Without letting the word get out, the U.S. State Department last February expelled two Soviet diplomats for "espionage and improper activities." Sent packing were Commander Igor Amosov, assistant naval attachée, and Alexander Kovalyov, second secretary of the U.N. delegation. In May, under equally secret circumstances, the U.S. threw out another Soviet diplomat, Lieut. Colonel Leonid Pivnev, assistant air attacheé. The State
Department's unreasoned reason for the secrecy: it hoped that hushing up the expulsions would prevent Russian retaliation.
Last week the men of State learned how naive they had been. In Moscow the Russian government announced that it was expelling two assistant U.S....
