Talk:Double agent

Untitled
How about a list of fictional double agents? Cynicalkane 02:20, 9 September 2005 (UTC)
 * There seems to be one now, but is it serious to put Severus Snape on the list? Eje211 21:29, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

The list of fictional double agents seems to list ones from comics, films and video games but ignores the one from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which is probably a good thing. 137.222.202.86 11:19, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

After watching CNN's 'In the footsteps of Bin Laden' why is Ali Muhammad, who was an Al Qaeda double agent in the U.S military not listed? Nor is there any information about Ali Muhammad who is quite possibly one of the most intriguing double agents in recent memory.

The explanation of "triple agent" in terms of the 2006 definition is very confusing. Could someone please explain it a little better than that?FreeStone 16:57, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

How about adding the spy Christopher John Boyce?

triple agent definition
I agree about the confused definition of triple agent. Some espionage books describe it as an agent working for three agencies at the same time. An agent who only pretends to be working for the enemy but in fact is always loyal to his original company is often called a "doubled" or "re-doubled" agent.

definition quibble
"A double agent is someone who pretends to spy on a target organization on behalf of a controlling organization, but in fact is loyal to the target organization"

Must a double agent be loyal to either side? Could he not be purely mercenary? Njál 17:52, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Proposal
I'd like to leave the lists here, but move the definitions to Clandestine HUMINT, with certain details in Clandestine HUMINT operational techniques. The lists should be gone through and sourced; they certainly should not contain links to people that may or may not have been double agents, and one must follow a link (or sometimes be stuck with a red link) to get any detail. If this is done, the article here should be renamed. Howard C. Berkowitz (talk) 16:10, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Gollum?
How is Gollum a double-agent? Maybe he was originally working for Sauron, but during the time when he was working for Frodo, he was in actuality working for nobody but himself. It's not like he would have willingly given the Ring to Sauron if given the chance, he wanted to keep it for himself. That doesn't fit the given definition of double agent. Lurlock (talk) 23:42, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

I would have to second Lurlock. I could not see how we could categorize Gollum as a double agent. He is not working for anybody in the book and he earns nothing from anyone. --Pboy2k5 (talk) 13:57, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Cardinal error
Listing doubles, how do you leave off Tom Clancy's Cardinal (Cardinal of the Kremlin)? (And who was the guy who {supposedly} blew the Son Tay rescue?) Trekphiler (talk) 03:19, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

George "Mac" McHale
There's evidence that he's a quadruple agent, although he never gets to demonstrate it: first, he debunks both Indy's claim that he (Mac) was a triple agent and his own claim that he was double, and while escaping afterward, he says he was on Indy's side all along. --21:49, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

James Bond
When has Bond ever worked as double agent? He always spies for the British. He may assume fake IDs, but is never a double agent, or is he? 187.20.61.119 (talk) 23:09, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Quadruple agent
What exactly are they - and the section describes a hypothetical publication. Jackiespeel (talk) 17:08, 5 March 2010 (UTC)

Double-double agent
FlashForward has in its last episode a kind of 'double-double agent concept'. While someone was on the FBI, it was a double agent for a "Shadow" Org. Then CIA had come in beforehand and it had convinced the agent to 'go with it but answer to CIA'. Hence a dual layer double agent without being just a 're-double'. Even though of course one could categorize FBI and CIA the same cycle[and hence just be a re-double] but they usually aren't.--Leladax (talk) 22:32, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Triple Agent misprint.
This article contains information about Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, a triple agent who works for three intelligence services however he was only a redoubled agent. This should be redefined in the article, or the reporting news agency should correct it. Who else was he working for if it is correct? It is under the heading Triple Agent.

Ahears 21:07, 3 May 2010 (UTC)
 * He was an agent for the CIA, Jordanian Intelligence and Al Queda. 3 "organizations".-- Terrillja talk  01:39, 5 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Oh..ok. I missed the part about Jordanian Intel.

Ahears 17:13, 5 May 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ahears (talk • contribs)

Dubious
The article states: "The term 'double agent' is often used in popular media erroneously to refer to someone acting simply as a spy or secret agent." This I find highly unlikely and I would expect some corroboration of it before we boldly state it. Powers T 00:41, 19 July 2010 (UTC)
 * I've removed it. Powers T 13:07, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Just take a look at any of the numerous articles describing the recently foiled underpants plot. They describe the mole in al qaeda as a double agent, when in fact he was a regular secret agent who infiltrated the terrorist group. See here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/world/middleeast/suicide-mission-volunteer-was-double-agent-officials-say.html?_r=2&hp. 63.137.53.2.

Or here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AIRLINE_PLOT?SITE=MOSTP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-05-07-16-18-16. 63.137.53.2 (talk) 15:06, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

Foiling the 2012 "Underpants Bomber" plot--NOT an example of a double agent
The foiling the 2012 "Underpants Bomber" plot is NOT an example of a double agent. In fact, it is a textbook example of a regular old agent, or spy. A double agent feeds disinformation to people he claim to be loyal to; a single agent sends good information to people he is loyal to but feigns loyalty to another. Many news organizations, as well as this wikipedia entry, are misusing the term "double agent" in this case. 63.137.53.2 (talk) 14:52, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

Your List of Examples is Crap
Take a look at the list of examples. Most of the people on this list passed information to the enemy, but were not being controlled by a friendly handler. They were penetrations, spies, single-agents, whatever. Aldrich Ames for example, is NOT a double agent. He is just a spy and a traitor. Ames would only be a double-agent if the US was secretly telling him to give things to the Russians. This was not the case. Your page even says right there that most of people on this list aren't actually double agents. So why are they on the list? Makes no sense.

Confusing definition
"Double agentry may be practiced by spies of the target organization who infiltrate the controlling organization. . .".

What does this mean? Does this mean that spy X infiltrates his/her own controlling organization A, which wanted him/her to target organization B? If Spy X has not been turned by B, how is there an infiltration? If s/he is genuinely controlled by organization A, but doesn't spy on the "target" organization B, how is B a target? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.57.23.238 (talk) 16:40, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Mata Hari was a Dutch woman. That is here nationality. Frisian is no nationality in our country. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:980:1459:1:C454:3DCF:E5FC:AF7D (talk) 11:35, 21 May 2015 (UTC)

About Oleg Kalugin
The statement "(Oleg Kalugin was a double spy. He was a) Longtime head of KGB operations in the U.S., provided disinformation regarding American involvement in Prague Spring; and also played a role in the establishment of Yeltsin as post-USSR leader. Sentenced in absentia in 2002 to 15 years imprisonment; the US refuses to extradite him" is not referenced. Also the statement is quite dubious, since it seems to me that only, and  have statements that Kalugin was or might be a double agent, and the former two sources are quite dubious. So I think that maybe we should remove Kalugin from list of double agents, or alter the statement to notify readers that whether he was a double agent is not clear.--13:38, 30 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes, certainly. He was a spy and a head of KGB operations, but not a double agent. My very best wishes (talk) 21:06, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

Other meaning
https://sourceforge.net/projects/doubleagent/ --Portoyourangryboss (talk) 00:17, 5 October 2017 (UTC)