Covert Operations Quotes

“Far off, I heard a rumble. A land slip perhaps. Or maybe tank fire from thirty miles away. I figured the sounds of war would carry this far into the desert mountains.”
― Murray Bailey, The Prisoner of Acre

“Growing up, I always had a soldier mentality. As a kid I wanted to be a soldier, a fighter pilot, a covert agent, professions that require a great deal of bravery and risk and putting oneself in grave danger in order to complete the mission. Even though I did not become all those things, and unless my predisposition, in its youngest years, already had me leaning towards them, the interest that was there still shaped my philosophies. To this day I honor risk and sacrifice for the good of others - my views on life and love are heavily influenced by this.”
― Criss Jami, Healology

“Secrecy is strength, what people don't know they can't spoil.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words

“Ordering and taking delivery on the supplies and other things they needed took ingenuity and finesse, but both were Win's specialty. Contraband that would set off an alarm if ordered from unauthorized sources would simply be "misdelivered" to the SD where he would pick it up after-hours.”
― Marcha A. Fox, A Psilent Place Below

“Robert’s realm was the undercurrent of the illegitimate space of covert operations – the dirty little (and big) things the government does but doesn’t want to admit to.”
― Kenneth Eade, Russian Holiday

“The denials, if they need be given, could better be given with sincerity, and they could only be feigned if you didn’t know them at all.”
― Kenneth Eade, Russian Holiday

“What if an American citizen needs to disappear, for reasons that might never be revealed to you, and you are involved, even peripherally, in the plot? Are you willing to participate in a crime like that? Something they can hang over your head for the rest of your life?”
― Nick Drnaso, Sabrina

“Learn from history, maintain your mystery, take your victory.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words

“A senior member of the Washington diplomatic corps, Bandar has played racquetball with Secretary of State Colin Powell in the late seventies. He had run covert operations for the late CIA director Bill Casey that were so hush-hush they were kept secret even from President Ronald Reagan. He was the man who stashed away thirty locked attache cases that held some of the deepest secrets in the intelligence world. And for two decades, Bandar built an intimate personal relationship with the Bush family that went far beyond a mere political friendship.”
― Craig Unger, House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties

“The historical record is unequivocal. The United States is ham-handed and brutal in conceiving and executing clandestine operations, and it is simply no good at espionage; its operatives never have enough linguistic and cultural knowledge of target countries to recruit spies effectively. The CIA also appears to be one of the most easily penetrated espionage organizations on the planet. From the beginning, it has repeatedly lost its assets to double agents.”
― Chalmers Johnson, Dismantling the Empire: America's Last Best Hope

“Monarchs, autocratic rulers and democracies have used informers and agents provocateurs for the security of their realms, to wage war and for their own protection against assassins.”
― Vikram Sood, The Ultimate Goal: A Former R&AW Chief Deconstructs How Nations Construct Narratives

“Intelligence is not a science, certainly not a natural science. It is an art or a craft, and as such it cannot be governed by the basic tenets of logic.”
― Vikram Sood, The Ultimate Goal: A Former R&AW Chief Deconstructs How Nations Construct Narratives

“You were never alone. You couldn’t see them, but help was all around you. We work in the dark a lot, so that’s something you’ll learn—you’ll know where everybody is, even when you can’t see them.”
― Vincent H. O'Neil, The Gathering Elements

“First, never let your opponent figure out what you’re doing—deception at all times. Second, always leave yourself a way out.”
― Vincent H. O'Neil, The Gathering Elements

“The words clandestine and covert do not mean the same thing, even though they are often used interchangeably. Clandestinity conceals the operation, while covertness conceals the operator. Most of what has been discussed previously in this book falls into the category of clandestine activities-inter-nal security and intelligence collection operations performed in such a way that they are not publicly visible. Clandestine means secret; something is done so that only those involved in it know it is happening. Most intelligence operations are clandestine, because if they became public, sensitive sources and methods could be damaged or eliminated. However, the sponsoring government does not usually hide its involvement in the operation. For example, when an intelligence service pitches a HUMINT source, the source usually knows for what government he/she is working, unless the service is using a false flag to deliberately misrepresent its affiliation. Covert means the sponsoring government does not reveal its involvement. Although covert operations are usually clandestine in the planning stages, the result of a covert activity often becomes public, even intentionally. That includes covert sabotage, in which an object is damaged: for example, when a bomb explodes or a computer system goes offline. The primary element of covert activities is the phrase "plausible deniability," which means the action is visible, but the perpetrator's identity is hidden.”
― Kevin P. Riehle, Russian Intelligence: A Case-based Study of Russian Services and Missions Past and Present