WASHINGTON — In the midst of what turned out to be a bogus espionage scare over commemorative coins, senior Pentagon officials speculated whether Canadians — widely considered to be among America’s closest allies — might be “bad guys” involved in the spy caper.
“Who knows?” one official wrote in e-mails obtained last week by The Associated Press.
The espionage warnings from the Defense Department caused a global sensation a few years ago over reports of mysterious coins with radio-frequency transmitters.
The culprit turned out to be commemorative “poppy” quarters manufactured in Canada, which is among the closest of U.S. allies and America’s leading oil supplier.
But at the height of the mystery, senior Pentagon officials speculated about Canada’s involvement, according to e-mails marked “Secret/NoForn” and obtained by AP under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.
In the e-mails, released to AP with names blacked out but job titles disclosed, Pentagon officials question whether they should alert military officers in the U.S. Northern Command, who regularly met Canadian counterparts.
In sensational warnings that circulated publicly in late 2006 and early 2007, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Service said coins with radio transmitters were found planted on U.S. Army contractors with classified security clearances on at least three occasions between October 2005 and January 2006 as the contractors traveled through Canada.
In January 2007, the government reversed itself and said the warnings weren’t true. AP learned the flap had been caused by suspicions over the Canadian “poppy” quarter.
What suspicious contractors believed to be “nanotechnology” on the coins actually was a protective coating the Royal Canadian Mint applied to prevent the poppy’s red color from rubbing off.
