CHANCE ENCOUNTERS II: S P O O K Y

NOTE

I’ve fictionalized this account (second in a series) to protect the identity of the various characters: The good, the bad, and the ugly. It updates the first account, Chance Encounters, which you should read first.

THE ANATOMY OF AN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE ATTACK...ON ME.

KENWOOD: THE OLD CHERRY TREES

Two friends from Pennsylvania dropped in on Saturday. They came to Washington to see the cherry trees. I sent them to the Kenwood neighborhood where the trees are older and the tourists (mostly) local. When they walked into my place, they headed straight to a dresser and to a laptop and said hello to the two tangibles.
There’s nothing like having an intelligence service go after you. And you defenseless.

How did an intelligence service get to monitor my online activities?

I was able to piece together what had taken place, with the help of one government employee and a young technician I hired.


THE MAN-IN-THE-MIDDLE COMPUTER VIRUS ATTACK: ENSLAVING A FRIEND.

Faith and his circle/cell staged what my sources called a “third party attack,” or the “man-in-the-middle” attack. They sent me an email from the “support” section at a Saudi web publication, expressing interest in buying SaudiPolitics’ web domain. (I've always replied to these by referring them to my lawyers.) Faith must've become desperate when I had begun to distance myself from him. He couldn't lose control of the man he was assigned to mind, even if the minding meant his enslavement of his friend. His handler must've been pushing him.

Soon after receiving the email, I typed away the URL (http//:www.saudi....com.) A screen appeared; it flashed all-white. I should’ve known right then that I've been sent a virus. Whatever anti-virus program I had didn’t pick it up. Using Google, I later found out the Saudi web publication was legitimate.

So, for a short while, Faith’s intelligence/political cell had spoofed the Saudi web site, long enough to nab me. I did nothing about this virus for a few month following the attack. Frankly, I wasn’t even aware that I had been attacked and that I was being watched online. Only after I had the chance encounter in the metro car (see first part of this series, Chance Encounters-the article below) did I make the connection: That the blank and white screen was an invasion by a virus, and that Faith’s group/intelligence service was monitoring me.

(I had reserved a car online at Reagan National Airport to head to Pennsylvania with my father. The rental company had sent me a confirmation to my Yahoo address. The confirmation included the date and time for the return of the car. Once I returned the vehicle, I boarded a metro car...where the chance encounter took place. That encounter indicated to me that the blank and white page that had popped up when I checked out the Saudi web site was a virus that gave Faith and his cell the ability to monitor my online activities.)

In the meanwhile I had sent the "support" email author (Faith, probably or possibly his handler) my standard communication to contact my attorneys regarding the newsletter and its domain.

What Faith’s cell did, according to the government employee, is an extension of electronic eavesdropping. This can be a very sophisticated type of attack, recounted the young technician I hired, which told him that Faith and a circle of lay people could not be alone; that a very knowledgeable technician was involved.


A LISTENING DEVICE: THE NEED FOR THE MOLE.

In effect, even after I had cleaned up my computer, that same intelligence service could possibly still be eavesdropping using one or more of my laptops, to which Faith had physical access, when I would go to the bathroom at Starbucks where we did our work together. And, inside a piece of furniture that Faith gave me.

To electronically eavesdrop on you after all, said one knowledgeable acquaintance, they needed to gain access to your place. That could be risky. That’s where their mole–Faith-- came in handy. Have Faith install the listening device; better yet, have Faith give you a piece of furniture, or through access to your laptops at Starbucks while you’re in the bathroom, implant the bug.

All of this would not have mattered, since I don’t have anything to hide. Being a defense lawyer, I act defensively–by training. Obviously, after this sleazy treachery, I’ll be acting even more defensively. Besides, as you may have noted, I was most offended by the invasion of my privacy, not particularly by the fact that a foreign intelligence service has an interest in me. Not to mention (again) the treachery of a friend. “ Faith’s an asshole,” said Andrew, an old friend. “You’d need to forgive him,” said another who is religious.

So now you see why the Pennsylvania friends greeted the piece of furniture and the laptop first, and greeted me second.


THE MENU

For the Pennsylvania friends, I made hommus, and baked fresh pita bread on a cast iron skillet. Tomatoes. Olive oil. Hot cayenne pepper. For drink: a mix of black and green teas flavored with cinnamon and cardamon; then Arabic coffee using Italian roast from Starbucks.


WHAT WERE THEY REALLY AFTER?

A friend, perceptively commented, “What a strange thing! What were they after? Have you asked your former CIA friends? I mean to use these ugly guys for chance encounters instead of gorgeous women? Odd.

Obviously he had not read the first part of this article (Chance Encounters, March 19, 2006--below) where I and my helpers had deduced that Faith’s organized group didn’t include attractive women, or have access to these.


Former CIA 1:

One former CIA said that intelligence services are into the dirty business of collecting information about people, any information about people of interest, and into blackmailing these. I protested: I’m a lawyer, going nowhere but here. No, you’re not, he retorted. Political appointments are a-dime-a-dozen here and in Lebanon. Who knows?

--But what can they have on me that could hurt me?

--Anything. These are low life, including your friend Faith. All intelligence services and their moles are. Faith tapes your conversations; his intelligence service doctors the tapes; then anything you “say” about a Lebanese leader or an American or a Saudi--his intelligence service would use it for blackmail if the opportunity arises.

--But I say most everything on the pages of the newsletter, anyway. I tell it to whoever asks, anywhere–in restaurants, in cafeterias...

--No one’s ever said that intelligence service operatives are geniuses. They’re sleazy bottom feeders. Geniuses they’re not.

They’re certainly not friends, I said to myself, thinking of Faith.


FORMER CIA 2:

--Israel, and those right-wing working on its behalf in this country, want the United States to wage war on Iran, to do the job for Israel as we did when we invaded Iraq.

--You’re being too kind to the non-Israel-centric oil and defense imperials.

--Maybe I am. In your newsletter, you’ve come off at times anti-Iranian. I know you’re not, not necessarily. Your approach is geo-strategic. You think the left needs a dose of realism in its approach to international relations, a modicum of a balance of power perspective. Besides, the Iraq episode has united the left and the genuine conservatives--to be distinguished from the the con-artists parading as conservatives, the so-called neo-cons. The true conservatives–the generals, the old guard Republicans...these, for different reasons, are as offended by the Iraq adventure as the left.

When we invaded we disturbed the balance of power in the region. By eliminating the Hussein government, we eliminated the balancer of Iranian power. Faith’s guys–the Jewish right wing-- in their chance encounters, were testing the water with you to see if they can establish an anti-Iranian alliance so to speak with a “Saudi” publication.

--They’re nuts. SaudiPolitics is not a Saudi publication nor does it have anything to do with the Saudis. Period.

--That’s not the point. It’s bound to be read by the Saudis and some among them might adopt some of the ideas in it. Besides, you have an Arab and Arab-American background, unlike those among your co-religionists who lived through the civil war in Lebanon. So, in essence, you carry more credibility than many others.

--But why would I compromise the independence of the newsletter? For a bunch of harmful right-wing fascists? And why would the Saudis need these or the Israelis? They have the Brits, the French, the Indians, the Pakistanis, and a lot of Arab security people at their disposal. I’m willing to explain what I think about events, even to the right wing fascists, Jewish and others. But to break into my computer, possibly bug my place (we’ll see), and use a friend!

--This says more about your talent at selecting friends. From your description, Faith sounds like the insecure and jealous type. And an ethnic right wing. These are very dangerous. You’ve learned your lesson.

(I’m too old for this. Besides, this old spy is harsh.) He continued:

--Put this behind you. Get to your next article. Keep all around you posted about all that happens. Make sure they know what’s going on and who’s contacting you.

Spooky.