That said, I suppose Fleming introduces Bond battling SMERSH and developing a hatred of them. I think the emphasis that Bond is MI6's agent battling the MGB/KGB in the Cold War of the 50s as a method of maintaining the "realism" of both Bond and his work flavours the novels and hence gives the impression "Russia" was involved more often than it actually was.
Very good point, well put.
And it's why they are now changing SMERSH to terrorism. Fleming's SMERSH was, of course, infinitely more mysterious and dangerous than the real organisation. In real life, SMERSH agents were primarily confined to desks sorting through documents and questioning people - more like immigration officers. There were some hunter-killer squads, and there were interrogations, too, but the organisation was largely made up of pen-pushers. The dramatically titled NIGHTS ARE LONGER THERE: SMERSH FROM THE INSIDE by A I Romanov (a pseudonym, of course) amply demonstrates this: it's terribly dull and, as far as I've been able to ascertain, historically accurate. SMERSH was a convenient organisation for Fleming to play with, and he used it brilliantly. But it was indeed a kind of background shorthand for realism, rather than realism itself. It is incredibly unlikely that a SMERSH agent would try to win his losses back at baccarat! But that's not the point - the SMERSH stuff just adds that touch of the real. Bond needs something to focus his hate on - it doesn't much matter who or what it is.
