🚀 go-pugleaf

Marcus Ranum claims the Sovs wouldn't have revealed their estimate of
CIA employees because: "The sovs were too professional and too
closed-mouthed to give out information like that, and if they knew,
the fact that they knew would be information they wouldn't want to
reveal."

Perhaps he knows something I don't. I've worked with the Soviets for
many years, been invited to Moscow by the Academy of Sciences to
give seminars and to meet privately with their leadership (including
Gorbachev's Science, Energy, and Economics advisors) on a regular
basis. They've often told me stuff they knew that we thought was secret.
Often it's the Russian sense of humor in twitting us about our
"secrets" as long as it doesn't reveal their sources and methods.

The number of employees at the CIA is not a piece of information that
would reveal Soviet sources and methods by itself.

Ranum appears also to hold the Washington Post in contempt. My understand
of the facts is different.

David