A Southern Strategy

[FONT=&quot]April 30, 1960 – Peshawar Air Station – Pakistan[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Shinn and Powers sat outside the hanger in cheap aluminum chairs and looked North towards Peshawar. Ericson stubbed out a cigarette and turned to Powers. “Jesus Gary, there ain’t shit to do in this god-forsaken hole except throw small rocks at bigger rocks.” Powers nodded but kept quiet. The weather was looking better for tomorrow and he had to agree that getting out of Camp ‘Bad Bear’ as his ground crew called this place would not be a hardship. Shinn continued, “Now it looks like some more weather is moving in.” He gestured towards a line of dark clouds which were moving towards the base. Powers nodded and stared at the clouds, they certainly looked ominous. He stood up to stretch and felt the breeze picking up. An uneasy feeling began to creep into his mind and he looked down at Shinn. The other pilot also stood and stared at the cloud, which were growing every closer to the base.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Power turned to Shinn. “John, I think we better check on the Black Lady. “ Shinn replied “She’s locked up tight in the hanger Gary. I was over there this morning.” Powers was already moving towards the hanger as Shinn spoke. He half walked and ran over towards the large hanger about 300 yards away. As he was getting close he could see Colonel Spooner driving up in a jeep, accompanied by enlisted men and another officer Powers didn’t know. Power came up short and gave the colonel a curt nod of respect. Spooner nodded back, and spoke “Gary, John, it looks like some bad weather is coming through. Meteorology says heavy thunderstorms and maybe something worse.“ Each pilot glanced at the other, then quickly scanned the area. The sky was dark now and ominous clouds were rolling over the base. They all could hear rain hitting building towards the far gate, and could see it moving towards the hanger.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Moving quickly the four men ran into the building just in time to hear the hand start to hit the metal roof. To Spooner a veteran of the last war it reminded him of machine-gun fire. The wind also began to buffet the large building. Shinn looked at the walls and listened to them creaking. “I sure hope the bastards who built this didn’t cut any corners.” Powers shot John a look and was about to speak when the men heard a new sound, a low dull roar building in intensity. The officer that Powers didn’t know spoke, “Jesus H. Christ that sounds like a tornado. I was in one down in Texas once and damn if that isn’t the sound.” The men looked nervously at the large doors at the front of the hanger. They were visible moving now. Powers moved his hands up to his earns and felt them pop. “The pressure is changing, I think….” Powers started to say, but just then the door gave out an enormous bang and began to peel back from its’ track. The men all scrambled back as with a loud scream of metal the door flew off and the weather outside forced its way in.*[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]May 1, 1960 – Matomic building, Headquarters operation Aquatone[/FONT]​



[FONT=&quot] “God damn it!” shouted Richard Bissell as he threw down the report from Pakistan. “Who the hell ever heard of a tornado in Pakistan?” General Cabell shook his head. “You know this is going to piss off Ike? He wasn’t all that hot on any more flights over the Soviet Union anyway. He is playing footsie with Khrushchev and doesn’t want to blow this conference he is setting up. He only gave us till today to conduct the overflight.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] Bissell paced his office, while Cabell sat watching him. “I swear I don’t know why Ike is worried about the project. It is not like the Soviets can touch a U-2.” He paused and looked out the 5th story window. “And we need the information on those ICBM sites. LeMay thinks that the Russians are hiding dozens of missles.” Cabell snorted and then lowered his voice. “The Russians don’t have more than a dozen, maybe less. LeMay and his boy Alsop are crazy. Hell, I think LeMay is feeding Alsop half the shit he prints.** “ Bissell interrupted him “But until we get the Coronas*** up and running we have got to keep the U-2 flights going. I think I will have to go see Dulles to get him to convince Ike to approve more flights.” Bissell looked out the window and adopted a resigned tone, “But, I don’t think he can sell it to the President. Ike is pretty focused on the four power conference. He may well take this as a sign that we have curtail the over flights. Unless the SAC boys and Alsop turn up the heat a little more on the missile gap.“[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] Cabell weighed his words carefully. “Richard, I know you and Alsop go back a ways and I know he has some unofficial contacts with the agency but you are playing with fire here. Ike can’t stand the man. If he starts shouting about Russian missiles and any of it gets traced back to the company…” he let his voice trail off then continued. “I understand that Aquatone was your baby. Hell we’ve down a great job here, but Ike won’t take much more from us. I think you better just salute and say yes sir, then get moving on Corona.” Bissell looked hard at the General and then sat down at this desk. “Maybe your right Charles, maybe it’s time to refocus. I call Dulles later today and sound him out. If he thinks Ike is going to fight more flights, maybe we can trade for more assets somewhere else.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]*Tornadoes are very rare in Pakistan, however on April 30, 2015 one did hit Peshawar which is the nearest large city to the old RAF base. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]**Alsop was a journalist and a real thorn in the side of the Eisenhower administration. In Evan Thomas’ latest book “Ike’s Bluff” the author highlight the real hatred Ike had for Alsop and his fantasies of Russian superiority[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]***Coronas were the first US spy satellites and were just coming online in 1960 after a series of spectacular failures in the late 50s. [/FONT]
 

jahenders

Banned
By the time of the Powers shootdown flight, Ike and the intel community knew that the window of opportunity for U-2 overflights was over, or very nearly so. The Soviets had greatly improved their anti-air radar, were fielding more SAMS in the South and near key nuke sites, etc.

Additionally, the way they supported the site in Pakistan was bizarre leading up to the flight. They ferried stuff there vritually every day and had multiple U2s involved (violating long-standing OPSEC procedures), so they made the flight more vulnerable.

Finally, right before the flight, they replaced the U-2 in question and gave him one that had consistent problems and issues.
 
Yes the whole U-2 spying option over the USSR was a done deal by early 1960. In fact the Power's flight was delayed until May 1st and almost never went off.

Of course in this TL the absence of Powers being shot down will start to have consequences, minor at first then growing.

The superbowl weekend will likely delay my posting much till Monday, but if I get a chance I will try to put something up tonight or tomorrow.

Gemellus - Jay
 
Geneva – American Embassy - May 15, 1960​
Eisenhower looked down at the letter he had just finished writing. He sat back and tapped the fountain pen against the desk. He hesitated for just a moment longer then stood up and moved around his desk. Reaching the office door he opened it to find his aid waiting. “Walter” began the President, “I want you to personally take this over to the Soviet Embassy. This letter is addressed to the Soviet First Secretary. I want you to ask to present it personally to him.” The President hesitated, “If the Soviets balk you may pass it off to a senior official, but make an attempt to get it to Khrushchev.” Walter Sommes nodded and replied “I make sure it gets to Mr. Khrushchev.” Eisenhower smiled and patted Sommes on the shoulder then spoke, “Do your best Walter, that letter is pretty important. Maybe the most important piece of mail ever sent.”
Secretary Herter watched Sommes leave the out office. “Mr. President” he began “this is a hell of a gamble.” He paused, weighing his words “You know if this doesn’t go well, it won’t just be seen as another open skies idea. The democrats will nail you to the wall for being weak on the Communists.” Ike raised his hand to stop Herter, “Christian the democrats can try to nail me to the wall all they like. But, if this works? If Khrushchev agrees then I will put all this nonsense about missile gaps and bomber gaps to bed. We know how weak the Soviets really are. We know they can’t even consider fighting us with nuclear weapons. This proposal removes our advantage in nuclear weapons and theirs in conventional arms. We have to step back from this abyss. If we get into another arms race, than it will be just like the Germans and British each trying to out build each other in dreadnoughts before the great war. Millions of dollars wasted on arms and then a war that allowed fascism to get loose.”
Herter replied “God knows that the boys over at Foggy Bottom would prefer a negotiated solution with the Soviets. But you have to know how the military will squawk. They will go running to Kennedy in the Senate or Johnson and claim you are endangering national security.” Eisenhower nodded, and then gave a smile. “Christian what do you know about our little ‘observation’ project over the Soviet Union?” The Secretary of State was taken back a little, “I know we have some over flights, I don’t know the technical….” Eisenhower interrupted him. “The technical details aren’t important. What is important is we know almost exactly what the Soviets have. We have pictures of ever important base or missile platform they’ve got. Even better the Soviets know we have the evidence and they are pretty much in the dark about us.” Herter didn’t look surprised, but he was puzzled he leaned forward waiting for the punch line. “Don’t you see, Mr. Secretary? The Russians have a weak hand, we know it and they know we know it. What I am offering them is a graceful way out. Plus if we work this out right we can make some of our Democratic friends a big serving of crow.”*

Geneva - Soviet Embassy – May 15, 1960​

The First Secretary read translation of the letter for a second time. Viktor Sukhodrev stood passively while he worked his way through Sukhodrev’s effort. Finally Khrushchev looked up. “Victor, you are sure that your effort here is accurate?” Sukhodrev nodded, “It is quite accurate Comrade Secretary. The President wrote in relatively plain style, he doesn’t have your own quite colorful turn of phrase.**” The Soviet leader rubbed his hand over his balding head. “It is quite amazing this letter is it not Comrade?” Viktor replied “The contents seem quite a shock to me Comrade Secretary, but I am just a translator. I know little of the workings of the State.” Khrushchev let out a short barking laugh, then spoke. “No one knows more than a little about how the State works, when it works at all!” he paused “This however is quite amazing. It is an offer, a threat and a promise all wrapped into one.” Again he paused and spoke, this time not to Sukhodrev but to himself “I know what the generals will think, and the party. But this offers a new path, a way off the road we are on.” He stopped and let the silence go on. Sukhodrev stood patiently as the time dragged on. Finally Khrushchev spoke again. “I am going to draft a letter and I want you to look over it before I send it out. I want you to translate it into English and look for any way it might be misunderstood. Do you understand?” Viktor nodded. “Good now get out of here for now, this may take some time.


*Soviet strategic weakness in nuclear weapons was most pronounced in the late 1950s. The Russians didn’t deploy a truly strategic force until the early 1960s. In the meantime the US had a staggering advantage of more than 10 to 1 in ICBMs. Worse for the Russians the US was deploying SLBMs by the late 50s – early 60s and again the Soviets were way behind.
**Khruschev had an appalling Ukrainian accent and apparently a propensity for using profanity that socked even some of the courser Soviet leaders.
 
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