Posted on 02/03/2023 10:50:48 AM PST by Right Wing Vegan
GOP lawmakers are calling for the United States to shoot down the alleged Chinese spy balloon found floating over Montana on Wednesday.
The Pentagon said it would not shoot down the balloon, arguing it "does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground at this time," and China blamed the incursion into U.S. airspace on a civilian aircraft that had deviated off course. Montana is home to sensitive nuclear military installations.
"It was a mistake to not shoot down that Chinese spy balloon when it was over a sparsely populated area," Sen. Marco Rubio (FL), the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, tweeted. "This is not some hot air balloon, it has a large payload of sensors roughly the size of two city buses & the ability to maneuver independently."
"President Biden should stop coddling and appeasing the Chinese communists," Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) tweeted on Friday. "Bring the balloon down now and exploit its tech package, which could be an intelligence bonanza."
A defense official said Thursday the intelligence value of the destroyed balloon would be minimal and that the Defense Department doesn't want to risk hurting people on the ground.
Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) dismissed what he called "bowing" to China's "provocation."
"Shoot. It. Down. The Chinese spy balloon is clear provocation. In Montana we do not bow. We shoot it down. Take the shot," he tweeted on Thursday.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) emphatically agreed, saying the Pentagon's argument on safety "doesn't sell."
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) told Fox News the presence of the spy balloon is "disturbing."
Why hasn't the Biden administration shot this spy balloon down?" she asked. "It's very disturbing to know that it's still up there in the air near our military installations. The time is now. Let's get this thing out of the air."
Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said the U.S. government continues to monitor the balloon closely.
“Can’t something be tied to it and drag it down?”
It should be possible to recover this for study that way. It’s embarassing that we seem to be defenseless against this. We’ve had 80+ years to work on it. Now the Chinese claim it was a weather balloon. That’s the same crap we told the Russians in the 50’s.
Like Bidens approval ratings?
An extremely slow moving, known source of origin, visual object is a good idea?
Sorry. I didn’t realize a membership date took away from a valid point. Doesn’t change the fact that deep down, you know my take on the situation is most likely correct.
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
A foreign government military surveillance aircraft flying over American states sounds like an invasion to me. A state governor should authorize a shoot-down on their own authority.
-PJ
It’s probably a copy of our technology anyway. We probably have a few thousand in warehouses in Afghanistan.
Where are all the neocons on here that cheer for war against the nasty ROOOOSIANS?
A governor should send up a national guard F22 and shoot it down.
No "waste of ink" in this story, although plenty are investing quite a few keystrokes to claim so.
Trump would have dropped that like a bad habit and had the contents examined within 1 hour.
Cotton would prefer we coddle and appease Ukrianian grifters.
And we should expect the Bidet Regime to confront the CCP puppet masters who installed Slow Joe and the Ho?
Colonel.
So, the invasion of America is being planned along the northern border.
And the Russians are monitoring our reaction to the balloon, including spy satellites and (likely) on the ground agents from GRU and SVR. Same goes for China.
What’s interesting is the lying Communist Democrats in the White House are not the least bit interested about the contents.
Find it interesting they feel a device with all these sensors that is here to collect intelligence is no threat to us. That seems unlikely.
There must be a reason for this mission because otherwise they collect it from a spy satellite.
The spy satellites are only over a spot for a short period of time on each orbit so my guess is they want something that’s up there in real time 24 hours a day to observe things that are going on at our installations.
Giant Chinese Bat Fever Virus Squirt Gun.
So long as they’re not talking about the border....
True, so true. Best way to dispel theories and rumors is to bring it down and inspect it. Bunch of wusses in the White House, or Chinese puppets.
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