The Betrayal and Deception of Robert Hanssen

804 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How parents influence children

The United States was subject to betrayal and deception at the hands of Robert Hanssen. Betrayal is commonly defined as one would say “throwing someone under the bus”. Deception would better be defined as the act of falsely misleading someone either by appearance or statement. Betrayal and deception are two concepts that in most scenarios go hand in hand. In the notorious case of Robert Hanssen it turned out to be just like that. He deceived the United States and betrayed the trust the country placed in him for his own personal agenda.
To fully understand how Robert Hanssen’s case relates to the core idea of Unit 5 you first must be introduced to his background. Robert Hanssen was an agent of the FBI for 25 years from 1976 – 2001 when he was eventually caught (http://www.dhra.mil/perserec/osg/spystory/hanssen.htm). He was a church going father of six and was the son of a Chicago PD officer, whom he was proud of. During Hanssen’s early life he shared a love-hate with his father. His father constantly belittled him at any chance given to him. On several occasions he put his son, Hanssen, through physical and emotional abuse, mostly emotional, and even bribed a friend at the driver’s license center to fail his son just so that he could make fun of him. Despite the abuse Hanssen was still very proud of and admired his father because of his job as a police officer. Later on he would bounce from college to college in search of his “calling” ofr what he wanted to do in life. He decided to work with the Chicago PD for a couple of years. After the Chicago PD job, Mr. Hanssen decided to seek out a job with the FBI, which he eventually acquired.
Hanssen was an intelligent mind according to those who knew or worked with him. Yet, what he ...

... middle of paper ...

...rned his back on his country when he felt unappreciated. He sold off top-secret documents to the Soviet Union’s intelligence agencies. In 2001 he was apprehended by the FBI. His means in no way justified his ends. Hanssen was sentenced to life without possibility of parole, which after analyzing everything he had done was too lenient for his treason against his country. His means were him aiding an enemy intelligence agency in gathering information against his own country and his end wasn’t as severe as it should have been for something committing such a treacherous act.

Works Cited

n.d. 11 05 2014. .
n.d. 11 05 2014. . http://www.dhra.mil/perserec/osg/spystory/hanssen.htm. n.d. 12 5 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • The Causes Of The Iran-Contra Affair

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the congressional hearings, Oliver North took full responsibility for the scandal, claiming he did it in the name of patriotism. In reality, he and his security advisor, Admiral John Poindexter had lied to Congress, shredded evidence, and refused to inform the President of details in order to guarantee his “plausible deniability”. Ultimately, the Iran-Contra investigation raised more questions than it answered. Reagan held fast to his plea of ignorance, the full role of the CIA director remained murky, and the role of Vice President Bush remained mysterious as well. The Iran-Contra affair revealed how secretive government officials undermine the Constitution and compromise Presidential authority under the facade of patriotism.

    Read More

  • Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    I believe the goal of this book is to provide officers the information of how to recognize the deterioration of core values (personally and professionally) and what can take place in their lives if gone uncorrected. The book then ultimately provides specific strategies that can be utilized to reduce the negative emotional and physical impact of a law enforcement career. I believe the book succeeds in doing this.

    Read More

  • Review of The Great Betrayal by Patrick Buchanan

    364 Words  | 1 Pages

    Synopsis of book: Patrick Buchanan explains his theory of how free trade is destroying the manual labor working force of America.

    Read More

  • Response to Recovering the Scandal of the Cross by Green and Baker

    1712 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Recovering the Scandal of the Cross,” (Green, Baker) presents an alternative means of thinking for Christians theologically. The author’s task of interpreting culture and communicating within a culture is incredibly difficult. Much of the biblical teaching of God is rooted into communicating to a specific group of people and a certain culture. Yet God has chosen the Bible as the method of communicating himself to the world. Green and Baker begin to lay the groundwork of historical influence of atonement from Anselm and Irenaeus. They later introduce ideas from Charles Hodge and penal substitution. There are four major models of explanations of the atonement: Christus Victor, penal substitution, satisfaction and moral influence. Although others are mentioned in the book, this sets the stage of the historic dilemma from which they can view atonement in their discussion of tradition.

    Read More

  • Biography of Andrei Chikatilo

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... to 52 killings. He was brought into custody one final time when suspicious investigators checked his whereabouts on a day of a killing in the city of Ilovaisk. He had been there on business.

    Read More

  • Benedict Arnold: A Story of Betrayal

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout many different times in the world’s history, there have been various different leaders, groups, and highly-respected people that have partaken in certain actions that go against other people’s beliefs or loyalty. These people have done many things to keep their actions secretive and discreet from the rest of the people living around them. People show signs of betrayal and deception through their interactions with each other. Benedict Arnold was a very famous example of a person who betrayed his country. Once he left his country he had wrote a letter back to America explaining his actions and his reasons for betrayal including many uses of rhetoric. In the end, his actions don’t justify the means. His actions overall were not the right thing to do.

    Read More

  • Why Kissinger Helped Pinochet

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    The United States “hands have not always been clean” (Landau 1999, page 16). It seems that as time passes more and more of past United States foreign policy actions are discovered to have been a cause of corruption rather than security. Recently numbers of declassified documents show the fraud of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. It is apparent that Kissinger directly assisted General Augusto Pinochet into power in Chile and despite his knowledge of Pinochet’s human rights violations he deliberately ensured his stay in power (Landau 1999; page 16). Currently the legal action being taken against Henry Kissinger must be taken seriously to show current United States officials, the cruelty of our nations past and how we are guilty of initiating and helping a brutal dictatorship for sixteen years.

    Read More

  • The Espionage Act and The Sedition Act

    2058 Words  | 5 Pages

    Dissatisfied with the scope of the Espionage Act, Congress was compelled to add an amendment to further penalize “crimes of disloyalty” against the United States (James and Wells, 71). Congress enacted an amendment that would be known as the Sedition Act which broadened the scope of what would be considered disloyal to the United States.

    Read More

  • The History of the FBI

    1523 Words  | 4 Pages

    To pursue these law-breaking offenders a lackadaisical spirit is not present because this bureau of investigation wants to protect the people and their rights—with their lives at hand. They have a system for those who try to abuse the people and who act erroneously with their rights are put on the “Most Wanted” list, a list that contains people who violated the law to the extent of major penalties. This list was established so the people know who the FBI are trying to catch and, money is always included if a citizen captures or leaks information the FBI needs about the location of a most wanted person. The FBI is a well-structured organization that seeks justice for all citizens.

    Read More

  • Realism in the Movie, Training Day

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    The movie, Training Day, demonstrates how some police officers take advantage of their positions which is realistic. Mikkelsen states that, ?The new movie Training Day is an excellent fictional demonstration of how the State, in this case the police, provide a ?legalized channel for crime? (Mikkelsen 1).? It is hard to define the line between doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing to stop a crime. As Mikkelson explains, ?Many of the events are to be expected: violence against suspects, confiscation and use of drugs and especially money, violations of due process, graft (Mikkelsen 1).? At the end of the movie the main character is murdered and the police department makes up a story venerating his death in a positive manner. In all truth Harris was murdered by the Russians because he lost his temper and killed someone who was ?talking trash? about him. This is shown when Mikkelsen says, ?The state must defend cops, when possible, because publicity about ?bad cops? does not reflect well o...

    Read More

  • Doctor Josef Mengele

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    Josef Mengele wasn't always a bad guy. During his childhood Mengele grew up in a Catholic family with both parents and two brothers, he being the oldest of the three. Shortly after his birth in 1911 his father became sole owner of a foundry that made farm equipment in Germany. His family became wealthy as the business prospered and they became the most powerful family in their town. While young Mengele was growing up, his parents were frequently absent due to the family business. But he expressed his desire to stand out from other members of his family and become successful in his own way, not involving the family business. Josef was a very excellent student. His favorite subject was anthropology, the study of the origin, development, and behavior of humankind. He abandoned the Catholic Church when he was a teenager and became a member of a patriotic young people's group ( “Josef Mengele.” Student Resources in Context ).

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Richard Gunderman And Ericicsson's The Ways We Lie

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    Richard Gunderman asks the question, "Isn 't there something inherently wrong with lying, and “in his article” Is Lying Bad for Us?" Similarly, Stephanie Ericsson states, "Sure I lie, but it doesn 't hurt anything. Or does it?" in her essay, "The Ways We Lie.” Both Gunderman and Ericsson hold strong opinions in regards to lying and they appeal to their audience by incorporating personal experiences as well as references to answer the questions that so many long to confirm.

    Read More

  • Guilty Betrayal in Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon depicts the fallacious logic of a totalitarian regime through the experiences of Nicolas Salmanovitch Rubashov. Rubashov had fought in the revolution and was once part of the Central Committee of the Party, but he is arrested on charges of instigating attempted assassinations of No. 1, and for taking part in oppositional, counter-revolutionary activities, and is sent to a Soviet prison. Rubashov, in his idle pacing throughout his cell, recollects his past with the Party. He begins to feel impulses of guilt, most especially in those moments he was required to expel devoted revolutionaries from the Party, sending them to their death. These subconscious feelings of guilt are oftentimes represented physically in the form of toothache or through day- or night-dreams. As his thought progresses with the novel, he begins to recognize his guilt, which emerges alongside his individuality. It remains in his subconscious, and it is not until Rubashov absolves himself through silent resignation at his public trial that he is fully conscious of guilt. By joining the Party, Rubashov allows himself to forget the questions of human nature and of his individuality. The nature of his guilt lies in this betrayal of his individuality.

    Read More

  • Romantic and Enlightenment Ideas in Frankenstein

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    His pursuit of knowledge became even more important when he entered the university of Ingolstadt. He "read with ardour" (35) and soon become "so ardent and eager that the stars often disappeared in the light of the morning whilst I was yet engaged in my laboratory" (35). He was a proud product of the Enlightenment...

    Read More

  • Deceit and Betrayal in Shakespeare's Macbeth

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" is considered one of his great tragedies. The play fully uses plot, character, setting, atmosphere, diction and imagery to create a compelling drama. The general setting of Macbeth is tenth and eleventh century Scotland. The play is about a once loyal and trusted noble of Scotland who, after a meeting with three witches, becomes ambitious and plans the murder of the king. After doing so and claiming the throne, he faces the other nobles of Scotland who try to stop him. In the play, Macbeth faces an internal conflict with his opposing decisions. On one hand, he has to decide of he is to assassinate the king in order to claim his throne. This would result in his death for treason if he is caught, and he would also have to kill his friend. On the other hand, if he is to not kill him, he may never realize his ambitious dreams of ruling Scotland. Another of his internal struggles is his decision of killing his friend Banquo. After hiring murderers to kill him, Macbeth begins to see Banquo's ghost which drives him crazy, possibly a result of his guilty conscience. Macbeth's external conflict is with Macduff and his forces trying to avenge the king and end Macbeth's reign over Scotland. One specific motif is considered the major theme, which represents the overall atmosphere throughout the play. This motif is "fair is foul and foul is fair."

    Read More

More about The Betrayal and Deception of Robert Hanssen

Open Document