February 6, 2023
Washington Times article by Mike Glenn
U.S. tracked Chinese spy balloon from the start but held off on attack, NORAD commander says
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4129102/posts
EXCERPT:
NORAD, the Pentagon‘s command defending North America, was tracking the Chinese surveillance balloon well before it entered U.S. or Canadian airspace, its commander said Monday, noting that at about 200 feet tall and carrying a payload the size of a jet airliner, it would have been hard for trackers to miss.
But Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of NORAD, said that as the suspected spy surveillance craft made its way across Alaska and Canada before crossing back into U.S. territory last week, there wasn’t much the military could do without a presidential order to act, given there was no imminent threat seen to the homeland.
“The domain awareness was there as it approached Alaska. It was my assessment that this balloon did not present a physical or military threat to North America,” Gen. VanHerck told Pentagon reporters on Monday. “I could not take immediate action because it was not demonstrating a hostile act or hostile intent.”
The apparent defensive posture of the USA is the ostrich pose... head in the sand...or the teenage slouch (suggesting that America doesn’t care about defending itself).