I did see the movie "The Bourne Supremacy" this past Friday when it opened. Now, having seen this film trilology, I decided to pick up the paperback and read the original story by Robert Ludlum.
MAJOR SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ "THE BOURNE IDENTITY" NOVEL BY LUDLUM YET.
I just finished Ludlum's novel The Bourne
Identity and it gives the history of the transformation of David Webb,
a foreign service officer specializing in Far Eastern affairs who gets
caught up in a black-ops project in Cambodia. One of his crew is Jason
Bourne who has sold out to the North Vietnamese and was sending intel
to them compromising the mission. Ludlum describes him as "...a violent
man with a criminal record who was nevertheless highly effective--if
the price were high enough."
Webb finds out and kills him. Webb can no longer work in the
diplomatic circles because of his reputation, so he goes back to the
States to teach in a small college in New Hampshire.
Webb was then called back when Treadstone was being formed. He took
the name of Bourne to "fit the requirements of authenticity,
traceability."
I'm assuming the severe reconditioning was meant to erase Webb's
memories and transform him into the ruthless Jason Bourne character.
Bourne's mission was to work under deep cover *pretending* to be Cain,
an ambitious assassin for hire who was out to prove he was better than
Carlos the Jackal at his trade. In this way, he would draw Carlos out
of hiding, and he would be the target. In the opening when Bourne is
shot, it's by Carlos' men.
The movie screenplay was updated by Doug Liman, the director of
TBI, whose father Arthur Liman, was part of the panel investigating
Iran/Contra. This influenced him on how the story was changed from the
cold war mentality. (The Conklin character was supposed to mirror
Oliver North.) But, all the details from the original story were not
updated. In the movie series, Webb as Bourne did indeed act as an
assassin, serving Abbott and Conklin in their dirty schemes.