Surveillance Plane

* Forgive me, but I was out of town and missed the start of the story. One of our fighters hit a Chinese spy plane off the coast, and their crew was forced to land on Catalina while our plane plunged into the Pacific and the pilot is lost?

I think we should release the crew but keep the plane for its military secrets. It’s only fair, and maybe we can teach them a lesson.

DAVID R. PECK

Laguna Beach

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Now that our service members are home, President Bush has taken the next appropriate step by placing the blame where it truly belongs--on China. China seems to have a track record of harassing our surveillance crews.

The U.S. plans to continue such surveillance flights off China’s coast. Hopefully, for the Chinese leaders, this intended course of action will drive home the point that their futile attempt to divert attention away from their failing government system by invoking a sense of nationalism seeded in state-controlled propaganda is by no means a victory for them nor a setback for our leaders.

MICHAEL M. ALVIAR

Long Beach