Two stories, related only in that they involve spies, sex, and women as victims.
The first story is of the alleged rape of Algerian women by a CIA operations officer, Andrew Warren, who was the station chief in Algiers until removed after accusations that he had raped Algerian women after drugging them. Yesterday, the Washington Post carried an extensive article about the scandal, which has the potential to cause problems in US-Algerian relations. The excellent English-language blog on North African affairs, "The Moor Next Door," provides insights on the Algerian reaction.
In the process of explaining spy tradecraft, WaPo's Joby Warrick and Jeffrey Smith tell us that
As CIA case officers attempt to recruit a foreign spy, they often offer personal inducements, ranging from cash to medical care. In some cases, a potential recruit may be taken to a strip club or even to a prostitute if it is deemed critical to cementing the relationship, longtime officers say.
Now, we've always known that women have been used as enticements in all manner of circumstances, and it probably comes as no surprise that Puritan America is not beyond practicing the "honeytrap" approach in its spy operations. The allegations against Warren go way beyond this, however, and would put him in the same category as John Worboys, the London taxi serial rapist who drugged his victims.
But how about when men are used to entrap women? I recommend listening to BBC World Service radio's "Assignment" program, here on podcast, on the East German Stasi's use of "Romeo Spies," specially selected male specimens who lured unsuspecting West German women to spy for the East during the Cold War. The program profiles the case of Gabriele Kliem, who was recruited by the Stasi for her access to US secrets as an employee of the American Embassy in Bonn, and who lost everything as a result. The program points out that while some 30 western women were prosecuted in similar cases, ex-Stasi agents have been largely able to get away scot-free.
There is no link, as I say, between the Algerian and East German cases. But the juxtapostion this week of the two stories this week is fascinating.