10 Apr
2001
10 Apr
'01
5:23 a.m.
Something people seem to be missing here, is that gathering intelligence
promotes PEACE and prevents WAR. Generally speaking it is in the interest
of most people in the world for things like the sale or transport of
weapons of mass distruction to be detected EARLY. If for example Iraq got
its hands on some "working" missles instead of the reject scuds the whole
middle east could go up in smoke. It would be messy for everybody if
terrorist groups got a couple nukes.
This second link to Janes is an assessment of the risk, and it looks like
the spy plane was just upgraded to the latest tech. They say the worst loss
since the U2 went down.
http://www.janes.co.uk/aerospace/military/news/misc/aries010406_1_n.shtml