Evening star., 1960-05-12


jah. Thank God Uncle Sam
is on his toes and had the
sense to spy on Russia the
way she has been doing on us
for so long at every oppor-
tunity. Who do they think
they are kidding?
Spies are working in every
section of this country. They
don't have to send Russian
planes over, because we were
dumb enough to think they
meant some of the lies they
told about wanting to be good
neighbors. Maybe now we can
all be friends since at last
we speak their language.
I am very sorry for the
American pilot and hope We
can help him go free. He
should be given the highest
award this country can give
him and have the warmest
thanks of every American.
When I think of the lies the
Russians have told the whole
world and the people that
they have enslaved I get sick
to my stomach.
Agnes Robertson.
=
I wish to comment on the
confused and misdirected Of
fetal United States reaction
on the plane incident"
First of all, there is nothing
shameful in spying on a hos
tile nation like the Soviet
Union. Intelligence informa-
ti0n on the activities of the
Soviet Union, a nation that
has kept a good part of the
world in terror by its i'm
perialistic expansioniSm for
more than two decades, must
be obtained by all means and
costs. That the Soviet Union
engages in similar intelligence
activities as the one in which
the United States plane and
its pilot were caught, sup
posedly red-handed, is a mat
ter of official congressional
and unofficial record. The
SovietS are not playing for
marbles-they want to con-
quer the world and, should
conquest by arms seem worth
while, they will attack the
free world. For this reason
we must have up-to-date in
formation about the military
and industrial activity in the
Soviet Union.
Secondly, it is a ridiculous
idea that the President of the
United States should be in
formed about every intelli-
gence mission that is planned
to be carried out. Some, like
the flight Of pilot Powers,
are routine. The fewer peo-
pie know about it, the better.
But if the President should
know of each such mission,
then he might as well dismiss
the heads of all Government
agencies and direct each him.
self. A congressional investi-
cation into why the President
did not know about this par
ticular flight, or any other
such mission, would border
on the ridiculous.
Thirdly, the general rule in
the intelligence game" is to
deny everything-and I re-
peat everything-w h m an
agent is caught. The biggest
mistake in this incident was
that the United States ad-
mitted at all that there was
a United States plane that
could have been involved in
the in cident. Intelligence
agents know the risks they
take and what the conSe-
quences are if they are
caught. They risk their lives
for pay, or they do it out of
plain patriotism for little or
no pay. The Russian spy,
Col. Abel, knew all too well
when he was caught that the
only help he was going to get
was from the peculiarities of
the United States legal sys-
tenn and not from the Rus
sian Embassy.
The Scarlet Pimpernel.
y
Why do we usually forget
past precedents when events
like the plane flight over the
USSR take place?
Think back to such spies
as Fuchs, the recent So,.eL
Col. Abel, and the Rosen-
berg couple we executed; not
to mention the many suspects
that we could have thrown
into prison but deported in
stead.
We splattered details on
some of those spies all over
our pages, so why shouldn't
we expect Russia to do like
wise? Our plane was Just