Whilst this is well nuanced essay [thank you for this], if as it has been admitted already, these people are Russians, then not were their actions illegal but they were clearly rather incompetent and not worth their salt! I do hope that the security of Russia does not depend on incompetent spies as the one’s in this spy story. How the mighty have fallen. Russia used to be more sophisticated than this. Russians, it is clear, are following the dubious examples of AIPAC/Mossad. But this will harm not only the interests of Russia but the millions of people of Russian heritage now living in West.

I think maybe the only crime was failure to register as agents of a foreign government. It is LEGAL for Russia to have a registered lobbying groups in the US. We even arrest Israeli spies and put them into jail!

This all much to do about nothing. Spies are everywhere. Even the US's beloved allies, such as Britain and Israel, spy on the US. Nations have to spy on each other - it has been going on since ancient times. I still feel other European nations and US Conservatives may not want our countries to get too close and are partially behind all of this. But because spying is common, we must not get too excited about all of this.

Four of the suspected spies were carrying fake Canadian passports. I would hope that in this day and age that all governments would be more careful if they cannot be totally honest. I am sure that the US and Canada have their spies as well.

No doubt a conservative , rogue operation designed to make Obama look bad for consorting with Russians....If these 'Intelligence' spooks were serious about saving the US from the Russians , they would have busted these so-called 'spies' before the Obama/Medvedev summit...I doubt Obama even knew about this operation.

I agree that the US must control its lobbyists - these foreign entities have more representation than the people! That is not how a genuine democracy should work. Thanks for the article.

this is an embaressment to russia, usa has done this on purpose, waited for medvedev to come to usa than deliver this bomb, .. to make them humiliated.. just as israel humiliated usa when biden was in israel and israelis announced they will start with expansion of settlements.. it is power play and power show.. usa wants to show to the world that from now on, Russia is another lackay, just like britain is.. all that russia is going to get in return for selling out iran, opening routes to afghanistan etc, ..is a photo shot with western dignitaries.. how embaressing indeed that russia has lowered itself so much, at the time when the west is in decline, at the time when china, india, brazil, turkey, venezuela are rising, the russian elite gets it all wrong again.. i'm starting to think russia is a lot more backward then we thought.. indeed..

I agree completely with the assessment of the writer of this article. It very much does appear that the neocons and AIPAC are lurking in the shadows on this one. How dare foreign policy revolve around any other country other than Israel and their ongoing theft of land and ethnic cleansing in the ME ! To be honest with you, Russia would probably be a far better ally of the United States than are the self chosen in the stolen land. My suggestion to the good people of Russia is to continue with this line of information dissemination and just lay back. The neocons and AIPAC shot their wad during the Bush administration and in time the maggots and parasites in the stolen land will be severed from American foreign policy as Russia takes a more prominent role in world affairs.

sasha Even though it can be painfully embarrassing to watch and listen Russia’s media spin doctors and the business classes craven attempt to suck up to the U.S ways that are neither necessary nor dignified, I love Russia too much not feel the pain and the humiliation these stupid so-called "spy" cases-which is clearly was more of a badly executed attempt at lobbying, have done to Russia’s sense of self image. The truth is that 20 plus years after the end of the Cold War, Russia has failed to gain a seat the WTO; that Russia failed to push forcibly the removal of certain Cold War era trade exclusion which is still in the books in the U.S. Despite helping the U.S and NATO efforts in Afghanistan, Russia has not be able to secure genuine cooperation with the U.S/NATO to effectively tackle the massive illegal drug trafficking from Afghanistan –illegal drugs which are eating away the youth of Russia. However, in the face of this clearly asymmetry relationship between Russia and the U.S, the Russia’s business classes and media spin doctors went on the charm offensive in promoting what is clearly a fake "reset" between the U.S and Russia. Now, the same Russia’s media spin doctors and the business classes say that the "reset" is still working and the poor Obama had nothing to do with blowing the cover of these group of unregistered lobbyists! Well, does not means Obama is not running the U.S gov? If this is the case, the Russia's reset with Obama has no sound foundation. In reality, Russia has been lobbied hard by the neocons that brought so much misrule and chaos to the U.S and we see the fruits of this lobby: Russia’s weakening standing in the global south, Russia failure to deliver defensive weapons to Iran and Russia’s going soft on the Palestinian crisis.

The Russians should be happy this is the best the FBI can do to embarrass them...The inept 'spying' of these poor Russian pawns is nowhere nearly as sophisticated as the effort made to catch them....You Russian patriots out there should be more embarrassed about the way the Russian mafia treats its own people...& other people who believe in Russian culture. 1. Stating that this is an FBI operation does not make this operation more legit...The FBI is notorious for its high profile 'pet' projects....Hoover started the FBI as vehicle for his personal vendettas during a time increasingly similar to our own, the great depression...The FBI started as a substitute for the Pinkertons & transformed into an organization to stamp out Communism in the US....The FBI re-invents itself every 30 years or so...Maybe we're seeing another one. 2. Just like the mouthpiece of America, all the major TV networks mention 'taped' evidence but the charges are obscure...Were these people trafficking in hi-tech or weapons or drugs or human slavery? There are plenty of Russian mafia types responsible for these crimes but I don't see the FBI near that...Not enough publicity. . 3. ..So...Obama was informed as he took his 1st bite out of his egg McMuffin...That's awkward...Or perhaps he knew about this as he was setting up Medvedev..That's sneaky & in bad faith....Hopefully, (& what I think), it's the former

Mr. Bridge, to mention democracy and Vicky Pelaez in the same vein is certainly a contradiction, she is a well known communist regime sympathizer here in the US. I believe this revelation deserves mentioning in a future article from a site that expounds democracy and freedom for all.

Ketch M'Canuwhile Since the U.S economy based on fake money and cheap good from China and that increasingly U.S ivy league universities increasingly artificially maintaining their ranking by aggressively procuring Chinese students [ the product of communist education] , that Cuba has free healthcare and public education that is not available to the majority of Americans, do you think that the rest of the world thinks that U.S democracy? Do you realize that rest of the world can see the U.S what it really is: dangerous and armed to the teeth; not democracatic and peaceful?

@PR101 I see you just saw "red" and ignored the excellent point made about Vicky Pelaez to take up another post lambasting the US. For your education, the USA never claimed to be a democracy; it is a Republic. Study the differences. As for your other points, they are not worth commenting on.

GaryMax 90% of the what the U.S citizens consume today are made in China. Is China not a communist country? What is percentage of Chinese students in U.S Ivy league Universities?

why didn't the fbi do anything when clinton gave missile secrets to China? Why don't they do anything about the drug war? fbi = fat boys inc.

@PR101 Here we have more PR101 "misinformation", or lack if understanding. "According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 40 percent of all consumer products imported into the United States last year -- nearly $250 billion worth of goods -- were manufactured in China." That is still high, but less than half of "PR101 information" provided to RT readers. PR101 said "Is China not a communist country?" Their government is communist based. But that is just the political party. Their policies are not so much communist. But their business model is more capitalist that the USA. And so what if the government is communist? That may be the best form of government for a country such as China at this time. With regard to Chinese students: I am not sure if you know precisely what you said, or your last question. What you asked was "What is percentage of Chinese students in U.S Ivy league Universities?" So what if 90 percent of Chinese students in US choose to go to Ivy League schools. [ I think you were trying to say that 90 percent of students in Ivy League schools were Chinese - -- this is TOTALLY ABSURD.] The annual statistics gathered by the Institute for International Education show that there are about 61,765 Chinese students at institutions of higher education in the United States. They are nearly 11 percent of all the foreign students in our country. Only one country, India, sends more students to American campuses." And most Chinese students in US are in Graduate School, not undergraduate school.

GaryMax what we are talking about is that U.S mindset that communism is "bad" and "American democracy is good". Yet Communist China is rising and Americans are consuming industrial products of communist China. As for U.S Ivy League universities are using communist China students to prop their ranking in math and sciences ,that now smart Europeans are staying home, this is fact. Just google it. This discussion about this issue began when somebody suggests that a journalists who was arrested few days ago in the U.S for a crime of spying for Russia deserved to be arrested because not only was accused of spying for Russia but that she was a communist!

July 02, 2010, 16:31, PR101 wrote > GaryMax > what we are talking about is that U.S mindset that communism is "bad" and "American democracy is good". Yet Communist China is rising and Americans are consuming industrial products of communist China. As for U.S Ivy League universities are using communist China students to prop their ranking in math and sciences ,that now smart Europeans are staying home, this is fact. Just google it. > This discussion about this issue began when somebody suggests that a journalists who was arrested few days ago in the U.S for a crime of spying for Russia deserved to be arrested because not only was accused of spying for Russia but that she was a communist! 1. No, what we are supposed to be discussing is the title of this comment section, "US “lobby war” behind Russian spy charges". 2. What you don't seem to understand from my previous post is that it is impossible for Chinese students to, as you put it," ...to prop their ranking in math and sciences". First, they don't exist in the numbers that would be needed to do that, and secondly, "rankings" are determined by undergraduate students, not graduate students, if you know the difference. Very few Chinese students come to the US for undergraduate studies; most are graduate students. 3. I don't believe anyone in this comment section suggested that Vicky Pelaez should be arrested because she is a communist.That simply is not what was said. Really, PR101, you must get control of your mind-set and biases. We all have biases, but yours seem so far out of touch with facts and reality they fall into the fantasy realm. Best regards,