Ever since marshal stalin shifted the policy of the soviet union from wartime cooperation to postwar conflict in 1946 and particularly since the berlin blockade, the forceful takeover of czechoslovakia, and the communist aggressions in korea and vietnam the world has lived in a state of apprehension with respect to soviet this menace is enhanced by the threats of mass destruction frequently voiced by the soviet leadership…

i will say frankly that it is unacceptable that the soviet political system should be given an opportunity to make secret preparations to face the free world with the choice of abject surrender or nuclear destruction…

in accordance with the national security act of 1947, the president has put into effect since the beginning of his administration directives to gather by every possible means the information required to protect the united states and the free world against surprise attack … under these directives programs have been developed and put into operation which have included extensive aerial surveillance by unarmed civilian aircraft, presidential authorization…the fact that such surveillance was taking place has apparently not been a secret to the soviet leadership, and the question indeed arises as to why at this particular juncture they should seek to exploit the present incident as a propaganda battle in the cold war…

this government had sincerely hoped and continues to hope that in the coming meeting of the heads of government in paris chairman khrushchev would be prepared to cooperate in agreeing to effective measures which would remove this fear of sudden mass destruction from the minds of people everywhere. far from being damaging to the forthcoming meeting in paris, this incident should serve to underline the importance to the world of an earnest attempt there to achieve agreed and effective safeguards against surprise attack and aggression.

which side was right? write a paragraph in which you explain which side made a stronger argument and why.

remember to use evidence from the lesson and from primary source documents you have read.