gjphw@ihuxm.UUCP (09/15/83)
I would like to agree with P. Karn (eagle!karn) that it seems unlikely that
the KAL 007 was on a spy mission for the U.S. and Japan. It does seem to me
that the Soviet government, in defending their actions against the Korean 747,
ascribe to the U.S. the same motivations that they employ when using Aeroflot
for reconnaissance. While I also agree with the quotations provided by D.
Allen (druxu!dea) about the value of using commercial airliners as
intelligence gathering platforms, I do not feel that this is a procedure that
would be used by the U.S.
One of the few aspects of the U.S. that has achieved some respect from both
Western and Eastern nations is the idealism that remains in U.S. society.
Most new countries have this idealism, that social ills can be cured in a
short time, and when they are not, the government and society become much more
"realistic" about what can be accomplished. A new wave of idealism may break
out at a later date and lead to a revolution which merely begins the cycle
again. Among the established and stable nations of Europe and Asia, the U.S.
has retained much of its new country idealism. People here still speak
occasionally about attacking social ills, despite the reality that the
remaining problems are complex and not readily amenable to legislative fixes.
Part of this idealism is that civilians are not to be used as pawns in a
military operation. It violates my sense of idealism to consider that the
U.S. would use a civilian aircraft carrying passengers for a military purpose.
It is also my understanding, from my few military pilot acquaintances, that
aircraft recognition is an important drill required of all fighter pilots.
This will allow a pilot to quickly recognize his/her opponent in the sky and
handle their abilities, in so far as military intelligence can provide the
information. I would suspect that Russian fighter pilots are also required to
recognize and memorize the operational characteristics of all major military
and civilian aircraft, as a prerequisite for possible battle. The Russian
pilot probably did recognize the type of aircraft, but could not readily
identify the type of operation (due to projection of motivation, as mentioned
previously).
Patrick Wyant
AT&T Bell Labs (Naperville, IL)
*!ihuxm!gjphwntt@dciem.UUCP (Mark Brader) (09/16/83)
Once again (but maybe the first time in this group): It was not an American plane. It was not a Japanese plane. It was a Korean plane, and speculation as to whether it was spying, saving fuel, or whatever, should be confined to what the Koreans might want. Do you think the CIA tells the Koreans everything it learns from satellites? Mark Brader, NTT Systems Inc., Toronto