Spies 'R' Us

The 'Russian spy scandal' is an interesting tale with all the trappings of a commercial movie plot; espionage, the glamorous femme-fatale, and undercover suburbanites spying on their unsuspecting neighbors at community barbecues. Will this incident strain U.S. - Russian relations? Make citizens wary of new people with funny accents moving in next door? Drag us back to Cold War politics?

Just a week before this story broke, Presidents Obama and Medvedev were munching on hamburgers together in Washington, offering hope of a new era of reconciliation between the two nations. So has this incident clouded progress and resurrected an atmosphere of suspicion?

The 10 Russian defendants pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and were deported as part of a 'spy swap' deal. The Russian government released four people to the United States in exchange.

The questions surrounding their intentions over the past ten years are intriguing. What exactly did the 'spies' want to find out about American life and society? And how could that information benefit Russia? In other words, what exactly was their mission? Were they dangerous secret agents threatening the homeland? Apparently not. None of them were charged with espionage according to officials, since they didn't pass on classified information. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was quoted as saying that although the 10 didn't plead guilty to being spies, they "were clearly caught in the business of spying."

So, just to be clear they were spying then, but just failed in their mission? Is that like being caught in a botched burglary attempt? Some have joked that they could have Googled everything they needed to know, saving time and money. It wasn't as if they were seriously pursuing nuclear secrets or war plans.

Since the culprits are now on their way home, we must really question the gravity of this situation. One British journalist has termed this incident 'the Russian Spy Scandal that nobody cared about,' since the whole shebang has stirred such little outrage. He thinks this is simply because they weren't very good at their jobs. So even Russian spies can be slackers. I'd hate to see their annual employee performance reviews. Anna Chapman, the 'Mata Hari' of the crew, apparently had her own Facebook page. Hardly incognito! Wasn't there some sort of 'Spy School' they had to attend before their mission?

Maybe the FBI were operating such a good surveillance operation they realized soon enough that we had absolutely nothing to worry about. The spy versions of the Keystone Cops were hardly a national security threat.

Let's just hope they were ineffective and that civil U.S. - Russian relations can resume.

As for any damage? I think the story will soon blow over and other scandals will take its place. The public is rather fickle after all. Unless there's some huge secret or a sinister 'hidden agenda,' we can safely assume all is well.

So what good could come out of this? Maybe a reality show deal for Anna Chapman...