned out that I was right, there was a spectacular launch failure, and that somehow Soviet intelligence got a copy of the unpublished article and decided to check me out and/or recruit me.

My phone was tapped. I was approached. The entire affair was about as subtle as a clown suit at a dress ball. I was unimpressed. I was, to put it mildly, pissed off by all that happened. Net result was not intimidation, but the creation of a desire on my part to learn all I could of their space efforts and publicize same. Yes, I did report all this to the FBI, though Ifni only knows if they paid it any attention or had the competence to do so.

So, I dug in and learned. I read up on intelligence, intelligence agencies, failed and good operations, and more. I studied up on Soviet space efforts, and in the course of this met many good and fine people, some of who were delighted to pool efforts and get the news out. It was fun. It honked off some of the Soviets. I was happy. I was especially happy that the person they used to contact me never came calling again, given some things I found out later. Funny thing is, under the right circumstances, I would drink with that person.

This culminated in my Master’s thesis, entitled The Soviet Watchers which was an open directory of observers of Soviet space efforts. Got some good people in there, which made me very happy. I was sorry one person was not able to participate, and remain overjoyed that a couple of people for whom I have no professional respect declined to participate.

There was a downside too, just as there was with my knowledge of (and respect for) military operations: there are some who feel that it taints me to have studied the subject so. Or, rather, let us say that the fact that I have respect for some people in intelligence and for some intelligence operations means that I am forever corrupted in their eyes. A “real” journalist could never be this way, for all military and intelligence people and activities are an abomination. My response to that is, most politely, a raspberry. Long and loud.

It has also, though, allowed me to have some fun along the way. The department uber-lib where I did my Master’s work almost stroked out when I snuck a CIA coffee mug into the department break room. In the interest of being fair and balanced, I also slipped a KGB mug to a friend to put in there. As for where all the KGB badge that came my way took me, we won't go there...

So, no, I am not the employee of any intelligence agency. Just a writer who has done some homework over the years.

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