Aldrich Ames: CIA's Greatest Security Failure

Question one Aldrich Ames is known as the spy who caused major damage to the security of the United States than any other spy ever in the history of the CIA. Aldrich was known for his excessive drinking problem and greed, which eventually led him to become one of the most Notorious spies in the history of America. Security failures that led him to betray American intelligence for years and spy for the KGB before being caught include weak forms of internal monitoring, the red flags regarding his finances, over-reliance on polygraphs, and the CIA's overall lack of counterintelligence coordination. Ames's financial situation was ignored completely. For example, Ames suddenly started living beyond his means, buying a luxury home in cash and driving nice cars, which were all ignored by the CIA. There was no possible way that Ames could afford that lifestyle since he was earning a government salary and in debt from his divorce in 1983. His new mistress also had an extravagant taste, burning through all of his money. signs of Ames suddenly living beyond his means were ignored by the CIA and picked up on way too late. It is stated in the book The Secret State: A History of Intelligence and Espionage that “From 1990 until the time of his arrest, Ames routinely made large cash deposits into various bank accounts. Ultimately, it was Amers's sudden affluence that made him the focus of investigators. In November 1989, the CIA received the first information that pointed directly to Ames. A CIA employee who knew Ames well reported to the Counterintelligence Center (CIC) that Ames seemed to be living way beyond his means. The employee reported that Ames appeared to have little money when he left for Rome, but now seemed unusually well off.” (Hughes Wilson, 2016, pg 282), This shows Ames's Luxurious living situation that the CIA took way too long to pick up on. Moreover, this situation was mishandled by the CIA and could have easily been better taken care of. Ames also passed all of his polygraph tests despite his consistent espionage activities. The CIA's overreliance on these made him get away with so much malicious activity. He was terrified of taking the test and immediately wrote to his KGB handlers. Their advice was to relax, get a good night's rest and take the test. Although some of his answers were deceptive, the polygraph examiner gave him a pass. During this time, he gave away various confidential information in exchange for alcohol and money. Moreover, Ames returned to the U.S and was assigned chief of the European branch in the external operations group based in Washington DC. Leading him to have access to more valuable information. But he only remained there for a month. He took another polygraph test but failed that one because he had to speak about his finances. The examiner believed it was giving out false positives, so he was told to come back. He passed the next time because there were no questions regarding his finances. An article titled Aldrich Ames states, “From April 1985 to February 1994, Ames led a double life as a mole for the KGB (the Soviet Union's intelligence agency), providing it with an abundance of classified documents. He effectively shut down all CIA intelligence in the Soviet Union by revealing to the KGB the names of all Soviets employed as spies by the United States. In places such as Bogotá, Colombia; Caracas, Venezuela; Vienna, Austria; and Washington, DC, Ames had numerous meetings with Soviet agents, sharing classified documents on sensitive security, defense, and foreign relations issues” ( Legreid, 2024, para 2) this describes the double life Ames was living that led to the death of many individuals. It reveals how He effectively shut down all CIA intelligence that was spying for the U.S in the Soviet Union after he revealed all of their names to the KGB. Going unnoticed despite failing the polygraph test when it came to speaking about his finances. During this time, Ames's contacts with the Soviet officials were not flagged or properly investigated. The CIA had a variety of different protocols where personnel would report interactions with foreign officials; however, Ames had somehow either bypassed these rules, they were either not regulated or reported correctly. He also had regular visits with the KGB officers, which should have raised concerns much earlier. Another major problem was the fact that the CIA and the FBI operated in different spheres and often did not share intelligence. As well as their overall delayed investigation that was conducted into Ames, which greatly affected the whole situation. An article titled Spy Dust and Ghost Surveillance: How the KGB Spooked the CIA and Hid Aldrich Ames in Plain Sight mentions that “The IG found that even though Ames had “compromised a significant number of CIA Soviet sources” during 1985–1986, the Agency did not start seriously looking for a mole until mid-1991 and then took three more years to catch Ames. Ames remained free for so long “not because he was careful and crafty, but because the Agency effort was inadequate.””(Benjamin, 2011, para 4) describing an inefficient process where the agency did not take the responsibility to find the threat faster and more effectively. If contacts with Soviet officials had been more effectively monitored and the agencies worked together more efficiently, this problem might have been resolved much more rapidly. Overall, this scandal caused many losses of life and put the United States at risk. This was the worst security breach in the history of the United States. meaning this situation was completely mishandled, leading to the United States not having any kind of proper intelligence in the Soviet Union during this time. Many other things were also mishandled, such as obliviousness in regards to Ames' major financial gains, the over-reliance on polygraph exams, as well as the lack of coordination among members of the FBI and the CIA. This mistake continues to be learned from by millions of Americans even today. Highlighting the need for protection against different forms of Security breaches.