How to Betray Your Country by James Wolff (spicy books to read .TXT) 📕

remains of the view that the upstream deployments were a worthwhile investment in WINDMILL POET’s utility as an agent on CT as well as political matters. To have camped out in Tahrir Square, to have been charged by stick-wielding regime thugs on horses and camels, well, it’s a great story to be able to tell and would have enhanced WINDMILL POET’s credibility on the streets of Manchester as much as anywhere else.

desmond: As soon as the senators begin to crowd around Caesar you need to decide which one of the treacherous bastards is about to become your new chum. Doesn’t matter that Caesar himself was your best friend five minutes earlier.

lawrence: I may steal that analogy for use in the future. Now, WINDMILL POET’s wife is central to the matter we are here to discuss. A journalist for an opposition website, she was also a dual national, also an energetic opponent of Mubarak, Morsi and now Sisi. She was arrested in Cairo eight months ago and put in Tora Maximum Security Prison, known more colloquially as “The Scorpion”. She wasn’t charged with anything, which is not unusual, but clearly came under the general category of political prisoner, regime opponent, that sort of thing. No surprise there, as Egypt is routinely in the top three countries worldwide for locking up journalists, along with Turkey and China. Her situation caused us numerous handling difficulties with WINDMILL POET. Quite understandably, he wanted us to intervene with the Egyptian government to secure his wife’s release. Our position throughout was that we were doing everything possible through the FCO and embassy but that as she was an Egyptian national our hands were tied. Any out-of-the-ordinary intervention on our part would have signalled to the Egyptians that WINDMILL POET was an agent, thereby putting him at risk. He found our position difficult to accept, especially as news from inside the prison suggested malnutrition, poor health, beatings and prolonged spells inside what they call discipline cells, essentially a cramped space that causes extreme discomfort. At various points he threatened to go to the papers, make a fuss in the media, that sort of thing, but I’m pleased to say that he stuck with us.

bill: With us?

lawrence: Yes, Bill. Now if I —

bill: It’s a small point but an important one. The relationship you are describing exists between an agent and a handler, not between an agent and an office of several thousand people.

lawrence: Quite so. An excellent point. Now if —

bill: And August deserves credit for maintaining that relationship during a very difficult period.

lawrence: He certainly does. In fact, if I may develop your point a little further, Bill, it was this close agent–handler relationship you describe that underpinned the conspiracy they entered into together not long afterwards. The fact they trusted each other is evidence —

bill: Steady on, Lawrence. Remember that you’re not an advocate for either side. The fact that August and WINDMILL POET had a good relationship is evidence that August was doing his job and doing it well, nothing more.

lawrence: My point is merely that the plan they made required great trust – something that was evidently there in spades, as you have helpfully pointed out. But if I may, Bill, I’ll bring the story up to date. A few weeks ago we had word from the FCO that WINDMILL POET’s wife had been released from prison and placed under house arrest at her family home in Cairo. Her health was reportedly poor. An extremely distressed WINDMILL POET called August three days later to request an urgent meeting. In line with standard practice, August made a note of the call and agreed with his management that he should encourage WINDMILL POET to see her release as a vital step along the way to her eventual return to the UK, and as a sign that diplomatic efforts had been successful. WINDMILL POET should be urged to remain in the UK and await her eventual return. Meanwhile August should refocus WINDMILL POET on his UK work and discuss new tasking around a number of priority SOIs in Manchester. This meeting took place on 15 September at a hotel in Green Park. August’s contact note, written the following day, states the following: “WP” – that’s WINDMILL POET – “expressed relief at the news of his wife’s release and gratitude for whatever behind-the-scenes work HMG had done to bring about this welcome development. He agreed to return to Manchester the following week and showed enthusiasm at the prospect of re-engaging with the important work he had been doing to prevent terrorist attacks in the UK.”

daphne: Lawrence, can I just check, is it your suggestion at this point that August has done anything wrong?

lawrence: Another excellent question. Where is the line and when did August cross it? Our view is that his account of that meeting with WINDMILL POET is almost certainly inaccurate. He might have written that WINDMILL POET was grateful, that he agreed to return to work, but what happened next throws the credibility of that story into serious doubt. We believe it was at that meeting in Green Park that August decided to do what he did, which is nothing less than act against the interests, values and ethos of this office and then lie about it, for reasons that remain unclear. An important caveat at this juncture, Daphne, as we roll up our sleeves and prepare to dive into the detail: as is so often the case in matters of intelligence, we do not have a full picture of everything that happened going forward. In fact, we might liken our task here today to that of someone piecing together a puzzle —

bill: You’re joking.

lawrence: Excuse me?

bill: The members of this panel probably have close to a hundred years of experience between them. You’re not really going to use the intelligence-as-a-puzzle analogy on us, are you?

lawrence: I wasn’t aware that you were here today to judge my use of the English language, Bill. Perhaps I