Dear Scumbria:
Do you know that is directly opposite what the experts on China are all saying? They, almost to a man (and woman), say to reject making an apology because we would lose far more than anything we gain. We would be saying that we cannot fly within 70 miles of their coastline and all the military will not agree to that. It is long standing policy to maintain the 12 mile limit for international navigation. Many other principals are at stake that have world wide ramifications.
Of course hindsight being 20/20, means what the crew should have done is, send many maydays, destroy the equipment, try to limp home, and when they cannot go any further, ditch the plane at sea, and using life rafts until picked up. That gets rid of the plane from enemy hands and pickup would have been much faster than the course they took. That does not mean, that China has not acted properly in this case, and if they could have been trustworthy enough, their course would have led to the same result saving the plane. Yes, the first plan is hard, but now, it will be the norm and those that go on these missions will know better.
Pete |
