by Jay Taylor

About the author: Jay Taylor was deputy assistant secretary of state for intelligence coordination during the Ronald Reagan administration.

Fear of foreign spies was already inordinately high in the United States when the sensational espionage charges against [FBI agent] Robert Philip Hanssen hit the headlines. The media and the public, always starved for drama, have been captivated. The executive branch is planning tough-sounding remedies, including new super organizations. Existing counterintelligence bureaucracies have exploited the “crisis” to grow and expand. And counterspy measures, resources and personnel are already greater than they were during the height of the Cold War.

President [George W.] Bush is expected soon to approve establishment of a new counterintelligence policy board headed by a counterintelligence czar who will report to a new...