Aldrich Ames Quotes

You might as well ask why a middle-aged man with no criminal record might put a paper bag over his head and rob a bank. I acted out of personal desperation.

When Reagan was elected, I felt that the Agency had gone much more into the service of a political tendency in the country with which I had already felt very strong disagreement.

When I handed over the names and compromised so many CIA agents in the Soviet Union, I had come to the conclusion that the loss of these sources to the U.S. would not compromise significant national defense, political, diplomatic interests.

We had periodic crises in this country when the technical intelligence didn’t support the policy. We had the bomber gap, the missile gap.

To the extent that I considered the personal burden of harming the people who had trusted me, plus the Agency, or the United States, I wasn’t processing that.

There are so many things a large intelligence espionage organization can do to justify its existence, that people can get promotions for, because it could result in results.