Spy files: 'Never engage in a pissing match with a skunk'

(The New Zealand Herald)

Photo: UK Ministry of Defence

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As the two countries sent each other's spies packing, Britain's ambassador in Moscow, Mister Bryan Cartledge, warned graphically of the danger posed by a spiral of tit-for-tat expulsions. He cabled London: "Never engage in a pissing match with a skunk: He possesses important natural advantages." = Wow, when KGB agent Oleg Gordievsky defects to Britain, the pugnaciousness of Mikhail Gorbachev and macho arrogance of opponent Margaret Thatcher clash in a storm. Suspect Russian assassins and British spies are arrested, diplomats/analysts/pawns banned/expelled in petty retaliation.

(by Julian Lofts)