Dead Drop: November 16

ONE GIANT LEAP FOR WOMAN-KIND? The Dead Drop hears that Gina Haspel, the first woman to serve as CIA Director, either has – or soon will  — name the first woman to serve as the Agency’s Deputy Director for Operations.  The DDO runs the National Clandestine Service – the super secret side of the Agency.  We hear that Beth Kimber, a highly-respected, career member of the clandestine service, is among the top choices.  The position does not require Senate confirmation.  Some (but not all) DDO’s in the past have maintained their undercover status while serving in the job.  Kimber, however,  is overt.

OUCH, THAT’LL STING: The Telegraph newspaper in the UK reports that the Kremlin has named a square in Moscow in honor of Kim Philby, one of Britain’s worst traitors. You may recall that Philby defected to the Soviet Union in 1963, on the heels of two other Soviet double agents, Guy Burgess and Donald MacLean. Philby held high positions in MI-6 while secretly working for the Soviets. No word on what motivated the Russians to honor the bugger thirty years after his death. If they have no prohibition on naming things after living people, The Dead Drop recommends that the Brits find some suitable space in London to name after Sergei Skripal, the former GRU officer that the Russians tried and failed to kill.