The Moscow rules

The Moscow Rules is a set of rules of engagement said to have been developed by the CIA during the Cold War to be used by spies and others working in Moscow, which had a reputation of being particularly harsh to operatives whom they uncovered. The list may never have existed as written; agent Tony Mendez wrote "Although no one had written them down, they were the precepts we all understood ... By the time they got to Moscow, everyone knew these rules. They were dead simple and full of common sense...".[1]

A probably-fictional abbreviated list of The Moscow Rules has circulated around the Internet and in fiction:

• Assume nothing.
• Murphy is right.
• Never go against your gut; it is your operational antenna.
• Don't look back; you are never completely alone.
• Everyone is potentially under opposition control.
• Go with the flow, blend in.
• Vary your pattern and stay within your cover.
• Any operation can be aborted. If it feels wrong, it is wrong.
• Maintain a natural pace.
• Lull them into a sense of complacency.
• Build in opportunity, but use it sparingly.
• Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
• Don't harass the opposition.
• There is no limit to a human being's ability to rationalize the truth.
• Technology will always let you down.
• Pick the time and place for action.
• Keep your options open.
• Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is an enemy action.