Shoot it down over international waters. Minimal damage to the payload upon recovery. Then see what the Chicom’s do.
“Shoot it down over international waters.”
Once that balloon makes it 24 miles off the US coast over international waters, we basically have lost legal authority to shoot it down. By doing so, it makes us the bad guy and the US will be condemned at the UN (for whatever that is worth). We should’ve forced it down over our own territory or our own waters. It is getting too late to do anything now.
“Shoot it down over international waters. Minimal damage to the payload upon recovery. Then see what the Chicom’s do.”
No, shoot it down within our territorial waters, which extend out 12 nautical miles from shore. That way the ChiComs and their acolytes can’t screech about it being shot down over international waters.