Forty-odd years ago, a spook with a classical bent came... [Derived headline]

Forty-odd years ago, a spook with a classical bent came up withthe name. "Operation Demetrius", he called it. I am just old enoughto remember, and old enough to remember the firestorm of contemptthat engulfed the government of Britain.

The idea, in the language of the time, was to bag up a fewProvvies, and to break their organisational discipline in the northof Ireland. The local boys of the Royal Ulster Constabulary would dothe grubby work, but the advice on procedure, the collective wisdom,came from nameless officials in the Security Service.

Those derived, in turn, from "counter-insurgency warfare" inplaces we had ceased to own, such as Malaysia. How do …

Forty-odd years ago, a spook with a classical bent came... [Derived headline]

Forty-odd years ago, a spook with a classical bent came up withthe name. "Operation Demetrius", he called it. I am just old enoughto remember, and old enough to remember the firestorm of contemptthat engulfed the government of Britain.

The idea, in the language of the time, was to bag up a fewProvvies, and to break their organisational discipline in the northof Ireland. The local boys of the Royal Ulster Constabulary would dothe grubby work, but the advice on procedure, the collective wisdom,came from nameless officials in the Security Service.

Those derived, in turn, from "counter-insurgency warfare" inplaces we had ceased to own, such as Malaysia. How do …