Femme Fatales

Femme fatales and poor (priapic) vulnerable males who surrender themselves to gullibility and stupidity. What a lark, and just so much innocent fun. In a tradition as old as diplomacy between countries complete with espionage and hanky-panky between nubile women and men grateful to have the notice of youth and beauty, the scenario plays itself out over and over in history.

Our top-echelon security heads have gone on public record to point out that there are some, with authority within Canadian society, including elected public officials whose friendships are fraught with concern for the country's security. Industrial and military and political espionage is a continuing concern for most countries; those nations that are the 'best of friends' still harbour suspicion of each other's intentions.

And those countries hungry for advantage in securing secret, classified and extremely useful data to enhance their own well-being and advances will go to great lengths to secure the confidence of trusting people who will innocently enough let slip information that should be kept close to the vest. Revealing things that should be kept within the confines of government agencies.

In a sense it's interesting that a country like China, adept at infiltrating and securing information through technological means through the Internet among other new, profitable ways of securing data, still relies for some kinds of useful intelligence, on its agents, posing as other than they are. But then it has been said often enough by those in the intelligence field that person-to-operative receipt of data has it over mechanical means of retrieving information.

A Chinese journalist-cum intelligence agent, and an older, greying Canadian parliamentarian; quite the combination. All the journalist had to do was smile, light up her beautiful face, coyly make herself appear 'interested' in someone like Bob Dechert, secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and it's amazing the level of trust that might ensue.

"I have nothing really else to add on that."