READING 'THE U-2 AFFAIR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000400130019-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 19, 2000
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: June 7, 1962
• Content Type: NSPR

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STATINTL
CPYRGHT
READING "THE U-2 AFFAIR..
A few words of warning are here rniliiafy effort, furthermore, theib
with pre'setlted for those who are had hecu flights, many of them by
r
eariinil+ 'The, U-2 Affair' as it rp. , the RR-46's. an airplane of consid~
j4'Ar S serially in this newsh;+t>r i erably IesF capabilities. This second'
The warning also' holds for tiu+sn a.r?ptane never was able to go very
ho may he reading the book which (Sr over Russia for lack of proper:
as p~.ihlished a month or so ago rant;.'. However, the Russiahs knew., and written by David Wise and for a long time what the RB-46's
Thomas B. Ross, both of whom are t;ere doing, and there had bec "
reputable newspaper reporters. succcicsful ret1thation, Ificluding the':.
This is not a story of a fabulous capture of some of the fliers. The
ly successful spy airplane, but rat h- ; fligi;ts of the RB?46's never inter-:
er an account of the U-2 failure in ferrd with summit conferences.
what may have been its last :ip?. t .. So let no one think for a moment
mission over Russia. Thus the book that +ner-flights ere something
details the Francis Gary Yowerr; the; had only been .;covered when
'rip river Russia, the crash of thy' Pnv.'ers came crashing down. Sure,
airplane, the confusion in Washin;; Khrushchev broke up the Paris con-
''rn? the break-up of the 1960 sure Terence over the U-2 flight. He ac-
mr conference in Paris, the trial knowledged, however, that he knew
t ,' were by the Russians for es about the U-2 back in September of
)'i?ii ce, and finally the trade which the ,year before, but decided not to
hrn''c;ht Powers back to the United bring the subject up when he was at
.;talcs 'in exchange. for Rudolph ?L. Camp David with President 6sen?
Abel. the Russian Spy who had hover, fie merely decided In May
he,?u operating much less draniat- of 1960 to pull the plug on the sum-
irally within the United States, init meeting, and the U-2 was the
'4v c?on^entrating the story on lh.~ most dramatic reasons.''
i
auove-mentioned details; the auth Admittedly, there was fumbling j
ers do
a csservice to the U2it on the part of Whi
-, .::asngton. in ac-
sponsors, and particularly the Cen. knowiedging that the overflights i
tr?,,; Intelligence Agency. No one were taking plv'e. Spying when -
will or can ever tell the story of the discovered never Is susceptible to
t -2 successes, Unfortunately, "The ? the proper kind of an explanation:
U
-2 Affair" represents about all that ` It is intere,~tng.that never once
ever will be written on the subject. anybody ? 'frt,m Russia, including Since the motif is failure, there Krhushcixy himself, acknowledge
yr r?v little opportunity to work :n - the exi'st+snce of Rudolph Abel, who
details of success, Therry woulrt' presienlahi~' did a pretty adequate
never have been a book If the, spy lob Of spyir.g in America. At, least,
plane hadn't cracked up over Rus. it. was a jn,h that was of such .1m. sia. Nowhere In the book is there portance that when there came an
a using of the successful fligtrts pportunity to get their man back
although by the time Powers magic ? acme, they decided that he was of
hi. last trip in May of 1960, tie ,reater valuj In Russia than he was
flights were called milk runs hr t, the Atlarr;a,?penitentiary,
eausP they had become so routin-?. "The fl-2 of;air" is an,interesting
Regardless of what the authors and intriguing series of articles
of ,The U-2 Affair" say about the from a wprtb;;+hile book. The fore.
breaking up of the Paris conference going is .prcjisnted in the interest of the Big-Four after the Powers' of giving tli!i readers a chance to
crash and Khrushchev's description' balance ther ~~+,Jves.
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"I t
e espionage m-s.ion the fact f
remains that for a period of years'.
prior there had been conferenc?es,''
photographic : dy! ro*V9id3fF t Release .24k b/06/30 : CIA-RDP.
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'00018000400130019-0