Convicted Cold War spy John Walker dies in federal prison

[Cooley Hurd]

Source: CNN.com

(CNN) -- John Walker, a former U.S. Navy officer convicted of spying decades ago for the Soviet Union, has died in federal prison, according to the U.S. government.

Walker, 77, passed away Thursday at a federal correctional facility in Butner, North Carolina, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said. The agency's website indicated Walker was scheduled to be released on parole within the year.

Authorities said the elder Walker stole, then sold, codes to help unlock encrypted Navy messages, which allowed the Soviets to monitor American military assets. The spying went on from 1968 to 1985, when he was arrested by the FBI. He later pleaded guilty.

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Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/29/justice/cold-war-spy-dies/index.html

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No comment

[IronGate]

1. Good.

Fucking traitor gave the Soviet's our Naval codes which gave the Soviet Union a distinct advantage in any confrontation.
May his soul rot in hell.

[SecularMotion]

2. Sounds like you're taking this personally

Did he steal your stapler or something?

[Fred Sanders]

4. The outrage switch is always set to ON with some, it makes your argument stronger.

[IronGate]

12. So, no outrage from you that he sold critical Naval codes to the Soviets

that could have put the US in a deep disadvantage if a war had broken out?

[JimDandy]

30. This from the person whose outrage meter is always set to ON against Israel...Kettle Black. n/t

[hack89]

32. You just blew up my irony meter! nt

[HERVEPA]

52. Just what the people above me here said.

[IronGate]

5. I take it very personally when a traitor gives critical secrets

to a sworn enemy that could've resulted in the defeat of our country in a military confrontation.
And your making light of my disdain for that POS traitor is noted.

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. Uh oh

You've been noted.



I now worry for your soul...

[IronGate]

11. Why would you worry for his soul?

Am I some kind of threat to his soul?


I now worry for your perception of comments.

[MADem]

57. I remember those days and I remember the absolute shitstorm

within DOD that follows. As you know, the incident in question made it very difficult for many in service to do their jobs. For a long, LONG time. The absurd compartmentalization and the zero-tolerance for error made it difficult for anyone to get anything done.

I think a lot of people pooh-poohing the effect of this breach don't realize how much money (that could have been used for more worthwhile things) had to be diverted (after diverting a ton of money already to puff out our chests to the USSR) to fix that mess, and how much was compromised that could never be retrieved. The dismissal and derision comes from a lack of understanding. There's no point in snarking back. They'll either learn the history or not.

[Fred Sanders]

13. I am so scared...what can I do? Please help me!

[IronGate]

15. Why would you be scared?

Do you scare easily?

[hack89]

18. As an active duty Navy officer during that period, I certainly take it personally

he deserved what he got.

[SecularMotion]

19. Did he steal something that belonged to you?

[hack89]

21. You are not usually this childish

what's up with you today?

It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to understand why a military officer engaged in sometimes classified operations would be upset with someone that gave a likely enemy the means to read secret messages.

[Trajan]

29. I rarely agree with you

Today, I do ...

COMSEC has a role in our defensive strategy ....

[IronGate]

25. As a matter of fact, he did.

He stole US Naval codes cyphers and sold them to the Soviet Union, code cyphers that belonged to the American people.

[Duckhunter935]

28. Yes

He did

[yeoman6987]

53. Yes he did steal something

That belonged to every American. Why are you joking about this? The biggest problem is he lived so long.

[MADem]

58. He stole something that belonged to YOU.

And all of the American people.

It cost a small fortune--or your, and my, and everyone's money--to put the breach to rights.

[Fred Drum]

22. as an ex bubblehead

i did my quals in the radio room

then Walker made them put Big Locks and Chains around the sliding curtain

no one could hang out in the radio room any more

...


as for walker, his biggest dick move was involving his son in his shit

cost him his life

[rppper]

35. I served on subs too....

Walker sold a lot of secrets for what was essentially chump change....dragged his brother, son and attempted to drag his daughter into the scheme. At the time the soviets would have known where all of our missile and fast attack subs were at any moment. He also played an indirect role in selling quieting technology, metallurgy and milling technology( hull and propeller ) to the the soviets, which at the time was decades behind us. He cost people lives and would have cost potentially more had he not been caught.

I won't speak ill of the dead, but I won't shed any tears over him or his co-conspirator who passed away a few months ago.

[EX500rider]

41. "At the time the soviets would have known where all of our missile and fast attack subs were"

If you mean they knew they were at sea, they yes.....if you mean they knew where they were at sea then no.
Soviet subs were no way quiet enough to trail/track US subs during the cold war.

(just reread your post, sorry, i think you meant after he sold the codes they could read our traffic and know where everybody was, I agree)

[IronGate]

42. True, but their anti-sub aircraft would've been able to track them

due to Walker's treachery.

[rppper]

43. Exacty EX500...

At that point in the 80s their best sub was an improved version of the victor series, which were no match in quietness or capability of our late 50s-early 60s era permit class and sturgeon classes. Having access to the message traffic gave them an almost exact position, in real time, of any of our subs, particularly the ssbn's.

Hitachi was indirectly responsible, via walkers ring, of giving the soviets the milling technology to produce non cavitating screws for their next generation subs...the akula class, which were better than the sturgeons and nearly as silent and capable as the Los Angeles class boats coming online.

Anyone who served on a sub after 1985 can tell you that trying to get the clearance involved to serve on one, even for cooks, was insane. I was a logistics guy, but I handled reactor parts and sub safe items, which involved a high clearance. Getting that top secret involved three separate interviews by the FBI and NSA(naval security admin) lasting hours each.

I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, but the clearance walker possessed to have access to all that info was light years above what I possessed. Walkers action didn't so much set us back as it set the soviets forward. We lost a huge chunk of the advantage we had held for 40 years and put 100+ boat crews lives in danger, not to mention our first strike/MAD capability.

(ON EDIT) Walkers ring led to a couple of positive changes....one, the background checks and compartmentalism with top secret clearances was greatly improved. The other being the design and capabilities of the 688I class, the Seawolf class and the new Virginia class boats. The 688I's, which are now all approaching two decades of service, are still quieter and more capable boats than anything else in the planet....the Seawolves and Virginia's are even better.

[Duckhunter935]

26. I joined in 85

I also take personally as this would have and may have cost many lives.

[NutmegYankee]

37. Wow, your comment is really disgusting.

This man stole the codes to listen in on military movements and gave it to our enemies. He also gave them ways to listen for our submarines. That alone has cost this country hundreds of $billions as we redesigned our ships to eliminate the methods he gave them. In that sense, he stole $billions from the taxpayers of this country. That money could have built bridges or fed people. But instead it was spent fixing the actions of one greedy nasty man and his family.

[steelsmith]

56. Amazing

I guess some here defend treasonous bastards as a way to show how progressive they are... And people wonder why Repugs call Liberals America haters. Not a help to our cause at all...
You can criticize the US all you want, but defending criminals like this is asshatery.

[Archae]

3. The worst part about this story was how Walker got away with it for so long.

The "security" agencies gave him all the tests they claim could root out spies, including that worthless gizmo the polygraph.

It wasn't until someone noticed the luxury things he bought, that's when the light bulb went on over the FBI's head.

[IronGate]

9. The final straw was when he tried to rope his daughter into his scheme after he has

already recruited his son to spy for the Soviet's, his wife finally said enough is enough and contacted the FBI who then set a trap and arrested him, his son, his brother Arthur and his buddy, Jerry Withworth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Anthony_Walker

[Ash_F]

17. It is always a family member/friend

All these tax dollars wasted on pernicious surveillance, and it always turns out to be someone they knew that does them in.

[Fred Sanders]

6. And Israel spies on America and gets a mansplaining as punishment?

[msanthrope]

8. Pollard got mansplained? nt

[IronGate]

10. If you're referring to Jonathan Pollard,

last I remember, he's still in prison.

[hughee99]

44. Pollard got life in prison, isn't that the SAME punishment? n/t

[Fred Sanders]

47. I do not recall the government of Israel taking responsibility or any sanctions being imposed....a

bit of wrist slapping and shoulder shrugging, the individual punishment is just the introduction to the issue.

The issue is hypocrisy.

[hughee99]

48. Is the issue really hypocrisy?

If you don't see a difference between dealing with an "ally" (Israel), and dealing with your sworn enemy (USSR), I don't know that there's much else I can say. Did Israel get off light? Sure, at least publicly (I have no idea what, if anything, went on as a result behind closed doors, but when dealing with an ally, that's how things tend to happen). If you were expecting Israel to get the same treatment as the USSR, you haven't been paying much attention to how international politics has been handled over the last thousand years. Certainly, our allies have been kinder to us in the wake of the NSA spying revelations than other countries have.

And in 1998, Israel did admit Pollard was an agent, which I guess would be considered "taking responsibility".

[Fred Sanders]

50. Why would you spy on your sworn friends, friends who have saved your life many times over?

Because one nation has few morals and little gratitude is the only reason.

[hughee99]

55. Haven't you been reading the news? The US has been spying on it's "swarn friends"

for years. Apparently more than one nation has few morals and little gratitude... but I see where you're trying to go with this, now.

[Adrahil]

49. Wait... You're equating Israel with the Soviets?

I mean, I'm not a huge Israel supporter, and I'm happy Pollard is in jail, and I think we should stop funding the Israeli military, but Israel isn't and never has been a threat to us on the level that the Soviet Union was.

[Fred Sanders]

51. Israel is more a threat to the peace of the world, no doubt.

[Adrahil]

54. Since the Soviet Union is gone... yeah.

And I do think Israel is a trouble-making country. But the two were not even close to equivalent then.

[IronGate]

16. The US Army did lower it's recruiting standards during the height of the Iraq war

and a lot of citizens, who would otherwise not have been eligible for enlistment, were accepted into the Army with the resulting disciplinary problems and criminal activity.
A lot of gangs purposely had junior members enlist to learn small unit tactics that they could bring back to the gangs upon discharge.
The military is now realizing the extent of the problem and are taking steps to rectify the problem.

While I was over in Iraq, I saw a lot of gang graffiti on buildings and structures.

[tblue37]

33. Supposedly Palin's son took that option after vandalizing the brakes

on a bunch of school buses:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x187015

That is what was reported, but I don't know if that widely reported story is true, since juvenile records are sealed.

[another_liberal]

20. What an awful way to die . . .

And he did it all for a few thousand dollars?

[IronGate]

24. And he recruited his son, brother, and good friend into his spy ring,

when he tried to enlist his daughter, his wife said enough, notified the FBI and the rest is history.

[another_liberal]

27. Yes, I thought that was him . . .

Though I did not know the part about his wife turning him in to save their daughter. What kind of a man would try to involve his own daughter in such crimes?

[Hoppy]

23. My first reaction was that it was John Walker of Afghanistan fame.

John Walker Lindh

[the_sly_pig]

31. If only Oliver North experienced the same justice......

Walker got what he deserved. Others don't. Plenty of people put our armed services in harms way. I certainly hope the same vitriol is reserved for them...

[wildbilln864]

34. +1 n/t

[Octafish]

38. +2

There are fates worse than death. Being remembered as a traitor is one of them.

[IronGate]

40. 3 worse things you can be labeled as in prison.

1. Child Molester.
2. Ex cop.
3. Traitor.

Those 3 alone will guarantee a life in hell in prison.

[NutmegYankee]

36. May he burn in hell for all eternity.

He put myself and friends in danger.

[candelista]

39. Butner is a nice joint.

It's known as the "crown jewel" of the federal system. I wonder how he got placed there.

[bobthedrummer]

45. As I recall, the detection/apprehension of spies like Walker was the responsibility of spies like

Robert Hanssen, Aldrich Ames and other former KGB assets. Then there is the case of US naval intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard.

All these folks were traitors being "hunted" by other traitors. Why is traitor Richard Bruce Cheney still a free man?

[Blue_Tires]

46. k+r

Somewhere in Moscow, Snowden is feeling a disturbance in the force...