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 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.

When I got the money, the whole burden descended on me, and the realization of what I had done. And it led me then to make the further step, a change of loyalties.

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.