<A previous point you made was that these airplanes were standing off the 12 mile limit and casting their leaflets into the wind. You sticking by that one, or do you think that by following Tom's links that one could be demonstrated to be false?

What I stand by is that Castro does not specifically say that this plane invaded Cuban airspace, he meticulously says that air space had been violated in the past and warnings had been issued. The plane may have been heeding the warnings. I don't know and neither do you.

As to the question of whether or not leaflets could be dropped from max altitude and with favoring winds drift 12 miles? I don't know and I doubt that you know. If you wish to post some expert opinion on that subject or establish yourself as an expert, I will be happy to grant you a concsssion on that point. Until then, I suspect that it is possible.

Would we have shot down a plane over international waters?

The fact is, this is a complex question and the answer might be different for any administration on any particular day.

What we are left with:

There is no case of this happening, even though we have been confronted with unidentified aircraft.

There is no policy written or spoken to guide us.

Any opinion is only a SWAG. My SWAG is, it would be unlikely that we would do this.

Would you rather they got shot down over Prince George county, and endanger civilians? Nope, and I doubt if you would either.

This is a key point. If the perceived danger did not reach the level of shooting it down immediately, then it would probably not be shot down. I will leave it to others to determine how difficult it would be to force it down by other means.

In reality, the practice the Cuban Air Force did on shooting down slow airplanes could probably be interpreted as a warning, as it was monitored on US radars. Not that a lot of practice is necessary, but some is. A slow, manuverable plane like a Skymaster could present a problem with a determined pilot. It would be easier over land, though.

A warning for what? Invading Cuba with a squadron of Piper Cubs? We overfly Cuba at will. How was our policy to do this affected? I don't doubt that it was irritating but the response was not measured.

Castro may be bad, and on this one, given the stakes and provocation, I think he was justified.

And? I assume you meant but. In any case, he was not justified, he was embarrassed. I would like to know what the pilot that shot down the plane is doing these days.

Go ahead, you get the last word.