The Written Word
for April 4, 2001

I am not, by nature or experience, an America basher. I am glad we live next to the United States. I am not critical about their late entries into the two world wars simply because no country goes to war until it has to or wants to.

But while I am pro-American and not subject to constant fits of pique every time Uncle Sam gets clumsy, I am no abject apologist.

The spy plane incident is the latest matter where the United States wants the support of its allies. At least I suppose it does, though most of the American action seems to be oblivious of outside opinion. But here I don’t support the United States.

That this was a spy mission is not denied by American authorities. Indeed one of the reasons that American knickers are in knots is that there was so much highly secret surveillance equipment and information on the plane that the crew might not have had a chance to destroy it. There is no question, of course, where this plane landed. What is in question is just where this plane was when it was accidentally disabled by a Chinese fighter.

Before getting into that, this must be said. It may well be that Chinese fighters had been dogging American surveillance planes but if the Chinese Air Force had wanted to bring this plane down there are easier ways than bumping its nose with one of your planes, risking the loss of both your own plane and the pilot.

But let us assume that this incident took place outside Chinese territorial waters. I don’t think one can say that authoritatively but let’s just say that’s how it happened. Turn things around. Suppose a Chinese surveillance – for that read spy – plane was operating off the California coast outside American territorial limits. Does anyone suppose for one moment that the American Air Force wouldn’t hassle the hell out of the Chinese plane? And what if an American plane, by accident, hit the Chinese plane so that it made a forced landing on Catalina Island. Is there anyone in the world so naïve as to suppose that the Americans would release the plane without going over it with a fine-toothed comb? Does anyone really think that the US would send the pilot and crew back to China on the first available plane?

We’re not talking diplomatic niceties here – we’re talking about spy planes. And the precedent for handling such matters go back to 1960 when, just before a US/Soviet Summit, the Russians shot down a U2 spy plane over their territory. The Americans denied it. President Eisenhower, with full knowledge of the matter, lied through his teeth. Trouble was, the American pilot, instead of biting his cyanide tablet as he should have done, parachuted safely and Nikita Kruschev was able to demonstrate to the entire world that the US president was a liar. If Eisenhower would lie, why wouldn’t we expect George W Bush to do the same?

As I say, the truth of the matter doesn’t matter very much. The bottom line is, when American "boys" are involved, the United States government pulls out all the stops. And strained as our credulity may become, we’re supposed to believe them.

I, for one don’t.