Kit Bennett

And that's the highest calling.

And the elephant driver was the president of the United States.

We had this little program going, and I'd just say at the beginning, you know, people saying, well, why would the NZSIS be working with CA?

Well, we were a member of Five Eyes, and so the reason why the agency could use us was because of the way I spoke.

I didn't have an American accent.

And why would anyone be concerned about a New Zealander?

We're, in that regard, politically very beige.

I did go to Langley quite often and it was just a matter of jumping out of my apartment, driving down onto the George Washington Parkway and heading up to the sign that said CIA next exit.

How would you describe the culture of CIA?

First of all, it's a huge organisation.

And, you know, this little foot soldier's knowledge of it is pretty limited.

But I worked in the Directorate of Operation.

And I worked in the EA division, the East Asia division, and the sharp end was the SE division, Soviet East European division.

So I was working in the East Asia division based on my location, but what I was doing was working against the Soviet target.

But that was true.

People in the African division...

working against the Soviet target.

So I dealt with those people and they were really great.

They were highly intelligent, well-educated men and women in the 70s.

Some of the women were very senior and very able intelligence officers, really, really good.