According to a media report, the U.S. government knew a Chinese spy balloon was approaching the U.S. about a week ago, and their initial strategy was to do nothing an hope nobody noticed:
As it turns out, US authorities were well aware of the unidentified object that had entered American airspace on Jan. 28, that had then left and re-entered over North Idaho on Tuesday. But with such a high-profile trip at stake, keeping it on the down-low was key.
By the time the thing became visible in Montana, President Joe Biden had already been briefed and the White House was scrambling to decide whether to blast it from the sky.
The gravity of the situation was only exacerbated by Montana being home to Malmstrom Air Force Base, which houses a large portion of the US’s Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
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For now, the White House opted not to inform the American public. Events, however, soon forced Biden’s hand.
Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had high praise for Biden:
I strongly condemn President Xi’s brazen incursion into American airspace, and I commend President Biden’s leadership in taking down the Chinese balloon over water to ensure safety for all Americans. Now we can collect the equipment and analyze the technology used by the CCP.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 4, 2023
Now that whatever intel was gained has already been sent to Beijing Schumer’s looking forward to analyzing the technology.
Leadership? After 6 days? https://t.co/k1Xz20QRUg
— Liz Peek (@lizpeek) February 4, 2023
Biden could’ve shot it down before it entered US airspace or over a sparsely populated state like Montana. Biden let the spy craft complete its mission! Don’t act tough now. 😂
— Shawn Quinn (@ShawnQuinn83) February 4, 2023
Yes, after they are finished spying.
— 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Joy Middaugh 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JoyMiddaugh) February 4, 2023
Lol. Now they’re made of brass. https://t.co/fU2xMsBl1U
— Brittany Hughes (@RealBrittHughes) February 4, 2023
The belated “victory lap” will no doubt continue during Biden’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
BREAKING: The Pentagon briefed Biden last Saturday that the Chinese had violated our airspace with a spy craft, but Biden waited until Wednesday to order the Pentagon to shoot it down, and the Pentagon waited until Saturday to follow his order
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) February 4, 2023
Biden on takedown of Chinese spy balloon: “I told them to shoot it down on Wednesday. They said to me, 'let's wait for the safest place to do it." pic.twitter.com/vkOnByPKZr
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 4, 2023
This should be the actual takeaway from this event:
So the #ChineseSpyBalloon entered our airspace on January 28th, was able to spy on anything/everything it wanted, and wasn’t shot down until February 4th once it made it to the Atlantic Ocean. That’s a catastrophic failure for national security.
— Nick Short (@PoliticalShort) February 4, 2023
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Related:
Report: WH knew about the Chinese spy balloon a week ago but opted to hope nobody would notice it
Biden finally comments about the Chinese spy balloon over U.S.
David Axelrod has a problem with the Right’s response to the Chinese spy balloon situation
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