COLD WAR'S END DOESN'T PUT STOP TO OLD SPY GAME.

Byline: Terry Atlas Chicago Tribune 

The Cold War may be over, but the arrest of veteran CIA officer Harold Nicholson shows that Washington and Moscow will keep spying on one another as long as there are secrets - about their military forces and banking systems, a leader's health, even the kind of insulation used to quiet diesel submarines.

While both nations say they have substantially cut back their spy operations against each other, new political uncertainties as well as old suspicions maintain their appetites for intelligence.

CIA Director John Deutch, in a revealing slip of the tongue, remarked Tuesday that ``the Soviet, er, Russian intelligence services'' remain very active in targeting the CIA and other U.S. national security organizations.

``When you have two countries that have spied on each other for years, old habits are hard to break,'' said Norman Polmar, author of ``Spy Book: The Encyclopedia of Espionage.''

``Secondly, both countries are still interested in each other's technology and in each other's intelligence services to see who we've got over there and who they've got here,'' he said.

They also may be interested in the health of the man in charge.

Though he is privy to the most sensitive intelligence reports, White House National Security Adviser Anthony Lake recalls being nearly as clueless as everyone else about Boris Yeltsin's health when the Russian president dropped from sight last summer.

The United States lacked good intelligence about Yeltsin's condition, according to Lake, and visiting Vice President Al Gore misjudged the reclusive chief as looking healthy. Yeltsin ultimately needed heart bypass surgery.

``I'm sure I get better information and intelligence in my job than any of my colleagues around the world; I know that from talking to them. But we do not know every sparrow that falls or the state of health of every leader,'' Lake commented recently.

While outraged by the alleged betrayal by Nicholson, a rising star at the intelligence agency, intelligence experts are hardly surprised by Moscow's recruitment efforts.

``I would be amazed if they didn't, and I'd be even more amazed if we didn't,'' said retired Air Force Gen. Brent Scowcroft, who was President Bush's national security adviser.

National security experts say there are many questions the United States must try to answer in Russia, ranging from the dynamics of internal Kremlin politics to the security of nuclear weapons.

The White House may want to know about Yeltsin's health, the Commerce Department about commercial bribery in Russia and the State Department about Russian arms sales to countries such as Iran.

``Even if you want to argue that we are really on friendly terms, there are a lot of things you'd like to know to confirm that as well as to shape your understanding of and reaction to the Russians, which requires, in essence, spying,'' said Daniel Goure, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Documents filed by the government in the Nicholson case provide a glimpse of U.S. intelligence priorities in Russia, as well as an idea of what the Russians what to know. The Russians allegedly paid Nicholson $120,000 for his information.

Among the material he allegedly gave the Russians was information the CIA solicited from so-called access agents, private citizens such as business executives and academics abroad.

Those reports analyzed the Russian banking system and Russian economy as well as efforts by a foreign country, probably Iran, to acquire cruise missile technology.

The documents also covered the development of sound-vibration insulation for diesel generators to make it harder to detect submarines and naval surface ships, research on high-frequency radar for long-range detection of aircraft and missiles, and new designs for submarine weapons systems.

Along with the names of CIA agents he helped train, Nicholson also allegedly gave the Russians the names of U.S. citizens who provided information to the CIA, jeopardizing their ability to pursue business and professional activities in Russia.

Nicholson, a 16-year CIA veteran, will plead not guilty and seek pretrial release from jail, his court-appointed lawyer, Jonathan Shapiro, said Wednesday. The 46-year-old divorced father of three was said by Shapiro to be ``distressed'' about his separation from his children.

While no one outside Moscow knows the extent of Russian intelligence activities, about 20 percent of the U.S. intelligence effort is directed at Russia, down sharply from 60 percent during the Cold War, according to University of Georgia professor Loch Johnson, author of ``Secret Agencies,'' which profiles U.S. intelligence agencies.

As Russia becomes increasingly democratic, intelligence analysts have access to open sources of Russian information, such as newspapers and academic studies.

Whether the United States is still spending too much on spying in Russia is open to debate.

``You can make that argument,'' said Johnson. ``But if a hostile leader were to come to power in Russia, which is not too remote a possibility I suppose, then one would want to have agents in place and pretty good coverage.''