WHEN RUSSIA BAGGED THE U-2

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP74-00297R001600010071-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 28, 2014
• Sequence Number: 71
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/04/28 : CIA-RDP74-00297R001600010071-9
JI/Al
When Russia Ba
Tiff7 U. AFFAIR. By David
Wirced Thor= B. Rots.
1.0 vrxrts. Illusttatetf. Rai.
dor ffinge, ZZ4.95.
.a gc57(; unmatched in
Ariericen history, the na-
fforft7 17cy and destiny today
are being shaped by informs.
fin, conclusions and decisions.
which are withheld from public
kriowledge. In waging -its battle
with the Communist world, our
Goverement has had to fence off
vnst arca-, of activity from the
slew of its people.
Never has this iKen 'better
dramatized than by the U-2 af-
fair. In the words of authors
David WAe aftd Thomas B. Ross.
? secret layer of govemment
ha ii developed spontaneously and
esablieled itself w the power
to conceal its misfiles betr,nd
a claim of ri.iattinial. secure:I.'
?. ft her mushroomed to vast
ropoitions outside the norrrol
cheeks and balances of the Gov.
ernmelt 1!. is largely
until hr estiroce MT-OS(11 by
? e0cl)r.ited failure such as the.
her thoroughly researched
and 'skillfully written account,
the authors cover all phases of
Francis Gary Powers's ill-fated
Sight of.May 1, 1960, two weeks
before the Paris summit con-
ference. They trace the de-
t filopment of the aircraft iteelf,
its adoption by the CIA as a
high-liymg camera platform, and
th formation of a secret gmup
el' civilian pilots to fly these elat-
ing and dangerous mistier.
They make revealing peahen-
tions into the cbaractein
1. ()Ned in this, .the greatag spy
Cory or our age,
A Nithintere
Piecing togetb--4 inleiostion
obtained from publisMil
rae-
erds, wire service .dleteatches.
hundreds of intervieite and
their own per-swell rbitAktions,
Wise arid ROSA palistelihVi.
eonstruct the events ot i.
.t9re, and immediately ikew-
ing. The result is a pictess
Government maclehery
irrtndmg its rears?a 7dr
inr a handful of top ley
eho saw OM mostai.
another.
The sequence nf t rig"
for itself. 4,)
KtIrUstiehev *Am, ;.k
American plan., lip
POP"
4C-V,
Tali
lk-
'OM
'
?-?4
WI OP
ed The 1.7-2
Fraleid Gary Powers holds a model of hia. U-2 plane der* his
rIppearance before a Semite committee after Russia released kin.
ithreshchey exposes the be by
producing Powers. The United
States hedges, admitting the
flight but denying that it was
ordered by Washington. The U11.-
01011100 that enema less than
the Presided coetiois such an
enormously sistiftestat venture
so worries kir. F,isenhower that
he assumes full responsibility.
In announcing .thie authoettles
Imply that the eights will con-
tinoe.
Faced with this situation, the
Soviet Premier Wit choice
ino to use the Ma*
mii meeting au
move the it was
nut the U-2 peed the the authors
?Meek for ld ad
been god' on S? Yews,
'end the kalu. it.
Rather, it w us-
certainty J the crisis
? met ?
tri
au darnels
4? 001.,
&weed. The
rini-ImccifiPri in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved
other wards, they were worried
not 'so much that the U4 might
endanger the aument as that
the summit Might endanger the
" These permute the ata
thors say, feared that a samosa
ful summit raigln lad /Nadine-
toe to ground the U-2.
The question of Powers him-
self-4raitor or here--is Mill un-
answered in many American,'
minds. This book should clarify
many points and elimisate many
misconceptions. In the authors'
view, Powers Mew the 11-2 an a
vocation, not out of dedicatios.
He should net
et* whit
mist
hero ow
ordinal, man
'XI?
Rags and
coteespo
TheeTents
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ack
written w
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made is
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Washiogton
ler the Chicago
titter York
,ncyor
oPPosi
scribe the sou
Serial insofar ne
some of the
necessary when
current history
itilth the tire area. They
for Release 2014/04/28:
Was
allicial co-
Government'
end over
They de-
their ma-
le, and
ive work
eating about
a sensi-
turned out ?
CIA-RDP74-00297R001600010071-9