IDENTIFYING THE TRAITOR AMONG US: THE RHETORIC OF ESPIONAGE AND SECRECY by Karen M. Taylor BA Tulane University, 1993 MA Texas A&M University, 1996 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2003 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Karen M. Taylor It was defended on May 20, 2003 and approved by Ted McGuire Lester Olson Kirk Junker John Lyne Dissertation Director ii IDENTIFYING THE TRAITOR AMONG US: THE RHETORIC OF ESPIONAGE AND SECRECY Karen M. Taylor, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2003 This study approaches espionage as a knowledge-producing and knowledge-disseminating practice similar to knowledge practices such as science. The study uses investigative tools drawn from rhetoric of science studies and applies them to intelligence and, particularly, counterintelligence work. The result provides new insight into the underdetermination of evidence, the interdependence of disparate discourses, and the role of espionage in American culture. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ESPIONAGE AND RHETORIC.........................................................................................2 American History.....................................................................................................8 Consideration of Significance Behind Popularity .................................................13 THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF INTELLIGENCE ...................................15 THE LEGAL STRUCTURES OF ESPIONAGE RHETORIC.........................................22 ELEMENTS OF ESPIONAGE RHETORIC ....................................................................26 1. Burden of Proof..................................................................................................27 2. Motivation..........................................................................................................30 3. Harms.................................................................................................................31 4. Texts and Relations Between Texts..................................................................34 5. Communication about Communications/Definitions ........................................36 6. Typology of Cases .............................................................................................37 7. Impact ................................................................................................................40 PLAN OF PROJECT .........................................................................................................40 Chapter 2, Aldrich Ames .......................................................................................43 Chapter 3, Wen Ho Lee .........................................................................................43 Chapter 4, Robert Hanssen ....................................................................................43 A Note on Reading Strategy ..................................................................................44 Aldrich Ames and the Conspiratorial World of Espionage.....................................45 OPENNESS AND SECRECY...........................................................................................46 THE SPY AS FOOL..........................................................................................................52 UNDERSTANDING the CONTEXT for COUNTERINTELLIGENCE INVESTIGATIONS ..............................................................................................57 ESPIONAGE RHETORIC AND PARANOIA .................................................................62 BUILDING TRUST in a CONTEXT of PARANOIA ......................................................66 Trust through Code Systems..................................................................................68 Trust through Mutual Understanding Based on Shared Backgrounds ..................68 Trust through Heightening Insider/Outsider Differentiation.................................69 EVIDENCE AND EXPLANATION in the Ames Investigation ......................................76 Explanations Flawed Due to Delimiting the Data Too Broadly ...........................78 Explanations Based on the Mysteries of Technology............................................78 Explanations Based on Blaming the Victim..........................................................80 Explanations Based on the Insider/Outsider Dichotomy.......................................81 Obstacles Precluding Explanation due to Pressures from External Priorities .......82 LESSONS LEARNED.......................................................................................................83 The Problem with Lessons Learned: a Counter-Example for the Ames case in which we visit the openness vs. secrecy question again............................87 PREVENTING ESPIONAGE ...........................................................................................89 Strategies Relying on Symbolic Intervention ........................................................90 iv Strategies Reducing Opportunities ........................................................................93 Strategies Relying on Organizational Culture .......................................................95 Wen Ho Lee and the Post-Cold-War Espionage Genre............................................98 Event One: China’s Miniaturization Success ......................................................100 The History of Atomic Espionage .......................................................................102 Event Two: Satellite Technology Transfers ........................................................105 ENTER THE COX REPORT ..........................................................................................108 Appeals to Pathos.................................................................................................112 Appeals to Ethos ..................................................................................................115 Audience Expectations ........................................................................................116 ESPIONAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF SCIENCE..........................................................123 ENTER WEN-HO LEE ...................................................................................................128 Enter The Media ..................................................................................................131 Understanding the Significance of “Los Alamos” descriptor..............................137 The Lee case goes to trial ....................................................................................147 Post-trial Analysis................................................................................................151 Robert Hanssen and the Excitement of Espionage ...................................................165 ESPIONAGE AS COMMUNICATION .........................................................................168 BETRAYING THE TRAITOR .......................................................................................171 UNDERSTANDING MOTIVATION.............................................................................173 Explaining Motive in terms of Greed ..................................................................180 Explaining Motive in terms of Religion ..............................................................182 Explaining Motive in terms of Insanity ...............................................................184 Explaining Motive in terms of Employment Problems .......................................186 Contrasting Examples for Simplifying Motive Explanations..............................187 CRITIQUING CONTRASTING ACCOUNTS...............................................................189 Television as a Constraining Medium .................................................................190 Newspaper Coverage as a Constraining Medium................................................192 PRIOR DISCOURSE CONSTRAINS SUBSEQUENT DISCOURSE ..........................197 Narrative Conventions as Prior Discourse...........................................................199 Gender Conventions as Prior Discourse ..............................................................200 Comparing Gender Roles Across Espionage Discourses ....................................205 ROLE EXPECTATIONS AS EVIDENCE .....................................................................213 SECRECY’S ROLE.........................................................................................................216 Wrapping Up Espionage Cases........................................................................................217 CONCLUSIONS ABOUT ESPIONAGE FROM COMMUNICATION THEORY ......217 CONCLUSIONS ABOUT COMMUNICATION THEORY FROM ESPIONAGE ......227 CONCLUSIONS RELATED TO BROADER SOCIETAL QUESTIONS.....................234 TOWARDS FUTURE RESEARCH ...............................................................................240 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................................242 v Espionage is a popular topic to write about these days. Roughly three hundred million spy novels are sold every year1, enough to merit a significant amount of shelf space at your local Barnes and Noble. Clancy, LeCarré, and Fleming are only a few of the authors who have made a living