"I`m on my own side now" said Jason Bourne

"I'm on my own side now" said Jason Bourne
or
Internal Power Plays in CIA as seen in the Jason Bourne Films
Jason Bourne to Special Operations Officer Alexander Conklin: "I'm on my own side now".
The Bourne Film Series
The Bourne films were published in 2002, 2004, and 2007. They have been commercially and
critically successful. The first film is loosely based on Robert Ludlum's novel of the same
name. The second and third films are not connected to the novels.
My special interest is the films' descriptions of the inner workings of the fictitious Central
Intelligence Agency Special Activities Division "Treadstone", later called "Blackbriar". This
description was apparently inspired by the memoirs of the father of director and producer
Doug Liman. The father, Arthur L. Liman, worked in the National Security Agency (NSA)
under President Ronald Reagan and served as chief counsel for the Senate during the IranContra Affair
"Of particular inspiration were Liman's father's memoirs regarding his involvement in
the investigation of the Iran-Contra affair. Many aspects of the Alexander Conklin
character were based on his father's recollections of Oliver North. Liman admitted that
he jettisoned much of the content of the novel beyond the central premise, in order to
modernize the material and to conform it to his own beliefs regarding United States
foreign policy."1
In other words, Arthur L. Liman served in the same role as Pamela Landy does in the films.
A summary of the plot:
A. The Bourne Identity (2002): A man who has lost his memory attempts to discover his
true identity. He discovers that his name is Jason Bourne, and that he seems very apt
to avoid getting killed by those attacking him. Apparently, his task has been officially
unsanctioned assassinations managed by CIA's Special Operation Treadstone. Now he
is the target for the same kind of assassination attempts because he lost his memory
and failed to carry out a task. In the end of the film Jason Bourne declares: "I'm on my
own side now". The film was directed by Doug Liman and produced by Doug Liman,
Sources: interviews on the Bourne Trilogy Bonus Disc,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bourne_Identity_(2002_film, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IranContra_affair.
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Patrick Crowley, Richard Gladstein, Frank Marshall and Robert Ludlum. The main
character, Jason Bourne was played by Matt Damon.
B. The Bourne Supremacy (2004): Jason Bourne is once more hunted by the conspiracy
surrounding the CIA and its Special Operation Treadstone. CIA's internal detective
Pamela Landy uncovers two corrupt employees who used Treadstone to let $20 million
disappear. This and the following film were directed by Paul Greengrass and produced
by Doug Liman and Frank Marshall.
C. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007): Jason Bourne escapes from Moscow, Russia, and
travels to Paris, London, Madrid, Tangier, and New York City to uncover his real
identity, while the CIA continues to send assassins after him. His plan is "Someone
started all of this and I'm gonna find them", and he carries it through.
The footnote references to the films use A-B-C as shown here:
• A 0:26:00
The Bourne Identity
0 hours
• C 0:42:18
The Bourne Ultimatum 0 hours
26 minutes 00 seconds
42 minutes 18 seconds, etc.
The films are published by Universal Picture as a DVD box set. I recommend you to buy the
set, for example at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Bourne-Trilogy-Identity-SupremacyUltimatum/dp/B001F12J0C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1236180793&sr=1-1 .
A Killing Squad with Legislative, Judiciary and Executive Power
In the third film CIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen explains the equally ranked Pamela Landy
what makes the Special Operations special.
Pam: What's going on? ... What's Operation Blackbriar? ... Do you wanna tell me, or should I
call Kramer and ask him? ...
Vosen: It is now the umbrella programme for all our black ops. Full envelope intrusion,
rendition, experimental interrogation is all run out of this office. We are the sharp end of the
stick now, Pam.
Pam: Lethal action?
Vosen: If we have to, sure. That's what makes us special. No more red tape. No more getting
the bad guys caught in our sights, then watching them escape while we wait for someone in
Washington to issue the order. ... Oh, come on. ... You've seen the raw intel, Pam. You know
how real the danger is. We need these programmes now.2
In the first film the Special Operations section is called Operation Treadstone. In the second
and third film, it is called Operation Blackbriar.3 Here are three characteristics of the
operations:
• All power is concentrated in the Treadstone and Blackbriar Operations. There is no
tripartition between legislative, judiciary and executive power
• This is capital punishment: There is no way of regretting so that you call the victims
into existence again.
• There will always be someone who disagrees in these operations – at least the subjects
Example 1: In the first film Special Operations Director Alexander Conklin orders Danny Zorn
to activate all other assassins to get rid of Conklin's own subordinate Jason Bourne.
Legislation, judgement and execution are all combined in one sentence: "I want Bourne in a
body bag by sundown.""4
C 0:42:18, Pamela Landy at Noah Vosen's office
Operation Treadstone is directed from the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Operation
Blackbriar is directed from the centre of New York.
4
A 0:26:00. Conklin and other members of the team in a large office in Langley
2
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Conklin: "I want Bourne in a body bag by sundown."
Example 2: In the middle of an operation Deputy Director Noah Vosen is selecting a Special
Operations employee as the next target for an assassin. Pamela Landy protests against this
sudden death sentence. Noah Vosen declares that he will continue until he is the winner:
Pam: Noah, she's one of us. You start down this path, where does it end?
Vosen: It ends when we've won.5
Vosen: "It ends when we've won".
Research Questions
According to these Special Operation officers, the intelligence service has turned over all
means of power to the Special Operations. The Special Operations is allowed to define its way
of work by itself. That is the basis for my research questions:
C 0:51:00. The discussion is described in details below in the section "Internal Power Plays in the
Special Operations Section"
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1. Has the management of the intelligence service taken any precaution against the
Special Operations' possible abuse of its accumulated power?
2. Has the management taken precaution against internal power plays?
3. Is the Special Operations allowed to define not only its way of work, but also the
desirable outcome?
Assassinations, Power Plays and the Special Interest
Rules and Regulations of Assassination
Assassination is an organized form of murder, the killing of an individual, named person. The
killing is done by an assassin who is motivated by his relation to an organization, not by his
relation to the subject. If the police or other parties want to find the murderer by looking at
the motive, they cannot find any connection between the subject and the assassin unless they
know of the conspiracy. That makes the assassin hard to find. There are a number of
characteristics:
1. Murder is illegal. This is a general rule all over the world, for example in the sixth
commandment: "You shall not murder". Police and military forces may be allowed to
use violence, but are not allowed to kill named individuals without legal, public
proceedings.
2. The assassination is done by an organization, not by an individual. There are three
roles in this conspiracy: An assassin, an officer in command, and their middlemen.
3. All conspirators know that the murder is illegal. They choose to break the universal
rule to obtain a special interest.
4. All conspirators know that to protect themselves and their organization they must keep
the murder secret. If the connection is revealed, both the assassin and the other
members of the organization may be prosecuted for murder. The organization's rules
and practices will enforce the secrecy.
5. To obtain a neutral, professional handling of the murder, the victim is called a target or
subject and the assassin is called an asset.6
All conspirators taking part in an assassination are guilty of both murder and of keeping their
murder conspiracy secret. They are using two sources of organizational power described below:
• All participants are aware that they escape the restriction that they must not kill (1.
Rules and regulations), and
• All participants know that they must keep their deeds secret, or they will risk
prosecution (2. Control of knowledge and information)
Gareth Morgan: Images of Organization
In 1986 Gareth Morgan published Images of Organization where he is using various
metaphors to scrutinize our perceptions of organization.7 One of them he calls "The Political
System Metaphor": To view an organization as based on the members' fight for their special
interests.
Power plays: An organization's politics is most clearly manifest during the conflicts and power
plays that sometimes takes place openly, and the rest of the time in the many smaller
intrigues in any organizational activity. Morgan's definition:
Examples: C 0:11:20 and C 0:48:40: "Give the asset subject location. and the route between the
subject's hotel and the bank"
7
Gareth Morgan 1997: Images of Organization, 2nd ed., Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.
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"Organizational politics arise when people think differently and want to act differently."8
Conflict will always be present in organizations. Whatever the reason, and whatever form it
takes, its source rests in some perceived or real divergence of interests. Morgan cites Tom
Burns for the opinion that most modern organizations actually encourage organizational
politics because they are designed as systems of simultaneous competition and collaboration.
People must work together, and they fight each other over resources and career
advancements. The conflicts are symbolized in."... the hierarchical organization chart, which
is both a system of cooperation and a career ladder that people are motivated to climb."9
An organization embraces several rationalities – rationality is always interest based and
changes according to the perspective. The metaphor helps explore the myth of organizational
rationality. The questions one should always ask:
• Rational, efficient, and effective for whom?
• Whose goals are being pursued?
• What interests are being served?10
Sources of Organizational Power
The result of a conflict will mostly depend on the power relations between the actors involved.
The actor who has the most power wins. But what is power? Morgan defines power in an
ambiguous way, as both a resource and a relationship:
• Source: An asymmetrical pattern of dependence, and
• Relationship: An ability to define the reality of others in ways that lead them to
perceive and enact relations that one desires11
Here is a list of sources of power in organizations. Out of Gareth Morgan's 14 sources I have
selected the eight that I consider the most important12:
1. Rules and regulations are often used in power plays related to autonomy or
interdependence. The actors both seek to impose rules on others and to escape restricting
consequences on their own behalf. And rules are also there to protect their creators.
2. Control of knowledge and information: If people define a situation as real, it is real in its
consequences. Power falls to the person who can structure attention and define the decisionmaking process. This is the place for lies and half truths.13
3. Formal authority: Formal, bureaucratic authority is typically associated with the position
one holds. However, formal authority is only effective if it is legitimized from below. The
formal leader can set the rules.. The formal leader is often using both 1. Rules and regulations
and 4. Management of meaning.
4. Management of meaning: Leadership involves an ability to define the reality of others. All
leaders must be aware of the power of evocative imagery and should give a great deal of
attention to the impact of what they say and do. This is valid for both formal and informal
leaders.
Morgan 1997 p. 160
Morgan 1997 p. 167 f., quoting Tom Burns 1961: "Micropolitics: Mechanisms of Organizational
Change." Administrative Science Quarterly 6: 257-281.
10
Morgan 1997 p. 209
11
Morgan 1997 p. 199
12
In the appendix is a list of all 14 sources, including page numbers in Morgan 1997.
13
Morgan 1997 p. 179 f, possibly inspired by this early work: Gibson Burrell and Gareth Morgan 1979:
"Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis", London and Exeter: NH. Heinemann
8
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5. Networks and alliances: Successful networking and coalition building both involves winning
friends and pacifying potential enemies. This is the place for the common people who want to
exchange one favour for another.
6. Control of scarce resources: If the resource is in scarce supply and someone is dependent on
it, it can be translated into power. This is an interesting fact for managers that have access to
uncommitted resources that can be used in a discretionary way.
7. Control of decision processes: Here Gareth Morgan distinguishes between three elements:
• Decision premises: "Many of these unobtrusive controls are 'cultural' in the sense that
they are built into organizational assumptions, beliefs, and practices about 'who we
are' and 'the way we do things around here.'"
• Decision-making processes are more visible. "The ground rules to guide decision
making are thus important variables that organization members can manipulate and
use to stack the deck in favor of or against a given action."
• Decision issues and objectives depending on eloquence, command of the facts,
eagerness, etc.
8. Control of boundaries: Boundaries are here the interface between different elements of the
organization. Many people in positions as a secretary, etc. may be able to acquire more power
than their formal status suggest, simply by determining who will have access to the boss.
Method Problems
Everything becomes political when we use the political metaphor. It is almost always possible
to see signs of political activity. Everything turns into power plays, and we can hardly imagine
other ways of regarding the organization. 14
Although the language of organizational theory often presents ideas relating to organizational
politics in relatively neutral terms they are by no means as neutral as they seem.15 Here are
some of the problems:
• Is it a general interest or a special interest? It is difficult to say, because it is always
the winners that are writing the history, and they will tell that the decision was
according to the general interest.
• Power is shown when someone acts openly, but mostly the powerful prefers not to show
his power: "One of the surprising things one discovers in talking with members of an
organization is that hardly anyone will admit to having any real power."16
• "The actor who has the most power wins" This is a truism – you cannot use it to tell
who will win until after the battle. It is very difficult to tell who has power unless they
use it openly.
• And, in general, organizational politics is a taboo subject, which makes it difficult for
the members to deal with this part of the organizational reality17
Fiction and reality: I am well aware that these Universal Picture films are fiction, not reality,
and that the film action stories are not true in any absolute sense. All three films have been
major commercial successes. A lot of people have bought cinema tickets and videos, because
they wanted to be entertained by a story with at least some kind of connection to reality.
Universal Pictures have chosen to describe the fiction by expressly mentioning the CIA,
Morgan 1997 p. 209 ff.
Morgan 1997 p. 160
16
Morgan 1997 p. 196
17
Morgan 1997 p. 209
14
15
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showing the CIA headquarters in Langley, etc. – not using any disclaimer warning that this is
fiction and should not be connected to any real person or organization.18
I will make that disclaimer: This should not be connected to any real person or organization.
But then I have also second thoughts:
1. Unavoidably, the description in the films may look like real-life CIA, but I do not know
whether that is correct.
2. It depends on the context. Here, the context is three films about a clandestine
intelligence organization19.
3. The intelligence organization's work may be interesting, but by definition we do not
know what goes on
4. We can use fiction to imagine what may be going on.
5. I regard the surveillance methods described in the Bourne films as realistic.
Somewhere in the world there are intelligence services using the same surveillance
methods as in these films.
6. There may also exist Special Operation sections using assassination schemes as
described.
In my analysis I have chosen to describe the actions in the Jason Bourne films as a case study
– but don't forget that this is fiction!
Introduction to the Analysis
In the following sections I analyze selected examples of the Treadstone and Blackbriar
Operations starting from within:
1. Corruption – using a position of trust for dishonest gain
2. Internal power plays in the Special Operations section
3. Actions against Jason Bourne
4. External surveillance and actions
Corruption – using a Position of Trust for Dishonest Gain
I have chosen to go into detail with the films' description of corruption in the intelligence
service. I consider that the most obvious example of power play. Here is a group fighting for its
personal interests and against the service's common interests.
The case of corruption was set up by Deputy Director Ward Abbott and Special Operations
officer Alexander Conklin. Abbott and Conklin supplied the Russian Yuri Gretkov with
information so that he could get hold of $20 million owned by CIA. Gretkov bought cheap oil
leases for the money and is now one of the richest men in Russia. Pamela Landy has found
what probably was Conklin's share, $760.000, on his Swiss bank account. According to what
Gretkov tells Abbott at the end of the second film, also Abbott had his generous reward.
The Assassination of the Russian Politician Vladimir Neski
In the second and third film Deputy Director Pamela Landy is working as detective or
financial reviewer in the CIA.
Jason Bourne's first task was to kill the liberal, Russian reformist politician Vladimir Neski.
Neski was an outspoken critic of Russian oil privatization and condemned corruption.20
On the contrary, Universal Pictures includes a quite different disclaimer on the DVDs, only dealing
with the extra material: "Any views or opinions expressed in interviews or commentary are those of the
individuals speaking and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Universal Pictures
International, its parent, or any of its affiliates or employees."
19
As described above by Morgan: If people define a situation as real, it is real in its consequences.
20
B 0:58:02, newspaper headlines
18
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Bourne was monitored by Special Operations Officer Alexander Conklin: This is a live project
and you are go. We'll see you on the other side. And after the task: Congratulations, soldier.
Training is over.21 This assassination was not registered in Bourne's file.
When Pamela Landy visited the hotel room after Bourne nearly was arrested there, she told: I
recognise this room from a photo.22 Pamela Landy were investigating signs of Conklin being
corrupt, and Jason Bourne's first assassination ever was not a regular CIA task but was a
cover-up for the $20 million that disappeared.
In the following, Pamela Landy is in a meeting with the CIA Director Martin Marshall,
Director of Operations Ward Abbott and others in Langley. Ward Abbott is defending Conklin:
Pam: Seven years ago, $20 million of CIA funds disappeared during a wire transfer through
Moscow. In the investigation that followed, we were contacted by a Russian politician,
Vladimir Neski. Neski claimed we had a leak and we'd been ripped off by one of our own. ...
We never found out. We were negotiating a meeting with mr. Neski when he was killed.
Marty: By who?
Pam: His wife. The case had gone cold until we found a source, another Russian in Berlin, who
claimed to have access to the Neski files. We thought we had another bite at the apple. Turns
out he assassin was one of our own – Jason Bourne. I know Treadstone's not a very popular
subject here around, but we found some interesting things when we dug a little deeper. This is
Conklin's personal computer. His Treadstone files are bloated with code keys and case files
that he had no clearance for. Buried in the hard drive we found a deleted file with an account
number to a bank in Zurich. At the time of his death, he had a personal account in the amount
of $760.000.
Abbott: You know what his budget was? We were throwing money at him. Throwing them at
him and asking him to keep it going.
Pam: It was his own account. He was up to something23.
Ward Abbott killing Danny Zorn
Later in the second film Pamela Landy orders Danny Zorn to review the buy in the beginning
of the second film where she lost the Neski files again. Zorn shows Abbott how Bourne's
fingerprint on the electric wiring probably is an attempt to frame Bourne. Abbott does not
want Zorn's findings to be known, so he kills Zorn:
B 1:00:14 and B 1:04:06, in flashbacks
B 1:10:07
23
B 0:26:15
21
22
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Danny Zorn: I wanted to show you before I show Landy
Zorn: My box work's done, but I wanted to show you before I show Landy. I came down here
last night because none of this makes sense. Conklin was a nut. But a traitor? I just can't get
there.
Abbott: What do you have, Danny?
Zorn: All right. You put a four-gram Kel on here, it's gonna take out power to the building.
Two charges were supposed to go off. The second one, the one over here, didn't go off. Firstly,
this is nothing. It's a sub-line for the breaker above. Secondly, why put the charge all the way
down here? If you're good enough to get in here, you'd know you don't need this. Bourne would
know.
Abbott: It was staged?
Zorn: Is it a slam dunk? No. But what if somebody were covering their tracks by blaming
Conklin and Bourne? What if Bourne didn't have anything to do with this?
Abbott nods: Show me again.
Zorn: All right: Well you put ...[Abbott breaks the neck of Zorn, turns off the light, and
leaves.]24
Ward Abbott revealed by Jason Bourne
Later the same day Abbott looks very tired. He enters his hotel room and calls his conspirator
Yuri Gretkov in Moscow. This is a connection not known so far.
Gretkov: Da
Abbott: It's me. They're onto Neski.
Gretkov: This is not a clean phone
Abbott: They can't prove anything without Bourne. Kill Bourne and you kill this investigation.
Gretkov: I'm afraid Ward, the time has come for us to part company.
Abbott: Listen Yuri, you bought those oil leases with 20 million in stolen CIA seed money. You
owe me.
Gretkov: I gave you your cut. We both got rich. I don't owe you anything.
Abbott: The plan can still be salvaged. Just get Bourne. You hear me? He's still out there. Get
Jason ...
The call is disconnected by Gretkov. Bourne appears from the back of the hotel room.
Abbott: I don't suppose it would do me much good to cry for help?
Bourne: Not much. You killed her.
Abbott: It was a mistake. It was supposed to be you. There were files linking me to the Neski
murder. If the files disappeared and they suspected you, they'd be chasing a ghost for 10
years.
Bourne: So he got in the way. Is that why Neski died? Is that why you killed Marie?
Abbott: You killed Marie ... the minute you climbed into her car. The minute you entered her
life, she was dead.
Bourne uses his gun to push Abbott down on the table.
Bourne: I told you people to leave us alone. I fell off the grid. I was halfway around the world.
Abbott: There's no place it won't catch up to you. It's how every story ends. It's what you are,
Jason. A killer. You always will be. [wishing to be dead] Go ahead, go on, Go on! Do it! Do it!
Bourne: She wouldn't want me to. That's the only reason you're alive.25
24
25
B 0:58:43
B 1:11:17
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Bourne leaves the room with the dialogue recorded on a dictaphone. He leaves behind a gun
for Abbott.
A little later, Pamela Landy enters Abbott's hotel room. She suspects that he killed Zorn.
Abbott: I'm a patriot. I served my country.
Pam: And Danny Zorn? What was he?
Abbott: Unlucky. Collateral damage.
Pam: So what do we do now?
Abbott: I'm not sorry. [He commits suicide with Bourne's gun]26
Analysis of the Power Play
The two trusted officers Abbott and Conklin use their knowledge in a dishonest way to get a
share of the $.20 million. As expressed by Gretkov: I gave you your cut. We both got rich.
Later, they proceed the same way by ordering Jason Bourne to kill the witness Vladimir Neski
before he met CIA officials.
Abbott and Conklin fight for their special interests, which are not in the interest of the
organization. Primarily they avoid their 3. Formal authority towards their superiors.
Instead, they use three kinds of organizational power for the betrayal:
• 2. Control of knowledge and information: Abbott and Conklin knew that the money was
on its way to Moscow, and they used this knowledge to let it disappear.
• 5. Networks and alliances: Abbott and Conklin conspire with Gretkov. They exchange
one favour for another.27
• 6. Control of scarce resources: Conklin is an operations officer and can order Bourne to
kill those Conklin wants to be killed – even without registering it in the files.
Towards his subordinate Bourne, Conklin uses two other kinds of organizational power:
• 3. Formal authority: Conklin orders Bourne to kill Neski. Bourne accepts readily.28
• 4. Management of meaning, example:
Conklin: This is a live project and you are go. We'll see you on the other side.
[After the killing:]
Conklin: Congratulations, soldier. Training is over.29
Further:
• Ward Abbott kills Danny Zorn to avoid that Zorn's findings will be known. That is yet
another attempt to control knowledge and information.
• Neski is described as an outspoken critic of Russian oil privatization that condemned
corruption30. He is exactly that kind of politician that all Western governments would
love to cooperate with – meaning that the corrupt CIA officers kill the political ally of
their government. This could be an example of Problem 2 from the introduction: When
the Special Operations define its way of work by itself, it will soon also define the
desirable outcome by itself.
B 1:14:20
Morgan 1997 p. 186
28
Morgan 1997 p. 172 f.
29
B 1:00:14 and B 1:04:06, in flashbacks
30
B 0:58:02, newspaper headlines
26
27
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Internal Power Plays in the Special Operations Section
The Assassination of Nykwana Wombosi
A meeting in the senior staff in Central Intelligence Agency, Langley, Virginia. Director of
Operations Ward Abbott is among the participants. The chairman shows a video with an
angry man speaking in incomprehensible English.
Chairman: That's Nykwana Wombosi speaking in Paris the day before yesterday. He was an
irritation before he took power, a problem when he was in power, and he's been a disaster for
us in exile. ... He wants us to put him back in power in six months, or else. ... This interview,
and I'll make the tape available to whoever wants it, he goes on to claim that he's just
survived an assassination attempt. He says it's us. He says he's got proof. The Director wants
to know if there's any truth in this accusation. I'v already assured him there's nobody that
reckless on my senior staff.31
Later, Special Operations Director Conklin's superior, Director of Operations Ward Abbott,
complains about Conklin's lack of progress. He is responsible to the oversight committee.
Conklin responds angrily by telling that both of them are in trouble, not only Conklin:
Abbott: You said 24 hours, and he's not back.
Conklin: No, but we've got a good idea where he is.
Abbott: You've got a black ops agent who's off the reservation. He trashed an American
consulate. He's on the run somewhere in Europe. You don't know why. I got to stand before an
oversight committee. What will I say about Treadstone?
Conklin, angrily: You're worried about a budget meeting? We don't take care of this, we don't
make it to the men's room. Now, is that clear enough for you? We will burn for this. We will
both of us burn.32
Conklin is in problems. He wants to gain time against questions about Bourne from Abbott
and everybody else in the CIA. He orders Assassin no. 2, the Professor, to kill Nykwana
Wombosi. Originally, it was Bourne's task to do so. Abbott hears about Wombosi's death and
shows up at Conklin's office. Conklin lies to Abbott:
Abbott: Wombosi was assassinated in his house in the middle of Paris.
Conklin: Yeah, we just heard. It's him. It's Bourne. We're almost positive. He had an
assignment. He failed. He obviously felt compelled to finish the task. [Lie]
Abbott: Jesus.
Conklin: We think he'll come back in now. I mean, it's routine. It's like behavioural software.
He's following a protocol. Now that he's completed the mission, we think he'll come back in.
They always do. [Lie]33
A 0:11:26
A 1:13:52
33
A 1:03:50
31
32
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Conklin lies to Abbott
Ward Abbott turns to Danny Zorn, who is forced to lie – or must tell Abbott that Conklin lies:
Abbott: When? How long till he checks in?
Zorn: 24 hours ... Yeah, it's usually something like that. [Lie]
Zorn forced to lie to Abbott
Analysis of the Power Play
It is obvious that the former African president is a problem for the United States. He wants to
make a deal with the US government so that he can take the power in his country again. If
not, he will reveal the US government's former deeds. Wombozi has chosen a dangerous,
blackmailing position. If he is lucky and the US government helps him into power, then how
can the Americans be sure that he will not later:
1. Use the same secret in yet another deal with the US government
2. Use the same secret in a deal with somebody else
3. Publish the secret
In general, CIA would like Wombosi to be dead, but without being connected with his death.
Regarded from the inside of CIA, Wombosi's death is not part of the power play – it is not any
CIA employee's special interest. But Conklin's reason to let Assassin no. 2 kill Nykwana
Wombosi is his special interest: He wants to show progress in the case of the disappeared
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Bourne. To gain advantage of the killing, Conklin must lie to Abbott. Ward Abbott turns to
Danny Zorn, who is forced to lie – or must tell Abbott that Conklin lies.
Conklin uses three kinds of organizational power:
• 6. Control of scarce resources: Conklin orders Assassin no. 2 to kill Wombosi.
• 2. Control of knowledge and information: Conklin uses the death of Wombosi to make
Abbott and others believe that Bourne still is working for the CIA.
• 3. Formal authority: Conklin avoids his own duty to speak the truth to his sperior, but
forces his subordinate Zorn to lie.
The Assassination of Special Operations Director Alexander Conklin
In the end of the first film Director of Operations Ward Abbott makes a decision without
consulting Conklin: To let the assassin no. 3 kill Abbott's subordinate Conklin.
Abbott explained his reason in the middle of the film:
Abbott: You've got a black ops agent who's off the reservation. He trashed an American
consulate. He's on the run somewhere in Europe. You don't know why. I got to stand before an
oversight committee. What will I say about Treadstone?34
Abbott starts his action immediately after Conklin has messed up the operation by losing the
contact to Bourne at the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris:
• A 1:34:00: Assassin no. 3, Manheim from Hamburg, lying in a hotel room. His cell
phone beeps.
• A 1:34:52 Assassin no. 3 arrives in an airport in Paris
• A 1:43:34 Conklin leaves the safe house and limps along the street. Assassin no. 3 is
sitting in a car. He is mounting a silencer on a large pistol. When Conklin approaches,
the assassin shoots him.
Conklin shot by Assassin no. 3
Right after Conklin's death Ward Abbott and Danny Zorn terminates the whole Treadstone
project:
Zorn: It's done.
Abbott: Shut it down.35
34
35
A 1:23:52
A 1:44:37
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Zorn and Abbott terminates Treadstone after Conklin's death
In the second film Deputy Director Pamela Landy tries to find out what happened to the $20
million that disappeared in Berlin several years earlier. Some evidence is suggesting a
connection to the closed and very unpopular Operation Treadstone. In one of the top secret
files it is described that Conklin was killed in action.
Deputy Director Pamela Landy interviews Director of Operations Ward Abbott about
Conklin's death. Abbott is reluctant, because "Nobody wants to know about Treadstone".
Abbott describes the problem very precisely: "Conklin couldn't fix it, couldn't find Bourne,
couldn't ajust." Pamela Landy proposes that Abbott arranged the death of Conklin. Abbott
neither confirms nor denies the killing, but justifies it by saying "It had to be done":
Pam: Operation Treadstone.
Abbott: Never heard of it.
Pam: That won't fly.
Abbott: With all due respect, Ma'am, I think you've wandered past your pay grade.
Pam [showing a letter]: This is a warrant from the marshal36 granting me unrestricted access
to all personnel materials associated with Treadstone.
Abbott: So, what are we looking at?
36
Landy is playing with words: "the marshal" is CIA Director Martin Marshall.
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Pam: I wanna know about it.
Abbott: Know about it? It was a kill squad. Black on black. We closed it down two years ago.
Nobody wants to know about Treadstone. Not around here. So I think you'd better take this
back to Marty and let him know exactly what you're doing.
Pam: He does. I've been down to the archives. I have the files, Ward. ... Let's talk about
Conklin.
Abbott: What are you after, Pam? Do you wanna fry me? You want my desk, is that it?
Pam: I wanna know what happened.
Abbott: What happened? Jason Bourne happened. You got the files. Then let's cut the crap.
Conklin had these guys wound so tight they were bound to snap. Bourne was his number one.
The guy went for a job, screwed the op, never came back. Conklin couldn't fix it, couldn't find
Bourne, couldn't adjust. It all went sideways.
Pam: So you had Conklin killed? I mean, if we're cutting the crap.
Abbott: I've given 30 years and two marriages to this agency. I'm due to retire next year but if
you think I'm gonna sit here and let you dangle me with this, you can go to hell. And Marshall
too. It had to be done.37
Abbott: "Never heard of it."
Analysis of the Power Play
I. The assassination: Director of Operations Ward Abbott uses three kinds of organizational
power:
• 6. Control of scarce resources: Abbott orders Assassin no. 3 to kill Conklin.
• 3. Formal authority: Abbott closes the whole Operation Treadstone because of lack of
success and a threatening scandal. That is a decision that anybody in CIA could agree
with, if asked. But Abbott's decision to let Conklin die is clearly a part of the internal
power play. Conklin would disagree if he had been asked his opinion.
• 2. Control of knowledge and information: Abbott disguises his decision and makes it
look like Conklin were killed in action by some unknown perpetrator.
II. The interview: Pamela Landy interviews Abbott about Treadstone. Abbott is perfectly right
in his description "Conklin couldn't fix it, couldn't find Bourne, couldn't ajust". But the rest of
the interview is a complicated power play:
1. Abbott denies knowledge of Operation Treadstone
2. Abbott proposes condescending that Landy has wandered past her pay grade and
proposes her to go back to the CIA Director
37
B 0:23:47
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3. Abbott tells that Treadstone is a very unpopular topic: Nobody wants to know about
Treadstone. Not around here.
4. Abbott accuses Landy of desiring his desk
5. Abbott encourages Landy to cut the crap
In the interview Abbott uses three kinds of organizational power:
• 2. Control of knowledge and information: Denying knowledge of Treadstone.
• 3. Formal authority – but not used as a superior. Abbott several times tells Landy that
she should go to the CIA Director for support – meaning that Landy cannot force him
by her formal authority herself.
• 7. Control of decision processes: (1) Abbott is cleverly using a cultural control by
informing her about the company's culture: Nobody wants to know about Treadstone.
Not around here. (2) Abbott accuses Landy of talking nonsense: Then let's cut the crap.
Further,
• Abbott neither confirms nor denies the killing, but justifies it by saying "It had to be
done": He ends the interview with a lie, a threat, and a justification: "I've given 30
years and two marriages to this agency. I'm due to retire next year but if you think I'm
gonna sit here and let you dangle me with this, you can go to hell. And Marshall too. It
had to be done".
• Abbott is not talking about his own power, but accuses Landy of using power to obtain
his desk. "Do you wanna fry me? You want my desk, is that it?" That is a clever use of
Morgan's statement that mostly the powerful prefers not to show his power.
• The "given 30 years" is a lie, because Abbott has not given the 30 years to CIA only. He
is corrupt and has ordered the death of Vladimir Neski to protect himself. He is very
reluctant in this interview because he still needs to cover himself. At this moment he
thinks that Bourne has been killed in Goa, but there are still files linking him to the
Neski murder38.
Pamela Landy in turn uses two kinds of organizational power in a straightforward way:
• 3. Formal authority. Landy is using the CIA Director's warrant to make Abbott talk.
• 7. Control of decision processes: Landy proposes that Abbott had Conklin killed, "I
mean, if we're cutting the crap". She is well prepared and even playing with Abbott's
words.
Newspeak for the Oversight Committee
Director of Operations Ward Abbott's ability to define the decision premises is brilliantly
shown in the end of the first film where Treadstone disappears and is re-born under the new
name Blackbriar:
38
B 1:11:17
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Zorn and Abbott before the oversight committee
Abbott: The Treadstone project has already been terminated. It was designed primarily as a
sort of advanced game program. We'd hoped it might build into a good training platform. But
quite honestly, for a strictly theoretical exercise the cost benefit ratio was just too high. It's all
but decommissioned at this point.
The Marshall: All right, what's next?
Abbott and the oversight committee
Abbott: Okay, this is ... Blackbriar. Blackbriar is a joint DOD communications program that
we really feel has good traction to it. It's got legs. It'll run and run. It combines elements of
proactive and reactive fields of security ...39
Analysis of the Power Play
Abbott uses three kinds of organizational power
• 3. Formal authority. The committee is informed that the Treadstone project has
already been closed. The committee is not asked what should be decided.
• 2. Control of knowledge and information: (1) It is true that "the cost benefit ratio was
just too high". (2) It is misleading to regard a killing squad as "a strictly theoretical
39
A 1:45:20
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•
exercise". (3) It is misleading to make the committee believe that Blackbriar is
something else than the closed Treadstone project.
7. Control of decision processes: Here Abbott is cleverly using all Morgan's three kinds
of control of decision processes: (1) Decision premises "The way we do around here". (2)
Decision making processes, guiding decision making by stacking the deck. (3) Decision
issues and objectives: Eloquence, command of the facts, etc.
The oversight committee is not informed that this is a killing squad. Maybe the committee
does not want to know, if asked.
The Assassination of Station Chief Neal Daniels
In film three the Madrid CIA station chief, Neal Daniels, commits treason by talking to the
reporter Simon Ross. Daniels empties his safe and escapes when he learns that Ross is killed.
Noah Vosen explains to Pamela Landy:
Vosen: He ran all of our operations in southern Europe and North Africa, so he has
everything. Names, dates, ghost sites, who's cooperating with us abroad. Every operation. You
want that stuff in Bourne's hands, out on the market to the highest bidder? I don't think so.40
The Blackbriar Operation tracks Daniels' passports and finds him in Tangier, Morocco, i.e. he
has fled from Spain by ferry.41. Pamela Landy's assistant Tom Cronin tells her the next
morning that Noah Vosen probably has CIA Director Ezra Kramer's accept to kill Daniels:
Cronin: They've just tracked Daniel's passport to a hotel in Tangier. They're holding up a
bank transfer he made to keep him in place while they bring an asset up from Casablanca.
Pam: They're gonna take him out?42
Pamela Landy calls the Director to stop this assassination, but the Director does not want to
know:
Kramer: Yeah
Woman: It's Pam Landy. She says it's urgent.
Kramer: Tell her I'm unavailable.
The woman: Yes, sir.
Noah Vosen has a surveillor on the street outside Daniels' hotel in Tangier, he is listening on
Daniel's room telephone, and Assassin no. 7, Desh Bouksan, is on his way to the bank.
C 0:42:18 – the same scene as where Vosen explains Pam about Operation Blackbriar.
C 0:35:29. Noah Vosen: "Track Daniel's passports". Passports are in plural, i.e. Daniels has more than
one passport, probably all of them supplied by the CIA.
42
C 0:47:16. Vosen is telling CIA Director Kramer "We have found Daniels"
40
41
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CIA's computer screen with a real-time monitoring of the assassin and his target in Tangier.
Everything is ready to let the bank release the funds and let the assassin kill Daniels, but
suddenly Mike Wills finds out:
Wills: Sir, we have an unauthorised breach. Someone with active system knowledge
penetrated our protocol. Instructions were sent to the asset at 1411 local time. Trace is
confirmed and valid. It came from a computer belonging to Nicky Parsons.
Vosen: ... When we're finished with Daniels, send the asset after her.
Man: Yes, sir.
Vosen: We find Parsons, we find Bourne.43
Pamela Landy protests against this sudden death sentence:
Pam: Noah, what are you doing?
Vosen: Not now.
Pam: I wanna know what's going on.
Vosen: I said not now.
Pam [sharply]: What basis are you continuing this operation on?
Vosen: On the basis that Nicky Parsons has compromised a covert operation. She's up to her
neck in this!
Pam: This is about Daniels, not Nicky!
Vosen: She has betrayed us.
Pam: You don't know the circumstances, Noah.
Vosen: She's in league with Jason Bourne, for Christ's sake!
Pam: You do not have the authority to kill her!
Vosen: Oh, yes, I do. And you had better get on board.
Pam: Noah, she's one of us. You start down this path, where does it end?
Vosen: It ends when we've won.
43
C 0:51:00
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Vosen: "It ends when we've won". Behind him is the photo of his newest target, Nicky Parsons.
Pamela leaves the larger office in protest. Vosen repeats his order:
Vosen: When we're finished with Daniels, send the asset after them.
Man: Yes, sir. ... Two minutes, sir
Vosen: Tell the bank to release the funds ...
Desh releases the bomb that kills Daniels. Bourne is hit as well, but is able to escape from the
police. Desh pursues Nicky through the narrow streets of the Kasbah quarter. Bourne is in the
same area, saves Nicky and kills Desh after a long fight. Bourne finds Desh's phone and hands
it to Nicky, saying "Code it in. We need to be dead."
Brian: Sir? Asset confirms both targets are down.44
In the CIA headquarters there is a shameful, unbelieving silence. Maybe the team is thinking
about the Nicky that they knew, and whom they killed.
Vosen [to Wills]: I wanna be sure about this. Ask the station chief from Rabat to confirm the
deaths and do a sub-rosa collection of the bodies. I want to tie this thing off completely. And
keep an eye on Landy.
This means that Noah Vosen is conspiring against Pamela Landy. Vosen calls CIA Director
Kramer telling:
Vosen: Bourne and Nicky Parsons are dead.
Kramer: You sure about that?
Vosen: Our station chief in Rabat is confirming.
Kramer: I can't afford to have this come back to me.
Vosen: Don't worry. You're protected.
Kramer: Just remember why we put Landy there. If Blackbriar goes south, we'll roll it up,
hang it around her neck and start over.
Not only Noah Vosen, but also Ezra Kramer is conspiring against Pamela Landy. Later, the
station chief from Rabat discovers that it is Desh that is dead, not Bourne and Nicky.
44
C 1:06:41
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Analysis of the Power Play
I. The assassination of Daniels: Daniels is committing treason by talking to the reporter
Simon Ross about Treadstone. He is scared and disappears with all of the secrets from his
safe. He can claim a trial, but as a high-ranking intelligence officer he cannot expect much of
the case to be open to the public. Under certain circumstances he might not be guilty, but
could be regarded as a whistleblower by going public with his knowledge about the illegal
Treadstone assassinations.
CIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen uses two kinds of organizational power for the
assassination:
• 3. Formal authority: Vosen makes an unofficial agreement with CIA Director Kramer.
and uses his formal authority to implement the assassination of Station Chief Neal
Daniels.
• 6. Control of scarce resources: Abbott orders Assassin no. 7 to kill Daniels and is using
all of the usual surveillance powers, this time in Morocco.
The equally ranking CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy is against this assassination. She
uses:
• 3. Formal authority: Landy calls her superior, CIA Director Kramer, to make him stop
Vosen, without success.
• 1. Rules and regulations: Landy wants Kramer to stop Vosen, because Vosen is not
authorised to kill Daniels.
The CIA Director Ezra Kramer uses:
• 8. Control of boundaries: Landy calls Kramer to make him stop the operation. Kramer
tells his secretary: "Tell her I'm unavailable". This is ostrich policy; if he does not know
of the planned assassination, he cannot be accused for not having stopped it.
II. The assassination attempt of Nicky: Then there is an unauthorised breach. Nicky Parson's
computer is interfering in the operation. Noah Vosen decides immediately that it is Nicky
herself that is guilty of compromising the operation, and he is immediately issuing a death
sentence: "When we're finished with Daniels, send the asset after her".
Initially, Noah Vosen uses the same two kinds of organizational power again:
• 3. Formal authority: Vosen tries to use his formal authority to let Nicky kill.
• 6. Control of scarce resources: Abbott orders Assassin no. 7 to kill Nicky.
Pamela Landy is objecting to Vosen's knowledge of the circumstances, Vosen's authority to
order the assassination, and to whether Vosen will ever stop killing his own personnel. In this
attack Landy uses a combination of 7. Control of decision processes and 1. Rules and
regulations to destroy Vosen's 3. Formal authority.
In the short run Vosen is the winner. Pamela leaves the office in protest. All other employees
are watching her – meaning that everybody is aware that it is doubtful:
• Whether Noah Vosen knows Nicky's circumstances
• Whether Vosen has the authority, and
• Whether Vosen will ever stop killing Blackbriar personnel
Actually, Nicky has eloped with Bourne. She broke into the computer network because she has
changed side from supporting Operation Blackbriar to support Bourne instead. Her loyalty
according to the 3. Formal authority was only effective as long as she accepted it. Instead, she
uses two other organizational powers45:
45
A bit like the corrupt officers Abbott and Conklin – except that Nicky's breach of loyalty is obvious.
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•
•
5. Networks and alliances: Instead of obeying her seniors, she and Bourne join forces.
2. Control of knowledge and information: She uses her computer and her knowledge to
interfere with the assassination of Daniels.
III. Aftermath. After the message with the deaths of Daniels, Nicky and Bourne, Vosen and
Wills are conspiring against Landy. Kramer is also a part of the conspiracy against Pamela
Landy. Vosen, Wills, and Kramer uses 5. Networks and alliances for a 2. Control of knowledge
and information instead of following the 1. Rules and regulations.
"A National Security Situation"
In the third film Deputy Director Noah Vosen is feeling the threat of having Jason Bourne
around. Two times he declares it a national security emergency:
• C 0:28:05 - Vosen about the Waterloo station assassination: We had a leak. A serious
national security situation. Bourne showed up on our surveillance and we had very
little time to react.
• C 1:15:37 - Vosen at the New York office: People, listen up! This is a national security
emergency. We have an imminent threat.
Simon Ross had already written about Blackbriar and Jason Bourne in The Guardian, so CIA
could not just kill Ross and then hope that nothing would be published. Bourne did show up at
Waterloo Station, yes, but Wills had activated Assassin no. 6 long time before CIA knew that
Jason Bourne was present. And what is the imminent threat for national security by having a
hostile agent near the New York office? When you choose an office building with large
windows in the middle of New York, you give up the idea of totally clandestine operations. The
solution to the national security situation is to move out of the city, for example to Langley.
During the hunt for Bourne through New York, Noah Vosen wants secure perimeters
everywhere:
• C 1:15:37 - Jason Bourne is alive and is at large in New York City, and, we believe,
within 1,000 yards of this building. I want an immediate 12-block lockdown of the area.
Send a flash message to Langley. Prep for local backup assistance.
• C 1:21:11 [Returning to the office] God damn it! All right, set a four-block perimeter
around the building. I want the entire building searched. Every room, every hallway,
every closet, every goddamn air duct. You understand? I want him found!
• C 1:30:22 [At the CIA Training Facility] All right, lock this building down. Set a secure
perimeter of one block.
Vosen: Set a four-block perimeter around the building.
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The recurrent declarations of national security emergency are parts of a power play in the
sense that Vosen is using his authority to lead and motivate his troops. As Bourne is playing
hide-and-seek through Manhattan, Vosen wants secure perimeters everywhere.
There is neither time nor personnel for such extensive security measures. Noah Vosen is
loosing his grip, because Bourne is too quick for him. This is not a national security
emergency. It is a tired leader of illegal operations who is losing his judgement.
By using his 3. Formal authority, Vosen loses it. Formal authority is only effective if it is
legitimized from below, and the employees' loyalty will soon be gone.
Dr. Hirsch Persuading Bourne
In the third film Jason Bourne is finally reaching the CIA training center in New York where
he was brainwashed away from being Captain David Webb into the assassin Jason Bourne. In
a flashback Bourne remembers how Neal Daniels introduced David Webb to Dr. Hirsch:
Daniels: Captain Webb.
Dr. Hirsch: Good morning, Captain. ... Has everything been explained to you?
Webb/Bourne: Yes, sir. ...
Dr. Hirsch: Your missions will save American lives.
Webb/Bourne: I understand, sir. ...
Dr. Hirsch: When we are finished with you, you will no longer be David Webb.
Webb/Bourne: I'll be whoever you need me to be, sir. ...46
In a later flashback, Dr. Hirsch is talking Bourne into killing an anonymous prisoner in the
corner of the room. Dr. Hirsch is speaking to Bourne as if Bourne was a little boy. In the
corner of the room is a pinioned prisoner ready to be executed by Bourne.
Dr. Hirsch: You came to us. You volunteered. You said you'd do anything it takes to save
American lives. You're not a liar, are you? Or too weak to see this through? This is it. Let go of
David Webb. Really give yourself to this programme.
[Bourne rises and shoots the prisoner]
Dr. Hirsch: You're no longer David Webb. From now on you'll be known as Jason Bourne.
Welcome to the programme.
[Neal Daniels checks the corpse.]47
In these flashbacks, Dr. Hirsch has two main allegations:
1. Bourne was assured he would be saving American lives
2. Bourne chose himself to become Jason Bourne
46
47
C 1:33:43
C 1:36:00
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Dr. Hirsch: You're not a liar, are you?
Now, at the end of the third film, Bourne is confronting Dr. Hirsch:
Bourne: You said I'd be saving American lives.
Dr. Hirsch: You were.
Bourne: I was killing for you. For them.
Dr. Hirsch: You knew exactly what it meant for you if you chose to stay. ... You cannot outrun
what you did, Jason. You made yourself into who you are. Eventually you're gonna have to
face the fact you chose right here to become Jason Bourne. ... Now, do you remember?
Bourne: I remember. I remember everything. I'm no longer Jason Bourne.48
...
Bourne: Why me? Why did you pick me?
Dr. Hirsch: You really don't remember, do you? We didn't pick you. You picked us. You
volunteered. Right here. Even after you were warned.49
Dr. Hirsch uses 4. Management of meaning and 7. Control of decision processes (both decision
premises and decision-making processes) to manipulate Captain Webb to accept the role as
assassin.
Dr. Hirsch maintains his allegations, but that is a questionable defense:
1. Bourne was told he would be saving American lives. That may be true, but Bourne was
talked into the role as assassin, meaning in general he was not saving lives. And
American lives have been disposed of in the Treadstone and Blackbriar operations, at
least Conklin and Daniels.
2. Bourne was told that he chose himself to become Jason Bourne. That is a lie.
Apparently he volunteered, OK, but he was under heavy pressure from a trained
psychologist..
Actions against Jason Bourne
Jason Bourne is the Treadstone Operation's former assassin. He loses his memory while being
hunted off Nykwana Wombosi's yacht, but he has not lost his skills and seems always able to
avoid the Treadstone Operation's attacks on him.
As earlier mentioned:
48
49
C 1:34:31
C 1:32:30
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•
•
All participants are aware that they escape the restriction that they must not kill (1.
Rules and regulations), and
All participants know that they must keep their deeds secret, or they will risk
prosecution (2. Control of knowledge and information)
First Film: Castel and the Professor
In the first film Alexander Conklin sends assassins to kill Bourne as soon as he knows where
Bourne is. The assassins are then killed by Bourne.
Assassin no. 1, Castel, out of Rome. They have Assassin no. 2, the Professor, out of
a struggle. Castel is killed when he jumps
Barcelona. They have a shoot-out, and Bourne
through a window.
kills the Professor.
Conklin is wondering why Bourne does not cover himself against the closed-circuit TV in the
US Embassy in Zurich, and as he watches the video recordings, he expects Bourne to take part
in a power play:
Conklin: Is it a game? Is he warning us? Is it a threat?50
After having killed the Professor, Bourne calls up on the Professor's cell phone. Nicky listens
to the call in Paris. Alexander Conklin, Ward Abbott and Danny Zorn listen in Langley.
Conklin is threatening Bourne: ".. or we'll keep going until we're satisfied". Bourne interprets
into"You mean until you kill me", and Conklin does not deny that interpretation:
Zorn: Code in, please. ... Code in.
Bourne: Who is this? ... Who the hell are you? ... The man you sent is dead. So whoever this is,
you better start talking.
Conklin: Hello Jason. So, what are we into now? ... It only goes two ways, Jason. Either you
come in and let us make this right or we'll keep going until we're satisfied.
Bourne: You mean until you kill me.
Conklin: I can't fix this if I don't know what the problem is. Tell me what we're into, and I'll do
the best I can. ... Why don't you talk to Marie, Jason? Let's ask Marie what she wants to do.
Bourne: Actually I don't think she gives a shit. She's dead. [Lie]
Conklin: I'm sorry to hear that. How did that happen?
50
A 0:30:42
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Bourne: She was slowing me down.
Conklin: Jason, listen, all we've been doing right from ...
Bourne interrupts: Enough. 5:30 p.m. Paris. Today. Pont Neuf. You come alone, you walk to
the middle of that bridge. You take off your jacket. Face east. I'll redial this number. [cuts off
the call]
Conklin: Jason, wait!
At the end of the first film, Bourne meets Conklin at CIA's safe house in Paris. Nicky Parsons
is also present. Bourne keeps Conklin covered. Bourne tells Conklin that he does not want to
be under surveillance and that he feels no responsibility for Conklin's organization anymore,
"I'm on my own side now"
Bourne: Are you Treadstone?
Conklin: Am I Treadstone? Me? What the hell are you talking about? [to Nicky] He's lost it. [to
Bourne] You better start filling in the blanks here! 'Cause I thought we were on the same side.
Bourne: Whose side is that?
Conklin: Boy, you don't know what you're doing, do you? You don't have a goddamn clue!
Bourne: Who am I?
Conklin: You're U.S. government property! You're a malfunctioning $30 million weapon!
You're a total goddamn catastrophe! And, by God, if it kills me, you'll tell me how this
happened.
Bourne: Why are you trying to kill me?
Conklin: What happened in Marseilles?
...
Bourne: I don't remember what happened in Marseilles.
Conklin: Bullshit! This is unacceptable, soldier. You hear me? You failed!
Bourne: Unacceptable?
Conklin: You failed! Tou failed and you're gonna tell me why!
Bourne: I can't tell you! I can't ... I don't remember!
...
Bourne: I don't want to do this anymore.
Conklin: I don't think that's a decision you can make. [Bourne hits Conklin]
Bourne: Jason Bourne is dead. Do you hear me? He drowned two weeks ago. You're gonna go
tell them Bourne is dead. Understand?
Conklin: Where are you gonna go? [Bourne hits Conklin. Conklin's nose is bleeding. ]
Bourne: I swear, if I even feel somebody behind me there is no measure to how fast and how
hard I will bring this fight to your doorstep. I'm on my own side now.51
51
A 1:37:34
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Second Film: Kirill and Jarda
Assassin no. 4, Kirill, is not employed by the
CIA. The Russian Yuri Gretkov sends Kirill
to Goa to kill Bourne. By mistake he kills
Marie, not Bourne. He is later killed by
Bourne in a car chase. 52
Assassin no. 5, Jarda. Bourne interrogates
the former CIA assassin, based in Munich.
They have a struggle, and Bourne kills Jarda.
In the second film there is a discussion of what happens when CIA sends someone to kill
Jason Bourne. The participants are Deputy Director Pamela Landy, Director of Operations
Ward Abbott, CIA Director Martin Marshall, CI Operations Officer Tom Cronin, and Danny
Zorn.
Abbott: You have no idea what you're getting into.
Pam: Do you have any idea? From the minute he left Treadstone he's killed and eluded every
single person you've sent to find him.
Abbott: So you read a couple of files on Jason Bourne and that makes you an expert?
Pam: This is my case, Ward
Marty: Enough. I want you both on that plane. We are all of us going to do what we were
either too lazy or too inept to do the last time around. We're gonna find this son of a bitch and
take him down. I'm not having Jason Bourne to destroy any more of this agency. Is that
definitive enough for you?
Abbott: Yes. .53
Third Film: Paz and Desh
The third film opens with a meeting at the new CIA Director Ezra Kramer's office, Langley,
Virginia. Six participants, among others Deputy Director Pamela Landy and Noah Vosen's
assistant Mike Wills. They hear Abbott's recorded statement from Berlin where Bourne tells
that Marie would not want him to kill Abbott. Pamela Landy is wondering what Bourne is
searching for: "He's looking for something. Something in his past." The new Director is
sceptical: "My number one rule is hope for the best, plan for the worst."
Bourne [to Abbott on the tape]: She wouldn't want me to. That's the only reason you're alive.
Kramer: Who is "she"?
52
53
Car chase B 1:24:00 to B 1:30:00
B 0:31:39
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Pam: Marie Kreutz, his girlfriend. She was killed in India. Director of Operations Ward
Abbott arranged it
Kramer: So we have a dirty section chief who kills Bourne's girl. Bourne comes back for
revenge, tapes Abbott's confession, and Abbott commits suicide. Now Bourne's gunning for
us. ... You couldn't make this stuff up. ... Bourne's last confirmed location was Moscow, six
weeks ago. He's on the run, dangerous.
Pam: Well sir, with respect, I think something else could be going on here.
Kramer: What? What's he after?
Pam: The reason Bourne went to Moscow was to see the daughter of his first target.
Kramer: What's your point, Pam?
Pam: Maybe he was retracing his steps. He's looking for something. Something in his past.
Maybe he hasn't found it yet and we need to know what it is.
Kramer: Are you telling me he's not a threat to this agency?
Pam: I think if he wanted to hurt us, he could have sent the tape to CNN.
Kramer: Maybe he still will. My number one rule is hope for the best, plan for the worst. As
far as I'm concerned, Bourne is still a serious threat until proven otherwise.54
Director Ezra Kramer's point of view is nearly equal to Martin Marshall's as described in the
previous section. Kramer wants to control Bourne, and he still regards Bourne as a serious
threat despite Bourne's expressed wish not to kill. "My number one rule is hope for the best,
plan for the worst.".
What is Bourne actually looking for? In Paris, he tells about Marie's death to her brother. He
also presents his plan: "Someone started all of this and I'm gonna find them."55
Later, Assassin no. 6, Paz, is ready to shoot at Waterloo Station. He receives a message with
the photos of both Bourne and Ross. The Special Operations people are not aware that Bourne
already has left the room at the back of the store. Ross wants to leave the room as well. He is
killed as soon as he opens the door. Bourne follows Assassin no. 6 who flees into the London
Underground and escapes in a train. Bourne gets a good sight of his face, but does not attempt
to shoot.56
C 0:04:00
C 0:09:11
56
The scene featuring Bourne desperately trying to catch a glimpse of Paz in the London Underground
after Ross is gunned down is, according to director Paul Greengrass, a wink to the New York City
Subway chase in one of his favorite films, The French Connection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bourne_Ultimatum_(film)
54
55
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Assassin no. 6; Paz, out of Naples. Not killed
by Bourne.
Assassin no. 7, Desh, out of Casablanca. They
have a struggle, and Bourne kills Desh.
In the third film's final scene Paz holds Bourne at gunpoint and asks why Bourne spared his
life in London. Bourne answers with the dying words of Assassin no. 2, the Professor: "Do you
even know why you're supposed to kill me?....Look at us. Look at what they make you give".
Bourne turns his back to Paz. Paz lowers his weapon. Noah Vosen appears and fires at
Bourne. Bourne seems to survive.
Analysis of the Power Play
First film: When Conklin is wondering whether Bourne is playing a game, Conklin is
completely absorbed in the political power play. He cannot imagine that Bourne simply has
forgotten who he is.
In the phone call Conklin is threatening Bourne with sheer power "or we'll keep going until
we're satisfied". As the action takes shape it appears that neither Conklin nor anybody else
has the power to kill Bourne.
At the meeting in Paris, Conklin has lost all sense of occasion:
• Conklin taunts Bourne because he is asking what Treadstone is and on whose side
Conklin is. On whose side? That is actually a very good question. Conklin is corrupt, so
he is on more than one side.
• Conklin is using 3. Formal authority and 4. Management of meaning when he tells
Bourne that he is a malfunctioning weapon and that Bourne himself cannot make the
decision of not being a killer anymore.
Our hero Bourne is the conqueror:
• He takes 7. Control of decision processes by setting the decision premises "I don't want
to do this anymore" and concluding in "I'm on my own side now".
• He is denying Conklin's 3. Formal authority by simply not legitimizing it.
Second film: Each of the three participants wants to take 7. Control of decision processes.
• Ward Abbot is stacking the deck. He wants Bourne killed so that Abbott's share in the
missing money will not be revealed.
• Pamela Landy wants to interrogate Bourne about that particular sum of money
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•
Martin Marshall wants to stop Bourne – but has not understood, that Bourne is not
attacking CIA personnel, only defending himself when shot at.
Third film: The discussion in the final scene between Paz and Bourne is Bourne's tour-de-force
in the disciplines 4. Management of meaning and 7. Control of decision processes.
External Surveillance and Actions
The external actions do not contain so much internal power play, but a considerable use of
power that policemen could only dream of: Here are two situations from the first and the third
film:
"Beg, Borrow, Hack, Tap, Bypass!
Special Operations Director Alexander Conklin wants to know everything about the German
citizen Marie Kreutz:
Conklin watching Marie and her car on the tape: Who the hell is that?
Research tech 2: Marie Helena Kreutz. She's 26, born outside Hanover, Her father was a
welder. He died in '87. We still don't have the mother. The grandmother, she's still in
Hanover. It looks like she's the anchor for this little domestic disaster. And there's a
stepbrother. It's tough. The girl's a gypsy. I mean, she pops up on the grid here and there, but
it's chaotic at best. She paid some electric bills in Spain, '95. Had a phone in her name for
three months in Belgium, '96. No taxes, no credit.
Conklin: I don't like her. I want to go deep. Get a phone log for Granny and the half-brother.
Anybody we can cross-file. I wat to know every place she's slept in the past six years.
[distributing photographs of Bourne and Marie] Have Paris get these out in the field.57
Later, the same surveillance topic is demonstrated as a CIA routine skill. How does the
Communication Technician work? For sure, he's got a host of confidential sources when his
boss wants to go deep:
Conklin: All right, ... Brian, Harris, Steve, I want to work on this girl. And this residency
pattern?
Comm Tech 1: We started it. ... We cross-referenced numbers from her grandmother and her
stepbrother. When we found convergence, we took the numbers and we back-checked them,
ran a search merge with other data we had, which wasn't much, but ... pins. [showing pins on
a map of Europe] These pins. These are all the places we think she's lived in the last six years.
Conklin: One, two, three, four, five. That's our pool. ... those are the targets. Beg, borrow,
hack, tap, bypass! I don't care what you do! I want to know everything you can tell me about
what's going on at those locations.58
57
58
A 0:30:42
A 1:14:24
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Conklin: "Beg, borrow, hack, tap, bypass! I don't care what you do!"
Conklin's statement would be perfectly OK if he was working in a police force trying to solve a
mysterious connection to a murder that Bourne could have committed. But:
1. Conklin is not in a police force
2. His organization, the US government, has no right to track old phone records of Marie's
grandmother without the cooperation of German intelligence service, and
3. He is not trying to solve any mystery but to let his organization commit two more
assassinations.
"Every Dirty Little Secret"
In film three, Deputy Director Noah Vosen wants to know everything about the reporter
Simon Ross. Here, the tells the whole program office:
Vosen: People, listen up! This is a full priority situation. ... Our target is a British national,
Simon Ross, a reporter. I want all his phones, his BlackBerry, his apartment, his car, bank
accounts, credit cards, travel patterns. I want to know what he's gonna think before he does.
Every dirty little secret he has. And most of all, we want the name and real-time location of
his source. This is NSA priority level four. Any questions? ... All right, let's get to it.59
Noah Vosen: "I want ... every dirty little secret he has". Ross' picture in the background.
59
C 0:11:20
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Simon Ross was killed that day by Special Operation's assassin no. 6, apparently without
being guilty in anything except being an efficient journalist. There is not much sense of
decency in the continued hunt for Ross' source. The next day the communications technician
Brian hacks into Ross' email account:
Brian: Sir, I think we have something. We just hacked Ross' e-mail account at the Guardian.
Found a round-trip ticket to Turin, Italy, yesterday, 0800 arrival, 1205 departure.
Brian: "Sir, I think we have something". Reporting to Mike Wills and Pamela Landy.
The Assassination of Simon Ross
The surveillance of Simon Ross is described above. As soon as the reporter Simon Ross leaves
for Waterloo Station, Noah Vosen and Mike Wills want to kill him and his contact. This is
before they know that the contact is Bourne.
Wills: Destination is Waterloo Station. ... Let's activate the asset.60
CIA has a host of intelligence teams ready for Simon Ross in Central London. During the
surveillance of Ross are mentioned these eight teams:
• C 0:14:35
Street team Alpha.
• C 0:10:30
Survey Team
• C 0:10:30
Sneak and Peek Team
• C 0:14:35
Street team Bravo
• C 0:21:44
Grab Team A.
• C 0:17:40
Grab Team B - The Grab Team is shown preparing some kind of
injection
• C 0:21:44
Grab Team C
• C 0:22:22
Team Four
Previous, Successful Treadstone Actions
In the second film Marie is reading Bourne's scrapbook about the sudden deaths of a Serbian
general, a Syrian journalist, Nykwana Wombosi, etc.61
These assassinations are successful in the sense that they are not recognized as
assassinations at all – they were just recognized as sudden deaths.
60
61
C 0:14:35
B 0:12:00
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From Jason Bourne's scrapbook: Serbian general drowns in boating accident, Syrian
journalist killed in car crash.
The assassination of Wombosi was planned to invisible in the same way, as Alexander Conklin
explains Bourne in the end of the first film:
Conklin: Mr. Wombosi ... was supposed to have died in a way that the only possible
explanation was that he'd been murdered by a member of his own entourage. I don't send you
to kill. I send you to be invisible.62
There is not described any power play in these external actions. Apparently, the subordinate
Special Operation section's personnel is performing their duty without protest, no matter how
indecent it may be. The only exception is the assassin Bourne.
As mentioned in the introduction to the analysis: All conspirators taking part in assassination
are guilty of murder and of keeping the murder conspiration secret.
Conclusion
Research Question 1
Has the management of the intelligence service taken any precaution against the Special
Operations' possible abuse of its accumulated power?
Seen in the intelligence service's perspective the concentration of power seems to have been a
success in two operations where Jason Bourne was the master of two apparently accidental
deaths:
1. Serbian general drowns in a boating accident (prior to film 1)
2. Syrian journalist dies in a car crash (prior to film 1)
But the concentration of power is a problem when it is used to solve private interests or to get
rid of other Special Operation's employees:
62
A 1:37:34
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1. Ward Abbott orders the assassination of the Russian Politician Vladimir Neski to avoid
being revealed as a fraud (prior to film 1)
2. Alexander Conklin orders the assassination of Nykwana Wombosi (prior to film 1)
3. Alexander Conklin sends assassin no. 1 to kill Jason Bourne and Marie Kreutz
4. Alexander Conklin orders the assassination of Nykwana Wombosi
5. Alexander Conklin sends assassin no. 2 to kill Bourne
6. Ward Abbott orders the assassination of Special Operations Director Alexander
Conklin
7. Noah Vosen sends assassin no. 6 to kill Bourne and Ross
8. Noah Vosen orders the assassination of Station Chief Neal Daniels
9. Noah Vosen sends assassin no. 7 to kill Bourne and Nicky
10. Noah Vosen sends assassin no. 6 to kill Bourne – again
The problem is demonstrated by the fact that out of 12 attempts, six targets were external,
and four targets were Special Operations employees63. In other words, the Special Operations
is a very dangerous place to work.
The answer to the research question is no. Apparently, the management of the intelligence
service has not taken precautions against the Special Operation's possible abuse of power. On
the contrary, CIA Director Ezra Kramer approved CIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen's
assassination of CIA Station Chief Neal Daniels.
Research Question 2
Has the management taken precaution against internal power plays?
The analysis of the power play in the sections on corruption and the internal power plays
shows that the employees are using all kinds of organizational politics to fight each other:
1. Rules and regulations: Conklin tells Bourne that Bourne cannot decide by himself not
to be a killer anymore.
2. Control of knowledge: Abbott kills Danny Zorn to avoid Zorn's findings to be known.
3. Formal authority: Noah Vosen uses his formal authority to implement the
assassination of Neal Daniels
4. Management of meaning: Conklin motivating Bourne to kill Neski
5. Networks and alliances: Abbott and Conklin conspire with Yuri Gretkov
6. Control of scarce resources: Abbott orders Zorn and Assassin no. 3 to let Conklin die
7. Control of decision processes: Abbott stacking the deck when reporting to the oversight
committee.
8. Control of boundaries: Ezra Kramer makes his secretary block a call from Pamela
Landy
The answer to the research question is no. Apparently, the management of the intelligence
service has not taken precautions against internal power plays. On the contrary, CIA Director
Ezra Kramer takes part in a conspiracy against Pamela Landy.64
Research Question 3
External: The Serbian general, the Syrian journalist, Vladimir Neski, Nykwana Wombosi (twice),
Marie and Ross. Employees: Bourne (five times), Conklin, Neal Daniels and Nicky
63
I am well aware that power fights will always exist in organizations, but the list of Special
Operation employees killing each other is extraordinary.
64
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Is the Special Operations allowed to define not only its way of work, but also the desirable
outcome?
Here is the chain of reasoning for research question 3:
1. The intelligence service is not controlling the Special Operations section. The section is
given the total legislative, judiciary and executive power over its own operations.
2. The reason for the absolute power is that the management of the intelligence service
does not want to know what goes on – it only wants to enjoy the fruits of the secret
actions.
3. All Special Operation participants want a share in the accumulated power for their
own purpose. They engage in a major fight for power.
4. In the course of events, the desirable outcome changes from being a killing squad
serving the intelligence service to be a purely internal one: self-obsessed, fighting to
keep its secrets, not showing attention to the world around it.
5. As the section's means of power include lethal action, the members of the section start
killing each other.
6. The participants' power play changes the organization's power into powerlessness.
When Jason Bourne applied for the programme, Dr. Hirsch assured "Your mission will save
American lives"65. That is a common incantation in U.S. foreign policy. As Dr. Hirsch is
preparing Bourne to be an assassin, it is a morbid statement. And, when looking at the
programme's results, it is completely misleading. The desirable outcome changed from saving
American lives to targeting American citizens.66
When Noah Vosen selects Nicky as the next target, Pamela Landy interferes: "Noah, she's one
of us. You start down this path, where does it end?" Vosen answers: "It ends when we've won".
Vosen is defining the desirable outcome like the generals of World War I who not only
commanded their armies, but also were left to decide the goal. On both sides the generals
wanted the total victory and left out the possibility of negotiation or withdrawal. The result
was a war of attrition and a massive loss of soldiers – on both sides.
And how is the balance between internal and external actions in the three films?
1. In the first film everybody are engaged in power plays, and the organization is not
performing any external actions – except that Alexander Conklin orders the
assassination of Nykwana Wombosi once again, this time to gain time internally.
2. The second film is dominated by Pamela Landy's fight for unveiling the case of
corruption – completely internal
3. In the third film CIA is engaged in finding Simon Ross' source and killing Bourne.
Noah Vosen two times calls it "a national security situation" – but it is not foreign
powers threatening the existence of the nation, it is the Special Operation fighting
itself. The perspective is completely internal.
The answer to the research question is yes. The Special Operations changes its desirable
outcome to be self-obsessed and not show attention to the world around it.
C 0:34:36, C 1:33:43 and C 1:36:00
C 1:40:27, television report: "... the programme, which in several cases may have even targeted US
citizens."
65
66
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Why Are the Bourne Films So Good?
David Conquering Goliath
In the first film Jason Bourne only wanted to recover his identity and keep distance from CIA
"I swear, if I even feel somebody behind me there is no measure to how fast and how hard I
will bring this fight to your doorstep. I'm on my own side now".67. As CIA continues to send
assassins to kill him, Bourne is targeting his old organization.
In the second film Bourne let himself arrest on purpose, because he wants to get in contact
with those who killed Marie.
In the third film, he declares to Marie's brother: "Someone started all of this and I'm gonna
find them"68.
• Bourne detects the small bits of information in each town he visits
• The small bits combine into an itinerary Paris – London – Madrid – Tangier – New
York
• The Operation Blackbriar uses all its resources to find him, but are always left behind
Bourne's total victory is described by a television reporter at the end of the third film:
"The President convened an emergency cabinet meeting today to discuss the growing scandal
over an alleged government assassination programme, code-named Blackbriar. CIA Director
Ezra Kramer is under criminal investigation for authorising the programme, which in several
cases may have even targeted US citizens. Two agency officials have already been arrested.
Dr. Albert Hirsch, the alleged mastermind of Blackbriar programme, and CIA Deputy
Director Noah Vosen, the programme's operational chief. Meanwhile, mystery surrounds the
fate of David Webb, also known as Jason Bourne, the source behind the exposure of the
Blackbriar programme. It's been reported that Webb was shot and fell from a Manhattan
rooftop into the East River ten storeys below. However, after a three-day search, Webb's body
has yet to be found."69
We watch it happen, and that is very good entertainment.
Realistic Plot and Real Locations
Robert Ludlum's inspiration was what made him angry. In a television interview for an earlier
book, "The Aquitaine Progression" (1984), he said:
I write about something that either outrages me or intrigues me or amuses me. And I'm
outraged by, I guess, an awful lot. I think, you know, this is the age of fanaticism in a way,
and I think fanaticism feeds upon itself, and I loathe fanatics. And so I think I use whatever
minor imagination I have to try to attack them, really.
Jason Bourne's part as CIA's assassin is much more probable than for example James Bond's
part as a British secret agent. James Bond attracts attention by using luxury hotels, sports
cars and expensive women. Bourne is very modest in his choice of hotels and cars and has
nearly no time for the women. He participates in car hunts with Marie's old Morris Mascot, a
Moscow Lada taxi, and a New York police car.
Henry Morrison was Ludlum's literary agent. He explains Ludlum's way of creating a realistic
description:
A 1:37:34
C 0:09:11
69
C 1:40:27
67
68
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For a long time, he and his wife would travel. He would go to locations, and I think Bob took
about 4,000 pictures. He had pictures of army vehicles, He had pictures of people's landry on
roofs. He knew the locales, so that when he was writing the story it was almost like a movie
location, because he could lay out all those pictures and remember what everything looked
like.70
Universal Pictures has followed up on Ludlum's realistic style. The films are taken on location
in Zurich, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, London, Madrid, Tangier, etc.71
It is relatively easy to be an individual author like Ludlum, who invents the plot and criticizes
the CIA. The creative process takes place in the author's mind. As an author Robert Ludlum
only needed to find someone who would publish the book. The creative process is much more
complicated when the process is to create a film. Then the creative process takes place in
cooperation between writers, directors, and producers.
Universal Pictures has done a brilliant work when changing the story into the three films.
Technology: Less Realistic
In the films, CIA seems to have unlimited access to information about foreign citizens: Crossreferencing Marie's grandmother's old telephone bills, hacking Ross' e-mail account, using all
closed circuit TV cameras on Waterloo station – and turning off the cameras before killing
Ross. CIA's largest technological problem at Waterloo station seems to be that Ross is using a
telephone where CIA does not know the number.
But in the real world there is spent a lot of time working with the extraction of data. Customer
databases are full of typos and identical names, passwords have been changed, old data are in
unaccessible formats, and it takes time to make comprehensible cross-references.
The least realistic example: In the second film, Jason Bourne is using a gadget to clone John
Nevins' SIM card. In the film it is a very quick process: Nevin draws his gun. Bourne jumps
up, hits Nevins and the guarding policeman so that they are unconscious, clones Nevin's cell
phone SIM card with a device from Bourne's bag, takes Nevin's car keys, leaves the room and
blocks it from the outside, all in 25 seconds.
According to Wikipedia, a realistic time for extracting the authentication key from a SIM card
is approximately 4-8 hours. There is 40% probability of damaging the card in the process.
Additionally, the attacker must know the SIM card's PIN code. The quick and realistic
solution would be to steal the telephone. 72
The usability expert Jakob Nielsen has written about the exaggerated IT usability in the
movies: User interfaces in film are more exciting than they are realistic, and heroes have far
too easy a time using foreign systems. It matters, but ... we go to the movies to be entertained,
not to learn realistic task performance. "So, go ahead and employ user interfaces and
interaction techniques that are entertaining and would never work in the real world."73
Interviews on The Ultimate Bourne Collection, bonus DVD. Considering laundry on roofs: The scenes
where Bourne is hunted by Moroccan police on the Tangier rooftops may be inspired by the 1987 James
Bond film The Living Daylights.
71
I am aware that some of the Zurich scenes are filmed in Prague, and that some of the Moscow scenes
are filmed in Berlin – but that is not a problem for the realistic feeling. Source: Wikipedia.
72
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIM_cloning
73
Jakob Nielsen mentions two problems: 1. Research funding and management expectations are biased.
When you see something work as part of a coherent and exciting story, you start wanting it. 2. Users
blame themselves when they can't use technology like they have seen someone do in a film. Source:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/film-ui-bloopers.html
70
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Some Weaknesses
1. CIA and its Special Operations section are dependent on the cooperation of others:
• How will the British police react when they realize that CIA has turned off the Closed
Circuit TV at Waterloo station immediately before Simon Ross was gunned down? Will
the police explain to the public "Yes, we have CCTV, but it was out of order"?
• The Moroccan bank is asked to postpone a payment and later asked to release it. The
bank's employees can watch the customer being blown to pieces just outside their
windows. It will be very bad for the bank's reputation if others hear of this kind of
customer service. What will the bank answer next time CIA asks it to postpone a
payment?
2. In the first film Ward Abbott asks his subordinate Conklin about Treadstone:
Abbott: ... What's this Treadstone?
Conklin: You're asking me a direct question?
Abbott: Yes
Conklin: I thought you were never gonna do that.
Abbott and Conklin share this knowledge already, in general because Conklin receives a lot of
money for his project, in special because they are the conspirators that made Bourne kill
Neski. 74
3. Film no. 2 ends with Bourne in New York. He tells Pamela Landy that she looks tired. The
New York scene in film no. 2 is a kind of "happy end shortcut" to tell that Bourne survived and
found his way home. He tells Pamela: "Get some rest, Pam. You look tired"75. This scene
turned out to be superfluous when film no. 3 was realized. Film no. 3 continues with the
wounded Bourne on the run in Moscow, and much later he appears in New York.
Further:
• The assassins apparently always work alone. The films are not explaining how the
lonely assassins can manage without family and friends. I guess that they need friends
that they can discuss their deeds with, and places, they can return to.
• The films show the good ones and the bad ones. It is always the bad ones who strike
first. That is easy to understand, but it is not realistic.
• There are no good guys in a car hunt. Both the hunter and the hunted are setting
other's lives at stake. Seen from the sidewalk or from another car, both the hunter and
the hunted are experienced as aggressive hooligans.
A Real-World Mistake
In the real world there will always be mistakes: The Alexander Conklin
figure is partly based on Oliver North, who in 1985 worked on finding a
way to let the U.S Government fund the Nicaraguan contras and bypass
the Congress' restrictions and several laws. The funding was financed by
selling weapons to the Iranian government and letting the money pass
through private entities and foreign governments. A money transfer was
messed up when Oliver North's secretary, Fawn Hall, transposed the
numbers of North's Swiss bank account number. A Swiss businessman,
suddenly $10 million richer, alerted the authorities of the mistake.76
A 0:12:14. Compare to B 0:26:15, where Abbott tells about Conklin: "You know what his budget was?
We were throwing money at him. Throwing them at him and asking him to keep it going."
75
B 1:36:23
76
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra_affair and "Iran Contra Hearings; Brunei Regains $10
Million". New York Times. 1987-07-22
74
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Appendix
Sources
• The Ultimate Bourne Collection, DVD 8253156
• Gareth Morgan 1997: Images of Organization, 2nd ed., Sage Publications, Thousand
Oaks.
• Various Wikipedia sources
Morgan's sources of organizational power
1. Formal authority, p. 172
2. Control of scarce resources, p. 173
3. Use of organizational structure, rules, and
regulations, p. 175
4. Control of decision processes, p. 178
5. Control of knowledge and information, p.
179
6. Control of boundaries, p. 181
7. Ability to cope with uncertainty, p. 183
8. Control of technology, p. 184
9. Interpersonal alliances, networks, and
control of "informal organization", p. 186
10. Control of counterorganizations, p. 187
11. Symbolism and the management of
meaning, p. 189
12. Gender and the management of gender
relations, p. 191
13. Structural factors that define the stage of
action, p. 196
14. The power one already has., p. 198
Sources of organizational power in this text
3. Formal authority
6. Control of scarce resources
1. Rules and regulations
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7. Control of decision processes
2. Control of knowledge and information
8. Control of boundaries
(none)
(none)
5. Networks and alliances
(none)
4. Management of meaning
(none)
(none)
(none)