We’ve all heard about the recent crop of spy balloons from foreign nations, but CNN reported that a balloon from China flew over Florida in 2019 while Trump was president and yet he was not informed about this. The military bizarrely asserts now that it did not become aware of this violation of our airspace until years after the fact.
It was only the public sighting of one of these balloons over Montana that caused the Deep State to admit that it has known about them, and yet done nothing. Days of indecision by Biden followed, when he should have acted decisively at the outset.
Biden says now that he ordered the latest balloon shot down as soon as the military deemed it appropriate, but then the military waited until the balloon floated offshore before downing it. Military brass allowed the balloon to traverse the United States and thereby electronically send back to China immediately as much information as it could gather. China admits that its balloon had some steering capability, which implies that its travels were being controlled by signals from the communist country. Such instantaneous communication through satellites is commonplace now.
By allowing the balloon to complete its journey across our country, the Deep State permitted China to obtain everything it wanted. Shooting it down over the Atlantic Ocean was nearly pointless. The lame excuse was offered that the military did not want to hurt any Americans should the balloon be downed over land, but it is hard to believe that the American military could not find a big enough field in the state of Montana to take down a hot air balloon. If our military capabilities are truly that limited, we are in more trouble than I thought.
This balloon debacle underscores a dangerous disconnect between the Commander in Chief and the American military. President Biden might be a weak leader, but the U.S. Constitution makes clear that the office of the Commander in Chief should not be dismissed by unelected military bigwigs. The President needs to be briefed on foreign incursions like this, and when he says to take the balloon down, it ought to be dealt with immediately.
This post originally appeared at https://www.phyllisschlafly.com/national-sovereignty/communism/military-hesitation-underscores-authority-issue/