THE PRESS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1983. Soviet response an insult

Press, 5 September 1983, Page 16

THE PRESS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1983. Soviet response an insult

The Soviet Union seems intent on adding insult to injury. From the time that a Korean Air Lines commercial flight with 269 people aboard was reported missing on Thursday, the Soviet Union has prevaricated. Only after strong evidence was produced that the aircraft had been shot down by a Soviet jet fighter did Moscow acknowledge the existence of an “unidentified” aircraft that strayed into Soviet air space. Bit by bit, as criticism of the attack on an unarmed civilian aircraft mounted, the Soviet Union has been obliged to admit to an outraged world more and more of its part in a repugnant action. Days after the event, the official Soviet news agency, Tass, has published a belated admission that a Soviet jet fighter did indeed fire “warning shots along the flight route of the plane.” This acknowledgement falls short of what much of the rest of the world believes to be true — that the K.A.L. Boeing was deliberately shot down — but it is likely to be as much of an admission as Moscow will make. Such half-truths and obfuscation are damaging to international understanding and trust. The Soviet Union has found a way to compound the mischief by claiming that it had no alternative; that somehow the blame lies not with the Soviet Union, but with the United States. The Kremlin line that the Boeing was on a spy mission would be laughable were the

consequences not so tragic. Whatever could be done by a fully loaded passenger aircraft that could not be done by specialist military aircraft or spy satellites has not been explained by the Russians. That, however, is not the real point. The threat to peace and stability comes from the contention of the Soviet Union that it was justified to act in the way that it did. The conclusion from the Soviet statements so far is that the Soviet Union will act in the same way again, in similar circumstances. The Russians have offered no more than a grudging expression of regret for what has happened. The Soviet allegations of spying rule out the possibility that they may have acted in error, whatever was done was . done deliberately. The K.A.L. Boeing posed no threat to the eight jet fighters that intercepted it at one time or another. Whatever “spying” the aircraft was capable of, it was certainly unarmed. The Boeing’s lack of defences and armament did not prevent it being fired on.

South Korea has asked for a full apology from the Soviet Union, and for compensation for the loss of the aircraft, its crew and passengers. The damage cannot be undone, but unless the Soviet Union shows itself more willing to make amends for its attack, great harm will be done to its relations with much of the rest of the world.