Playing Fair in a Dangerous World: How the CIA’s Limits Put Us in Harm’s Way

Bound by Rules, Facing Ruthless Foes: CIA Limits Put American Safety at Risk

      When it comes to keeping Americans safe, the CIA’s hands are tied. Every mission, every move, every whispered word has to pass through a maze of rules and oversight. U.S. laws, international agreements, layers of red tape—CIA operatives are bound to play by the book. Accountability, human rights, democratic values? They’re not just buzzwords; they’re the ground rules the CIA has to follow, no exceptions.

     Meanwhile, Russia’s FSB and GRU are in a whole different ballgame. Cyberattacks that black out power grids? Standard practice. Disinformation campaigns that twist the truth and spark chaos? Part of the playbook. Silencing enemies with a swift, brutal hit? Just another day at the office. No red tape, no oversight, no rules to hold them back.

     This isn’t just some bureaucratic headache—it’s a threat to American safety. While the CIA is reined in by laws and ethics, Russian intelligence is off the leash, undermining U.S. interests wherever they see fit, at home and abroad. Those rules that keep the CIA in check may protect American values, but in a world where Russia’s operatives break every convention, sometimes playing fair can come at a dangerously high price.

     Take ‘Operation Merlin’—a textbook example of how red tape can choke a mission. Back in the late '90s and early 2000s, the CIA hatched a plan to throw a wrench in Iran’s nuclear program. The idea? Hand over nuclear blueprints with a few crucial “errors” baked in, just enough to send Iranian scientists down the wrong path and slow them down.

     But here’s where it gets tangled. Every detail had to pass through layers of legal checks, ethical guidelines, and oversight procedures. The CIA couldn’t make the blueprints as flawed as they wanted, all because of concerns over violating arms control agreements and causing international blowback. So, the operation went forward cautiously, with hands tied.

     As you might guess, the operation didn’t go as planned. Instead of slowing Iran down, it actually helped them identify weaknesses in their own research, ironically boosting their progress. The mission backfired—all because the CIA had to play by the rules. Meanwhile, Russia’s FSB and GRU would’ve handled it without hesitation, using any means necessary, with no oversight or legal red tape to hold them back.

     Then there’s the matter of targeted killings—a shadowy tool in the intelligence game, and one that’s bound up in red tape for the CIA. Assassinations? That’s a serious line the agency can’t just cross on a whim. Thanks to ‘Executive Order 12333’, signed back in 1981, political assassinations are flat-out banned. Sure, the CIA can still use lethal force, but only after wading through a swamp of protocols and approvals.

     Each drone strike, every single targeted operation—it’s all debated, reviewed, scrutinized to the letter. The goal is to minimize collateral damage and stay firmly within U.S. law.

     Back in the late ’90s, the CIA came close to taking out Osama bin Laden. They’d tracked him to a camp in Kandahar, and a cruise missile strike was on the table. But red tape killed the plan. Concerns over collateral damage and Executive Order 12333—banning political assassinations—meant the CIA had to clear every detail. When officials learned dignitaries from the UAE were at the camp, the strike was scrapped. The mission fizzled, and bin Laden got away, showing just how much the CIA’s hands are tied by legal limits, even with high-stakes targets in sight.

     Russia’s FSB and GRU, on the other hand, don’t play by any rulebook. Their methods are ruthless. Take Alexander Litvinenko, a former FSB agent poisoned in 2006 with radioactive polonium slipped into his tea. Or Sergei Skripal, a Russian defector attacked in 2018 with Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent, on British soil. These were cold, brutal messages from the Kremlin, no matter the fallout or civilian casualties.

     In my Mission of Vengeance thriller, the CIA sidesteps the usual red tape when things heat up by activating a concept I call ‘Obscure Transgression’ (OT) level. It’s a black-funded, shadow operation, no paper trail, no breadcrumbs for Congress to track. It’s still overseen, but only by the President and the CIA director. As soon as the mission wraps up, the President shuts down OT level, and everyone goes back to standard protocol.

     In Mission of Vengeance, CIA spymaster Corey Pearson tells his team they’re in OT level mode. It’s full cloak-and-dagger, operating off the grid and outside the law, with one objective: find who murdered an innocent American family vacationing at a luxury resort in the Dominican Republic. No politicians to answer to, no law enforcement breathing down their necks, just the mission.

     Corey knows the CIA isn’t what it used to be. After 9/11, most of the “cowboys” are gone. But at OT level, they’re back to being cowboys until the President calls it off. No FBI, no State Department poking around. Not even the U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic is clued in. They’re off the radar, working until the job is done.

     My spy thriller brings out the difference. The CIA’s hands are tied to democratic principles—every mission, every strike is scrutinized down to the last detail, weighed against laws, ethics, and accountability. Meanwhile, Russia’s FSB and GRU do whatever it takes, leaving a radioactive death trail if they must, with no concern for rules or innocent bystanders. In the shadow world of espionage, they’re playing an entirely different game.

     And while this dedication to principles is what makes America what it is, it comes with a cost. By playing fair, we’re up against adversaries who’ll stop at nothing, knowing our limits let them push further.

     Maybe it's time to consider an Obscure Transgression (OT) level—a temporary measure allowing the CIA to operate without the usual restrictions, just for those rare, high-stakes missions where American lives hang in the balance. With OT level, the CIA could work in the shadows, moving quickly and decisively, free from the web of oversight. But it would be strictly temporary, ending the moment the mission is accomplished. Then, everything reverts back to the standard protocols.

     Because in the end, it’s not just the agency that’s on the line—it’s the American public. The truth is, as long as Russia’s spies operate without rules while our intelligence sticks to the playbook, we’ll always be one step behind. And that’s a risk we can’t afford.

 

Robert Morton is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and the author of the Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster spy thriller series. Check out his latest spy thriller, Misson of Vengeance