Posted on Feb 18, 2023
Chinese balloons conjure past confrontations over electronic eyes in the sky
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https://www.npr.org/2023/02/18/ [login to see] /chinese-balloons-conjure-past-confrontations-over-electronic-eyes-in-the-sky
This month's sudden national fixation on flyover spy balloons from China is far from the first time "eyes in the sky" have caused confrontations between the U.S. and rival superpowers.
Espionage has been a feature of international relations throughout history, and spying has led to many conflicts over the ages. But aerial reconnaissance and high-resolution cameras have added a sense of violation that comes intolerably close to home and raises the stakes.
But we should remember that the U.S., while surely spied upon, has been the world leader in aerial reconnaissance through at least the last few generations of technology.
Francis Gary Powers was a household name in the America of the early 1960s. For at least some Americans, that name still evokes an era when the world seemed on the brink of nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
This month's sudden national fixation on flyover spy balloons from China is far from the first time "eyes in the sky" have caused confrontations between the U.S. and rival superpowers.
Espionage has been a feature of international relations throughout history, and spying has led to many conflicts over the ages. But aerial reconnaissance and high-resolution cameras have added a sense of violation that comes intolerably close to home and raises the stakes.
But we should remember that the U.S., while surely spied upon, has been the world leader in aerial reconnaissance through at least the last few generations of technology.
Francis Gary Powers was a household name in the America of the early 1960s. For at least some Americans, that name still evokes an era when the world seemed on the brink of nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Chinese balloons conjure past confrontations over electronic eyes in the sky
Posted from npr.org
China
Spying
Surveillance
Cold War
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."As public opinion seemed unsettled early in 1917, a story emerged from British intelligence about a message supposedly intercepted between Germany and Mexico. Known as the "Zimmerman telegram," it described a plan by which Mexico would attack the U.S. if the Americans entered the European war against Germany. Mexico's reward would be the return of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, which had once been part of Mexico. The story provoked outrage and contributed to a rising sense that war was inevitable, and indeed Congress declared war that April."
..."As public opinion seemed unsettled early in 1917, a story emerged from British intelligence about a message supposedly intercepted between Germany and Mexico. Known as the "Zimmerman telegram," it described a plan by which Mexico would attack the U.S. if the Americans entered the European war against Germany. Mexico's reward would be the return of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, which had once been part of Mexico. The story provoked outrage and contributed to a rising sense that war was inevitable, and indeed Congress declared war that April."
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