1960 - Powers Case, ike States Policy On Spies And Open Skies (U-2 Spying)

1960 - Powers Case, Ike States Policy On Spies And Open Skies (U-2 Spying) 10:51:23 President Eisenhower standing behind desk at press conference. CU reading statement SOF: “No one wants another Pearl Harbor. This means we must have knowledge of military forces & preparations around the world; especially those capable of massive surprise attack. Secrecy in the Soviet Union makes this essential. In most of the world no large scale attack could be prepared in secrecy. But in the Soviet Union there is a fetish of secrecy & concealment. This is a major cause of international tension & uneasiness today. Our deterrent must never be placed in jeopardy. The safety of the whole free world demands it. We prefer and work for a different kind of world and a different way of obtaining the information essential to competent & effective deterrence. Open societies in the day of present weapons are the only answer. This was the reason for my Open Skies proposal in 1955 which I was ready instantly to put into effect to permit aerial observation over the United States & the Soviet Union which would assure her that no surprise attacks were being prepared against anyone. I shall bring up the Open Skies proposal again at Paris. It is a means of ending concealment & suspicion. Cold War; Spying; U-2 Incident; Aerial Reconnaissance;