Posted on 09/03/2005 8:12:16 AM PDT by WJHII
Nine Lives, The Story of Felix Bloch
By William John Hagan Houston Home Journal 09/03/2005
Felix Bloch is without question one of the world's most over-qualifiedbus drivers. The former grocery store bag boy took a second job as a busdriver in North Carolina in 1992. It was a wise move, as Mr. Bloch's careerin the food industry came to a screeching halt when he stole about onehundred dollars worth of food from his primary employer. This was Felix'sonly criminal conviction and while he lost his job bagging groceries, the bus companyallowed him to stay on as a driver.
Before his career as a bus driver, Felix Bloch had spent thirty-one years in the United States Foreign Service. In 1989, on the posh Rue Faubourg St.-Honore in Paris, Bloch’s world fell apart. This was the setting for his meeting with Reine Gikman, an agent of the KGB. The meeting with Reine was being watched by both the CIA and French Intelligence. It was an intercepted phone call in April of that year that had caused the intelligence services to start monitoring Felix. The CIA had found it more than a little strange to find Foreign Service Agent Bloch on the phone with Reine Gikman. Bloch, after all, had served as a senior United States diplomat in Austria from 1980 to 1987; while, Gikman was known to be one of the top KGB officers stationed in Vienna. The end result was a classic spy drop during which Felix gave Reine a black gym bag.Upon Bloch’s return to the United States the FBI began an investigation into his activities. In June of 1989, US Intelligence taped a phone conversation between Bloch and a man who informed him that "Pierre" would no longer be able to meet himbecause "Pierre was sick". Pierre was Reine Gikman’s code name and thephone conversation made it clear that their operation had been compromised.Only then did the FBI confront Felix Bloch but, by then, it was all too late.The case became a media circus when a leak to ABC News resulted in the "situation" going public. Night after night the American public watched as a bumbling FBI followed Felix Bloch on his long health walks around Washington, D.C. A grand jury found that there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against Felix. He was, however, fired from the State Department and stripped of his pension.
After his dismissal, Felix became a non-person in Washington and was unable to find any mjeaningful employment: governmental or otherwise. The resulting slide into poverty, while probably inevitable, soon resulted in three arrests: all for shoplifting groceries. Felix, however, eventually found his true calling as a successful bus driver for the North Carolina Transit Authority at Chapel Hill. That would be all to the story, if it were not for the strong possibility that Felix Bloch was, in fact, probably guilty of treason. The saga ought to end here except for the fact that, unfortunately, this is a crime for which there is no statue of limitations, and no one in the FBI could figure out how Gikman found out that Felix was being investigated. Evidently, the FBI was unable to accept the only rational explanation: there was a spy within the FBI itself.
Fast forward to the arrest of notorious espionage agent Robert Hanssen. Hanssen, despite his disdain for Bloch, had informed Moscow of the investigation. Today the Bush administration seems content to let the Bloch matter rest. Their lack of action against Bloch makes it appear that this is a matter no longer worth pursuing. Felix, it seems, has created his own torment. Once, he was a man of wealth and power who dined with heads of state. Today, he is petty criminal with tedious employment. Each morning, as he wakes, he knows that there is no clock running out on his crimes. For all he knows his next passenger could be an FBI agent sent to arrest him. Time is now Felix's most formidable enemy.
Letters to the editor of The Houston Home Journal may be e-mail to:mailto: rgambill@evansnewspapers.com (Please Include Your Name and Location)
William John Hagan can be contacted directly by e-mail at:William_Hagan@excite.com
William John Hagan can be visited on the Web at: http://williamjohnhagan.blogspot.com
I actually worked in a store and met the traitor Felix Bloch once. He just buys his stuff and slinks away
He belongs under the bus.
Surprise surprise.
I'd feel a little better if every passenger was allowed to punch Felix in the head as he boarded the bus.
Yeah, ain't it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.