By Mark Figley
Guest Columnist
Just when you thought it was safe to look up in the sky, the Pentagon shot down an unknown object off the coast of Alaska, one over Canada and yet another over Michigan’s Lake Huron. At least two of them initially entered U.S. airspace undetected.
But first things first, as this comes one week after the recent Chinese balloon snafu.
If an unsuspecting gentleman from Montana had not caught an image of the balloon in the sky on his phone, would the Biden administration have ever informed us of any balloons? Then, whatever happened to a second such object that was reportedly in the air or a third that was said to be hovering somewhere over Latin America? And what explained the explosion that occurred in the sky over Billings, Montana, that was also caught on video?
Next, the balloon took some time to travel from the Chinese mainland to the United States. How long was the U.S. military actually monitoring it? When was Biden first informed about the balloon? Reports indicate that the balloon traveled over wide stretches of uninhabited Alaska and Montana, yet despite a supposed order from Biden to shoot it down on Wednesday, why did the military wait to shoot it down only after it reached open water off South Carolina on Saturday? And wouldn’t the debris have been easier to collect on dry land as opposed to diving for it in the Atlantic Ocean?
Naturally, the media has gone to great lengths to praise Biden for his handling of the balloon debacle. The military has dutifully joined in to give him cover. Though if this had been a Russian balloon, would we have adopted the same strategy? Furthermore, what would the media be saying?
Gen. Glen VanHerck dropped a bombshell when he stated that three Chinese spy balloons gathered intelligence on the U.S. undetected under Donald Trump. This was termed as a “domain awareness gap.” Another balloon violated U.S. airspace earlier in the Biden administration. As NORAD commander responsible for air security, why does the general still have his job?
After Trump and several officials from his administration said they were never informed of any suspected balloon incursions, VanHerck explained this was because they were undetected until after Trump left office. How so? Why was it never reported publicly or privately to members of the House or Senate intelligence committees? Has Biden ever raised the subject with Xi?
Then, interestingly, on the afternoon of Biden’s State of the Union address, a scheduled press conference at the Pentagon to discuss the balloon incident was canceled. Would this have undercut Biden’s spotlight later that evening?
Lastly, why has Joe failed to take any opportunity to speak to the nation about the entire incident? That’s especially after reports that China’s Xi warned of a response and hung up the phone on Biden during a subsequent conversation, a la Saudi Crown Prince bin Salman.
Incredibly, Biden spent all of 65 seconds vaguely mentioning China’s recent balloon caper during his prime-time address. This cheap victory lap was nothing more than his way of wishing the whole sordid thing would just go away or a realization that this national embarrassment was something not even he could spin a yarn big enough to cover.
By its own admission, our military has failed over two administrations to protect us from this new Chinese threat. America’s armed forces have not won a major military conflict since World War II, choosing to concentrate instead on things such as CRT indoctrination and COVID mandates, thus straying from its mission.
This is a condemnation not of U.S. forces but of their leaders. And while it may help explain our recent failure to confront China, it does not excuse it, especially when Biden’s compromised position in standing up to Beijing can only signal more dangerous challenges ahead.
It was more than simple coincidence that the Chinese balloon crossed over sensitive U.S. missile sites. At a time when Russia and Ukraine dominate the news, China has demonstrated that it is our greatest external threat. The question is, what does America intend to do about it?
Mark Figley is a political activist and guest columnist from Elida. His column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Lima News editorial board or AIM Media, owner of The Lima News.
