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Biden allows Chinese spy balloon over US


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13 minutes ago, Aristides said:

Did you bother to read the article? The thing is the size of three busses. The military doesn't want to shoot it down because it might injure someone on the ground. It came from Canadian airspace.

Well Trudeau does work for the Chinese so not surprised

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Several U.S. media sources have reported that the balloon's ISR (intel  collection) payload has been "disabled", but it is unclear how this was accomplished.   [The F-22 has a wing mounted 20mm cannon (M61 Vulcan).]

The U.S. has spy balloons too...they are used for ISR off the coast of southern California, East Coast, Midwest and southern border.  Loiter times can be greater than 30 days.   Israel has used them for years.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40638/what-we-know-about-the-high-tech-balloons-lingering-off-the-coasts-of-the-u-s-recently

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5 hours ago, Contrarian said:

United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken postpones trip to China after Chinese spy balloon tracked flying across US. 

The Communist Party in China had the nerve to see it was for meteorology purposes. 

You know if they just had a large crossbow, they could make a small puncture and bring it down without it crashing. Maybe even tow it to a preferred landing site.

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27 minutes ago, Contrarian said:

The US government said not to shoot it down due to debris.

It was what would happen if they used missiles carried by the F22 reconnaissance jets. It would crash uncontrolled.

If they just puncture the balloon it would just drift down and NOT leave a large patch of debris.

Presuming of course that the balloon doesn't POP.

27 minutes ago, Contrarian said:

The only issue will be if this balloons makes it to the militia area in Montana for sure will be taken down. Those boys are training in the woods for the end of times for so long now, maybe they find a purpose if they see this object ?

Only way those guys are going to bring it down with their pea shooters is if it pops. I think they might put a dozen small holes in it, but it will drift away before landing.

Edited by robosmith
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2 minutes ago, herbie said:

Maybe they wouldn't shoot it down because they thought the Chinese used acetylene in the balloon as the USA pretty much has a lock on helium....

that would be fun to watch!

Ok, then red hot lead would certainly make it POP. They could have used hydrogen which would probably just burn like the Hindenburg and that would crash because the balloon would burn up way before it hit the ground.

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As expected, this has turned into a political problem for Joe Biden, as his detractors predictably accuse him of weak inaction when faced with a "Chinese spy balloon" in U.S. airspace.

This scenario reminds me of the Japanese balloon bombs that attacked western Canada and the U.S. during WW2 (1945).   Government officials did not want wide publicity because of the fear it would stoke in the general population.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1945-japanese-balloon-bomb-killed-six-americansfive-them-children-oregon-180972259/

 

Canada's RCAF actually shot some down....

https://valourcanada.ca/military-history-library/japanese-balloon-bombs/

 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, bush_cheney2004 said:

As expected, this has turned into a political problem for Joe Biden, as his detractors predictably accuse him of weak inaction when faced with a "Chinese spy balloon" in U.S. airspace.

 

I think the Japanese balloons actually killed somebody.

 

The point that people are missing is that the Pentagon itself released this information. It does not look good for Joe Biden I agree, but they approved the release of this ultimately.

 

And why?

 

The reason I come up with is that they're trying to turn public tide hard against China and continue the work that Donald Trump started.

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Quote

The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.

It's just the right altitude for an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) weapon though, I think.

I wonder where you'd detonate to take out as much of the West Coast communications grid as you could.

I don't think Vancouver would do well.

I heard there's another one making it's way over. Canada should let the Americans take it out over our vast forest.

Edited by Infidel Dog
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Regardless of the actual threat or non-threat that this high altitude balloon represents, the White House and Pentagon are faced with some very basic questions with few answers thus far:

1) How long has this been going on ?

2) Why couldn't the balloon be detected, intercepted, and "neutralized" earlier in its flight path ?

3) Sarcastically, why spend billions on missile defense if the Pentagon and allies cannot/will not stop a balloon/blimp (technology that pre-dates the U.S. Civil War) ?

So we can expect the usual narrative is being developed behind the scenes while appearing to be "tough on China".    Spying is spying...the U.S. does plenty of it around the world....more than many other nations...and better than China.  

I gotta believe some yahoos are shooting at the damn thing just for fun !

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13 minutes ago, Contrarian said:

...Sorry folks, my BIAS is to say good for the Americans, if this is the tactic. One way or another, China needs to be reminded that Nixon's time has passed. 

Is just a big game of power chess in my opinion, the Americans have cancelled the meeting and now more consequences will come...

 

 

Fair enough...this is part of the problem.   Nixon had a Cold War backdrop with boundaries to inform such matters, and the U.S. State Dept. had more "gravitas" with diplomacy.   Now it is just a crap shoot.

China is more than likely to be contrite this time around because the cost to save face is not very high, and Xi wants to play ball at some level because of the disturbance Putin has caused in global commerce.

Add Taiwan and North Korea to the mix, and it is easy to relegate a spy balloon to the historical minor league, but it's a talker right now for 'merkins waiting another week for the Super Bowl .

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13 hours ago, Contrarian said:

United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken postpones trip to China after Chinese spy balloon tracked flying across US. 

The Communist Party in China had the nerve to say it was for meteorology purposes. 

Trump should shoot it down and get China to pay for it.  The costs involved, and any damages incurred. 

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14 minutes ago, sharkman said:

Trump should shoot it down and get China to pay for it.  The costs involved, and any damages incurred. 

What kind of surface to air capabilities does he have at Mar-a-Lago?

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49 minutes ago, bcsapper said:

What kind of surface to air capabilities does he have at Mar-a-Lago?

I take it you never heard of Trump's battles of his youth with Ming the Merciless?

He's still got the jet bike though:

Saviour-of-the-universe.jpg

This was way back when he went by the name Flash.

Don't know what I'm talking about, do you?

That's OK. I'll show you.

Oh, and that wasn't a jet, Sharkman. ;)

Edited by Infidel Dog
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