Only if imprisoning those spies prevented them from passing info they already have back to the US. I highly suspect that any unpassed info at time of capture is now stale.
Personally, I think all spies should be returned upon capture, after some good-faith interrogation/attempts to turn them. It’s the civil and professional thing to do.
The US or Russian governments aren’t going to be deterred from sending more spies by the imprisonment of their spies. Those specific individuals are done as spies: their identities are known. This ain’t 007 where he-knows-that-they-know-that-he’s-a-spy. So return the spy and keep your eyes peeled for the next one.
But the thing is, the spies we got from Russia were Russian citizens who were working for us. In essence, they were traitors to their own country. The spies we returned were Russian citizens who were operating in our country.
Now, if we catch a traitor, we’re all for throwing them in prison for life. They betrayed our trust and betrayed their country. See the Walker family spy ring for an example. There’s a big difference between returning a foreign agent who was doing their job for their country in the Great Game and releasing a traitor.
I was unaware of this distinction. In that case, hang 'em! Nothing professional at all about being a traitor.
The UK has its own sexy Russian spy!
Not as sexy as ours, though.
Editer
85
Er, yeah. Sexy compared to Camilla Parker-Bowles, I guess.
Raife
87
Her denim jacket really tied the room together.
