Practice English-Conversation
- "ARMINIC.com" از ARMINIC.com توسط ARMINIC.com. منتشرشده: 2023. سبک: Language.
1X
I think the first thing to say is, I would try to avoid talking to you. I get that alone, and it’s not because of you. During my career, in fact, in 28 years, I don’t think I ever spoke to a journalist. By US. Law, we’re not allowed to use them as sources. However, if we were chatting nicely at a party, I would talk to you about my work as a diplomat in the State Department. We have different covers overseas. We have covers that we use is specifically for operations. We’re involved in, what we might tell the person that we’re dealing with. But we have a cover reason to be living where we are overseas. And one of those reasons is to work in the US. Embassy as a diplomat. Are all diplomat spies? No. I think at least in the US. System, all diplomats have a role to play in the intelligence process. In fact, in countries where the United States has had the most difficulty in foreign policy, it’s often because we don’t have enough Americans there, learning the culture, exchanging information. So in our service, we need the diplomats to be reporting, to be meeting senior officials so that the spies can collect the stuff that can’t be collected any other way. Among your nearest and dearest, then in your years in the service, what did they know about your work? Depending on where we work, our cover can be very important in terms of security for ourselves and for the people that we meet in other places. Less so. If I was working for CIA and working in London, I think I would be safe. And so, say my children or my family. The amount of knowledge that they have is up to me to decide what is best to keep them safe and to keep our family safe. Different children, I might tell them at different times in their lives if I think they’re mature enough to understand what my true work would be. Parents and others. It sort of depends on their level of understanding and maturity, what you don’t want if you’re living in China or Russia under deep cover just to have your mother call and ask you questions. I saw something on the news about the CIA director. What do you think about that? And we don’t want that because the locals are often listening on the line, and that would be a way for them to find out what our real job is. How do you start the conversation with one of your children that, Daddy’s a spy? For my children, I was pretty senior. And the way I did it is at the time, I was living back in Washington, and I just arranged to take them into the CIA headquarters and show them around. We have a little museum there. We have places to eat. We have a Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks that you could let them see. And so I took them in to meet people there to try to take away anything that might look scary or unusual if we were trying to discuss it at home I was trying to show them that there’s normal people and some of the people that they know as our friends were coworkers of mine. Were they impressed? No. I think you could imagine most children know their parents as their parents and don’t care so much about what they do for work. Perhaps over the years. Now that I have sort of a little bit more of a public persona and they understand it better, let’s hope that even if they don’t tell me they’re impressed, let’s hope they’re a little bit impressed. And what about your own parents? Did your upbringing lead you into this lineof work or was that no influence? Oh, I certainly think it had an influence. I grew up in a small town in upstate New York and I went to a small university. And when I was there I did a junior year abroad in London and it was my first time being overseas. It really opened my eyes. And my parents were both teachers as well, so I was always interested in history and politics. My interest in those things and time travelling overseas had made me certainly want to do something that mattered and something that involved, you know, living overseas if possible or certainly working on foreign policy issues. Was there much party politics at home? My mother was a big John Kennedy fan. I don’t recall fighting over issues. I do remember being young. My parents weren’t terribly thrilled with Richard Nixon and the Nixon administration and the late years of the1960s were quite turbulent here in the US. So I think those things certainly had an effect on me, there’s no doubt. And your passion for the world and doing something meaningful, how did that get you into the CIA? Between the first year and second year, while I was in graduate school in New York, I did an internship at the State Department in Washington and I worked in the Intelligence and Research Bureau. And that was my first sort of taste of the intelligence community, if you will. So that’s how I got into it. What did you understand that point about what lazy journalists call spying? At that point I didn’t understand too much at all. The CI application process, as you would expect, probably is quite intensive. You go through polygraph exams and a variety of interviews and psychological tests and I was aiming into the analytical cadre. So CIA is made up of the clandestine service that does the spying overseas. An analytical cadre which are the people who take all source intelligence from the State Department and Defense Department and put it together for policymakers. But during my application process and interview process, I met with someone from the clandestine service who tried to talk me into joining that service. Tell me it was on a park bench. It was in a crappy Washington bureaucratic office. But at the time, I think they were being still a little bit too careful about describing things as he was trying to convince me of that. And apparently my psychological tests suggested that I could do this kind of work. He just didn’t tell me enough about it to make me want to join the clandestine service. Prior to coming in, however, during my training, I was able to switch over and join the clandestine service. What was your first posting? Well, I’m going to sound goosey here, and I apologize. When we retire used to be we used to retire under our continued cover. So I would have to say I was State Department maybe 1015 years ago. The agency started to allow people when they retired, what we call to pull back our cover and tell people that we worked, in fact, for the CIA
In or to a foreign country, especially one across the sea
A person who represents their country’s government in dealing with other countries, typically in matters of diplomacy and international relations
Characterized by disorder, instability, or unrest; chaotic or troubled
Individuals who secretly collect information on behalf of a government or organization, often in covert or undercover operations
People who are native to or reside in a particular place or region
Information gathered or collected about a country’s political, military, or economic activities, often for the purpose of national security or strategic decision-making
A form of covert operation or undercover work where an agent’s true identity or affiliation is highly concealed, often in a foreign country
The state of being fully developed in physical, mental, or emotional aspects, often associated with adulthood or responsible behavior
Relating to a system of administration or government that is characterized by complex procedures, rigid rules, and excessive red tape
The aspect of a person’s character or public image that they present to others, often influenced by their role or social context
