On the Cutting Edge of Societal Satire

The soldiers knew something was awry from the moment the hawk flew from behind some bushes just 20 yards on the other side of the border. It was squawking as if in agony, and it was barely able to clear the 20 foot tall fence topped with rolls of barbed wire, before it hit the ground with a thud. Fearing it might be some sort of trick, like playing dead in an attempt to draw them closer before attacking, the soldiers emptied their rifles into the hawk.

The soldiers say they cautiously approached, and that's when they made the shocking discovery - a video camera was strapped to the hawk. The camera was too big for the bird to maintain flight. The Pakistan Intelligence Agency has denied any knowledge of the camera or the attempted use of hawk's for spying.

The incident has refueled already bitter feuding between India and Pakistan, who've fought 3 wars in their history, and almost fought a fourth last summer. Pakistan officials say that it's India who is trying to spy on them, strapping miniature cameras on the backs of gophers and sending them scurrying across the border.

Dirk Dugan, spokesman for the Central Intelligence Agency, said that the two countries are masters of disinformation. "It's very difficult to get a firm grasp of the truth when it comes to these two countries."

Dugan says there is truth to the claims that India's intelligence community once tried using gophers as a means of spying. "But it wasn't a video camera on the back, it was a little microphone and recorder." He explained. "They didn't find any useful information against the army of Pakistan, but the recordings helped scientists a great deal who were studying the mating rituals of the gopher. They aren't proud of it, but..."

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