The Soviet Union’s propaganda blitz to counter global condemnation for its destruction of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 provides a frightening picture of bellicose Russian attitudes with which the United States must deal in negotiating nuclear arms control. Indeed the Soviets have warned there will be no relaxing of their hardline nuclear stance as a result of the airliner tragedy which killed 269 persons, including 61 Americans. Meantime, the U.S. Congress, hy unanimous vote on a resolution of condemnation. has let the world know this country is speaking with one voice in censuring the Russians for downing the civilian plane Sept. l when it strayed into Soviet air space. Yet the need for pressing the nuclear talks was recognized when the Senate rejected an amendment to link the plane incident with strategic arms negotiations. President Reagan praised the lawmakers for their bipartisan support. in another gesture of support involving defense, the House completed Congressional action un a $188 billion military spending bill, giving Reagan every major weapon he requested. Regarding the KAL jetliner tragedy. an apology. assurances against a recurrence. and willingness to compensate famlies of the victims clearly moral duties of the Soviets by Western standards e would have mitigated feelings and tempered worldwide protests. But what did USSR leaders do? For days they resisted the international clamor for specifics on their role in the disaster. Finally i in the face of damning evidence in Allied tape recordings of conversations between Soviet pilots and the ground command e they acknowledged shooting the KAL passenger aircraft from the skies. But the Soviets coupled the admission with spy charges against America, which the U.S. quickly denied as preposterous. They refused even to accept demands for reparations to the families. Joined by Poland. the USSR vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution deploring the attack on the unarmed passenger plane. As if that were not enough, they wamed the world they would “do it again” if intruder planes infringe on their air space. Would they like other nations to follow the same policy? In his recent address, President Reagan said commercial aircraft from the Soviet Union and Cuba have overflown sensitive U. S. military facilities “on a number of occasions.” They were not shot down. Very recently, First Deputy Foreign Minister Georgi M. Kornienko held a news conference in which he demonstrated no letup in USSR bellicosity and fact-twisting. Repeating the charge that the airliner was on a spy mission for the U.S., Kornienko asserted that Sovietpaid compensation would be “inappropriate because not only the financial responsibllty but the entire responsibility should he borne by those that made it (the airliner) an instrument of their dirty policies.” Confusingly, while pursuing the spy theme, Russian spokesmen have reiterated that it was “absolutely impossible” for a fighter pilot to discern at night between a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet tthe airliner) and a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance plane. a claim strongly refuted by Western experts. if the Soviets couldn’t be certain about the plane’; identity, why did they fire the missiles? On a leon tragic scale, the act might be considered akin to an irresponsible hunter shoottng infn a bush because something moved. The possibility of such trigger-happy persons being associated with nuclear weapons is unsettling, to say the least. Aftershocks of the KAL disaster will continue. The Incident must never be forgotten. But the larger issue now ls nuclear arms control – safeguarding humanity from a holocaust too horrible to imagine, Even though the Soviets have a record of ignoring treaties when this suits their interests, the U.S. and Runsians must apply renewed energy to reach verifiable and enforceable accords in current Geneva negotiations on intermediate-range weapons in Europe. Equally vital are the START talks for arms reduction due to resume in October, Somehow, in spite of differences – and of. feelings aroused by recent happenings – common sense must prevail for the future of mankind.