The Bible and Politics in Africa

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa


[...] the FBI may never find out who they really are, because of another tried
and true technique Moscow Center uses, according to the affidavit: obtain-
ing the birth certificates of dead Canadians and Americans, with which they
can build a whole new, false “legend” for their spies.^20

In this modern world the use of diplomatic bags which are immune
from searches while on transit has become a more reliable means. Air-
liners too are playing a major role in the transportation of secret docu-
ments.
When information reaches the hands of controllers it is passed to the
map room or situation room where data analysts, like in a crossword
puzzle, join together the various pieces to make a complete whole. An
overall picture of the enemy’s strategies and policies cannot be obtained
from a single source hence the need to consider information from other
sources. The importance of looking at information from one source
against other sources is well illustrated in a historical case captured by
Grabianowski. During World War II, American code breakers are said to
have had partially cracked a Japanese Purple code and they were fairly
certain that Japan was planning an attack at Midway Island which the
Japanese had coded as AF. What was mind boggling, however, was
whether or not they were reading correctly Japan's code word for the
island (AF). To test their suspicions, the Americans stationed troops at
Midway who then issued a radio alert saying that they were running
short on fresh water. It was in no time that Japanese communications
were intercepted reporting that AF was low on fresh water and thus
confirming American suspicions.^21 When data analysts are done with
their work, it is then compiled into reports which are then handed over
to the leader of the nation or the interested group.
What the fore-going sections and paragraphs show is that intelligence
serves to inform policy-makers of nations or interested groups of the
secret plans and strength of their potential enemies. While in some
cases such information is vital for the defeat of one’s enemies in other
cases it can actually be used to evade clashes. On a daily basis, the
shadow armies of secret agents contend for domination and control for
the future of humanity. This often turns to reach higher levels or even
deadly at times when the ideological and political differences among
nations or groups become so tensed up and reach a stalemate. How such


(^20) Stein, ‘Russian Spy Case reveals old espionage tricks.’
(^21) Cf. Grabianowski, How Spies Work.

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