Book Report on "Espionage"

Book Report 11 pages (3319 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

There he studied math and sciences, but also took interest in learning Russian. His teachers claim that they lived in the U.S.A. since they were against communism and that they taught Hanssen language alone and not anything else.

The book does not narrate any abusive behavior of Robert Hanssen towards his wife. He was 'only' psychologically diseased enough to find fun in spying for enemies. He and Bonnie met in a hospital where Bonnie was having a summer job. She met him a few times and had him meet her parents. There was no resistance from families of both and thus the two found it easy to marry.

Hanssen's brought up by a rough and rude father is not the only reason behind his secretly abnormal behavior. Also his religious orientation is seen by many as the factor supporting his unfaithfulness to the country. Hanssen's wife Bonnie was a Catholic and one of her brothers was a follower of Opus Dei. The family of in laws acted like a magnet for Hanssen since he also became a Catholic quite soon. Besides the religious inclination, the family of Bonnie was very professional and well settled. Her father being a Navy veteran served in clinics and taught in universities (15). Bonnie was not only a little surprised when Hanssen left dentistry and joined accounting classes but she was also saddened as well as infuriated to know about Bob Hanssen's girlfriend only a little after their marriage (14). Hanssen never denied his relationship with that women but also mentioned that the relation was never more than a friendship. Thus it was a big transformation coming in his life since he seemed like a womanizer and sooner he was becoming what her mother later called 'ultra-religious' and a 'religious catholic'.

It seemed like changing the field of study was a critical decision yet Hanssen was able to complete his MBA in 1971. He did a couple of jobs for a few months but his desire was to join intelligence agencies that he failed multiple times. This was the time his father's career in police was ending too. In the same window, Hanssen joined the FBI. His colleagues mention that Hanssen never complained about his father. Rather it occurred to them as if he worshipped his father (17). He always praised the caring behavior and honesty of his father. His colleagues say that they could not recall a week when Hanssen did not discuss his father with them in good words. For those that do not know about the rough behavior of Hanssen's father, it was hard to detect any anomaly in his behavior. To them Hanssen was doing the right thing, i.e. praising a caring and disciplined father. But, his behavior was basically operating at two extremes. He was very poorly treated by his father, but he used to discuss him as if he had an ideal father (18).

The book offers minor details on the history of Hanssen as if the author wants to tell do's and don'ts about not becoming a rat! Hanssen worked in Vice Control Division in1973 and also remained in touch with his friends in different areas of life. Although he was fascinated by spying, he had not really started working as the double agent by then. The offer to serve as a mole for the Soviet Union was less of financial motive and more of a thrilling experience for Hanssen given his deviant behavior. He was a deviant Catholic and like it is said a deviant of God is not loyal to anyone else, Hanssen at least proved the quote. He started leaking sensitive documents initially slowly since his career was on a rise. The leakage of security documents in the hands was not known until the American moles in Russia were being killed. The mole information was accurately passed thus wasting huge training and related costs the FBI spent on agents (68). Hanssen's accounts started to build up both in America and Russia, but since more than half of the amount was in Russian banks, there was less proof to doubt him.

Although Hanssen was a religious individual, he was not obedient to God. It was his daily routine to pray (88), he was quite a deviant person whose action, especially those pertaining to sexual life, were not disciplined. He never felt for cheating his wife even when he took his girlfriend to Hong Kong. Even when he used to be out for entertainment, he acted like a saint that made him look even more doubtful. It was fair to Hanssen to identify some double agents to maintain his monopoly in conspiring.

If it was for money alone, Hanssen might not have been a traitor, but his disturbed psychology and his urge for a so called thrilling life pushed him to be a traitor. He was habitual of living a life where he, after being beaten up by father, could stay happy. This did not make enough difference in his life to imagine of dreadful emotional, social, economic and psychological consequences he had to bear once the secret of his loyalty releases. Hanssen had in one way become a man of his father's dreams, i.e. A person who is not affected by fear of punishment (12).

Hanssen was not a filthy rich man but his expenses were not that could be managed within his salary. What started with doubts began to be proved by the agents working on Hanssen. Eric was one of the most critical agents who traced Hanssen and the files he was leaking. Being close to him at office, Eric could even get access to the personal accounts and communication devices of Hanssen. It was not easy for the young new agents in the FBI to follow and hunt down the sharp agents like Hanssen (146). Hanssen, when began to realize that he might be being followed, started to influence the young agent and to terrorize him. However, Eric did not lose control and neither did he let himself collapse. It often came to him that he doubted if a religious person like Hanssen could betray his land, yet he could not deny the possibility at all.

It was Hanssen's 'job' to identify real and code names of fellows to the KGB. However, the world knew about his code name quite late. Hanssen was codenamed Grayday in the Soviet intelligence (221). Readers today may relate his gray name to the gray and undiscovered activities he had been involved in for more than two decades. Somehow Hanssen managed to have a name rhyming with his one of favorite characters Sunday! It is not known whether any of his colleagues and friends ever heard this name or not, but this can be said that they were never ready for the biggest unpleasant surprise like the nation as a whole.

It was a 'normal' day for Hanssen that remarked history for Americans. The FBI had been following every move of Hanssen having found guns in his car and doubting him for his behavior. The agents observed him putting marks on the tree indicating placement of sensitive records he had to offer to the Russian intelligence (243). Hanssen was confident, alone and unarmed. He was plain enough that even his friend Jack could not guess in the morning that Hanssen was up to something fishy. It was his control on himself that the Americans took a long time before they could catch him.

The FBI had to doubt all the employees to hunt the real mole since trusting the team members did not work out. Although it was not a great deal to tell about the moral and sexual life of Hanssen and other employees, the sexual tapes of Hanssen revealed his abnormal and deviant sexual behavior (Wise 253). It was one of the connections that could let continue the story. Since it is not normal to be religious and sexually deviant at the same time, there existed a possibility that he might be a traitor despite being a critical servant of the government. The main fantasy behind Hanssen recording relationship between him and his wife was to show his friends what relationship he had with his wife (257). Thus this secret agency employee had no private/secret life! Hanssen's mind was sharp enough to deceive the nation for too many years but never had the wisdom of an average person to life a balanced family life. Hanssen did not forget to mention his pride at the time of his arrest on having sharply worked as double agent. He considered it as a challenge for fellow employees rather.

Hanssen was the worst double agent in American history that worked for America and Russia and could hide the fact for over two decades (Wise 284). The KGB used to shoot traitors right in the head and this is what they did to the American agents in Russia… READ MORE

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