Eye on the West
A big incident that happened a year ago involving a Chinese spy balloon flying over top-secret defense facilities in the United States. It was a disaster for President Joe Biden's administration, and there are some pretty shocking things that came to light. Let's dive in!
Scandal 1: American Agencies Knew About the Balloon
Believe it or not, American agencies have known about the Chinese balloon monitoring program for years! They even track these balloons using satellites. So, the government had information about this spy balloon, but they didn't do much about it.
Scandal 2: Lack of Alertness
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORD) is responsible for protecting North America from threats. They rely on agencies to alert them about potential dangers. But guess what? They didn't get alerted about the spy balloon until it was too late!
Scandal 3: Radar Capabilities
NORD has radars that can detect fast-moving targets. They can even remove filters to detect slow-moving objects like the spy balloon. But the administration claimed they couldn't do it in time. Hmm, sounds fishy!
Scandal 4: Lack of Warning
The fighter wing at Elmendorf Air Base didn't get a heads-up about the spy balloon until the day before it flew over. This meant they had less time to prepare and respond to the threat. Not cool!
Scandal 5: Ignoring Past Experiments
Even though the administration said they didn't know about the capabilities of these spy balloons, the Department of Defense actually experimented with similar technology in 2019. They knew what these balloons could do, but they didn't take action.
Scandal 6: Accuracy of Spy Balloons
These spy balloons can capture images with incredible accuracy, even better than satellites! They can get as close as 5 centimeters to the Earth, which is super precise. So, the administration's claim that they weren't a security risk doesn't hold up.
Scandal 7: Intelligence Signals
Proximity plays a big role in collecting intelligence signals. The Ministry of Defense knew the spy balloon was a major threat, but they didn't do anything about it. The question is, why didn't NORD shoot it down?
Scandal 8: Lack of Authority
NORD has the power to deal with immediate threats, but they need approval from the President or Secretary of Defense for non-imminent threats. In this case, the commander informed the Joint Chiefs of Staff about the spy balloon, but they didn't get a response in time.
Scandal 9: Delayed Response
The Biden administration didn't take any action for three whole days! It wasn't until January 31 that President Biden asked for military options. By then, the spy balloon had already completed its mission. They could have stopped it earlier, but they didn't.
Scandal 10: More Balloons Shot Down
After the first spy balloon incident, three more balloons were shot down. This shows that NORD had the capability to locate and take them down. So, why didn't they do it sooner?
These scandals reveal a lot about the incompetence and hesitation of President Biden's administration. The United States was put in danger because of their actions.
Source: The Intercept
