"SPY" A MUST READ!!!

Meaning of Espionage

 According to Wikipedia, espionage (colloquially, spying) is the obtaining of information considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage can be committed by an individual or a spy ring (a co operating group of spies), in the service of a company, government, or operating independently. The practice is inherently clandestine, as it is by definition unwelcome and in many cases illegal and punishable by law. Spying involving corporations is known as "Industrial espionage". Reportedly Canada is losing $12 billion and German companies are estimated to be losing about €50 billion ($87 billion) and 30,000 jobs to industrial espionage every year.

 Events involving espionage are well documented throughout history. The Old Testament of the Christian Bible, which is based primarily on the Hebrew Bible, speaks about Joshua and Caleb and the twelve spies when entering the Promise Land. The ancient writings of Chinese and Indian military strategists such as Sun-Tzu and Chanakya contain information on deception and subversion. Chanakya's student Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Maurya Empire in India, made use of assassinations, spies and secret agents, which are described in Chanakya's Arthashastra. The ancient Egyptians had a thoroughly developed system for the acquisition of intelligence, and the Hebrews used spies as well as in the story of Rahab. Spies were also prevalent in the Greek and Roman empires. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Mongols relied heavily on espionage in their conquests in Asia and Europe. Feudal Japan often used ninjas to gather intelligence.

The French Ministry of War authorized the creation of the Deuxième Bureau on June 8, 1871, a service charged with performing "research on enemy plans and operations." This was followed a year later by the creation of a military counter-espionage service. It was this latter service that was discredited through its actions over the notorious Dreyfus Affair, where a French Jewish officer was falsely accused of handing over military secrets to the Germans. As a result of the political division that ensued, responsibility for counter-espionage was moved to the civilian control of the Ministry of Interior.

 According to Wikipedia, Pigeons were used for communication and photographic espionage. Many other animals have been reportedly used in various specialized military functions, including rats and pigs. Dogs have long been employed in a wide variety of military purposes, more recently focusing on guarding and bomb detection, and along with dolphins and sea lions are in active use today.

There are five kinds of spies according to Sun Tuz in his book; “The Art of war.” He explained that a leader or general should learn how to adopt and use all the various kind of spies in military war fare. Below are the following kinds of spies;

The Local Spy: The local spies are hired from people within a locality.

The Inside Spy: The inside spies are hired among enemy official. They can be drawn from disaffected officials or among relatives of official who have been executed.

The Reverse Spy: The reverse spies are hired from among enemy spies. They are enemy spies who are detained and induced to give information.

Living Spies: These are the kind of spies that come and go with information. In the selection of living spies, it is important to select those that can endure cold, hunger and dishonor. Living spies must look stupid and inconspicuous in appearance but brave, strong and powerful at heart.

Dead spies: They are the kind of spies deceived by their leaders to render false information to the enemy. One of the benefits of this tactics is to take advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness. Such spies are inevitably killed when the enemies find out they have been mislead.

               A bamboo version of The Art of War, written by Sun-Tzu and contains advice on espionage tactics.

The new version  

From ancient times, the penalty for espionage in many countries was execution. This was true right up until the era of World War II; for example, Josef Jakobs was a Nazi spy who parachuted into Great Britain in 1941 and was executed for espionage. In 1917, French authorities executed Mata Hari, a famous Dutch dancer, on charges of espionage for Germany.

Pictures of Mata Hari at her arrest.

In modern times, many people convicted of espionage have been given penal sentences rather than execution.  It is interesting to know that if ones ally spies are not also treated well, they are most likely to leak information. Enemies can also give out rich rewards to ally spies in other to win them over. It is suicidal when an ally spy leaks information to rivals.

See more photos below:

French spy captured during the Franco_ Prussian War

A dog employed by the Sanitary Corps during World War I to locate wounded soldiers. It is fitted with a gas mask.

A U.S. Navy dog handler at the War Dog Memorial in the National War Dog Cemetery at Naval Base Guam. The cemetery honors the dogs—mostly Doberman Pinschers —that were killed in service with the United States Marine Corps during the Second Battle of Guam in 1944.

An intelligence officer's clothing, accessories, and behavior must be as unremarkable as possible — their lives (and others') may depend on it.

Sources:

1. Wikipedia.

2. The Art of War – Sun Tuz.