Originally posted by seanD
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Why Haven't We Shot Down Spy Balloon?
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Oddly enough, the DoD is one agency that I would not expect to always tell the truth. Some of their official statements are meant to bluff adversaries.
Having said this, this current business about previous balloons is bizarre. China (of course) is claiming that this has never happened before. I wouldn't expect them to back up the DoD.
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Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
"But it happened to Trump, too!" is classic deflection. This incident made Joe look like a complete moron, so the White House is doing anything it can to try and polish his turd of an image.
And he didn't act like my dog would: "It's in my territory, I must attack now!"
But I don't think that really makes him look bad. YMMV
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Originally posted by Stoic View Post
I believe it was the defense department that said they could not verify that story.
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Originally posted by seanD View PostThe story that the DoD had records of Chinese spy crafts over the US multiple times yet didn't notify the Trump admin leaves lingering questions as to why they weren't notified of this. Why, that even seems to imply a "deep state" of sorts. I'd rather assume the easier route -- it's certainly not fantastical to believe government officials lie. They lied about it the first time. Former intelligence officials called out their lie. Then they had to revise the story accordingly.
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Originally posted by Stoic View Post
It looks like you would rather believe they lied, even if there is no reason to think so.
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Originally posted by Sparko View PostThe spokesgeneral said they took measures to disable it's ability to gather intel. I assume that means they probably shot some sort of EMP at it to fry the electronics.
“Currently, we assess that this balloon has limited added value from an intelligence collection perspective, but we are taking steps, nevertheless, to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information,”
But I agree they should have shot it down before it got into our airspace. That they didn't makes us look weak to the Chinese, or incompetent. Maybe we didn't even know about it until someone spotted it over the USA?
I think one reason the Chinese sent it was to gauge our reaction. Biden showed weakness. Even Obama would have shot the thing down over unpopulated land, or before it got to our shores, and then reamed out the Chinese for attempting to invade our airspace.
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Originally posted by shunyadragon View Post
Biden followed the advice if the military not to shoot down the balloon over land. The military deterrmined that the balloon did not represent an intelligence threat to US military bases and facilities, and yes, disabled the electronics of the craft.
This type of balloon transported device is terribly low tech. Everyone has sophisticated satellites including the Chinese far more capable than anything transported on a balloon. Calling it a 'spy balloon' is clearly hyperbole. I can get more information on the whole earth through google maps then this WW II technology. .
As for the military assuring us that they limited the balloon's intelligence gathering capabilities, I'm not buying it since it was still clearly under China's control for the duration of its flight. You know what would have really limited its intelligence gathering capabilities? If we had shot it down before it entered US air space!Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
Than a fool in the eyes of God
From "Fools Gold" by Petra
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Originally posted by Stoic View Post
Well, Joe didn't act like Donald "I know better than the generals" Trump.
And he didn't act like my dog would: "It's in my territory, I must attack now!"
But I don't think that really makes him look bad. YMMV
Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
Than a fool in the eyes of God
From "Fools Gold" by Petra
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Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
Clearly the best course of action was to allow China to collect as much intelligence data as they possibly could before shooting the balloon down over the ocean and rendering it unrecoverable.
I'm still mystified why this became official at the outset without them even attempting to try and cover this up. To me, that's the bigger story.
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Originally posted by seanD View Post
It looks like you'd rather believe there is a deep state within the DoD that keeps important international information from the POTUS. Yes, I'll choose they lied.
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Originally posted by Stoic View Post
I don't think it's considered keeping something from POTUS if they don't know about it themselves.
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Originally posted by Mountain Man View PostIf you really think that giant array suspended from the balloon was comparable to World War II technology, then you're delusional.
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Originally posted by seanD View PostYou just said (in fact emphasized it here multiple times) you accept the theory that they had records of this information they could search and recall. If they have records, then someone in the DoD obviously knew the crafts were there, yet didn't bother notifying the president or any intelligence official in his admin at the time. And if they knew these crafts were from China (and I see no reason not to think that) makes that implication even worse.
So your conclusion that someone in the DoD obviously knew the crafts were there is faulty.
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Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
Clearly the best course of action was to allow China to collect as much intelligence data as they possibly could before shooting the balloon down over the ocean and rendering it unrecoverable.
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