Project Azorian weighed intelligence against escalation risk

Why would the United States risk recovering K-129 if the operation could be described as an act of war?

Because the intelligence value could be judged worth the risk, even though the method was dangerous and ethically uncomfortable.

The recovery is treated as an intelligence operation whose potential value could outweigh its diplomatic danger. The method was neither pleasant nor free of consequences. Leaders may still choose a distasteful operation when they believe the information is necessary. That logic explains the risk without dismissing the possibility of escalation with the Soviet Union.