Posted on 02/06/2023 5:02:03 AM PST by FarCenter
That’s what great powers do, so get used to it
...
Consider this: The Chinese military has operated such endoatmospheric satellites over the hotly contested South China Sea for years. These balloons are cheap but effective tools for surveillance– and targeting. They are used by China to track US Navy warships transiting the South China Sea. The surveillance equipment is provided by China’s major technology firm Huawei.
To protect its own wounded political image at home, the Biden Administration has since released information that China launched three similar balloons into the United States during the Trump administration and the forty-fifth president did not respond. This behavior in the context of great power rivalry really is nothing new.
The recent comments by the American officials are clearly concerning to China. Given the trajectory of the Chinese spy balloon, it is obvious that it was surveying America’s nuclear weapons arsenal.
Plus, the altitude of the Chinese balloon gave it clear line-of-sight to sensitive US military satellites operating in low-Earth orbit. Beyond that, the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah – Area 52 – is the home of America’s hypersonic weapons tests.
Given China’s clear supremacy in hypersonic weapon technology, all these points of interest were likely the targets of the Chinese intelligence collection mission. They want to know if America is actually going to war, and if so war against whom and how China will be impacted by it.
This event was a nuisance and a terrible failure in deterrence on the part of the Biden Administration. The infernal balloon should’ve been shot down when it was over the Aleutians, not after it had traversed the whole North American continent.
The spy balloon’s presence over American skies was not, however, the end of the world.
Standing ready but being responsible
America must be vigilant awaiting the time when China seeks to upend the international order by force – which I believe it will. But Washington must balance that need for vigilance with the responsibility to maintain stability as best as it can – especially at a time as critical as the one we find ourselves in.
The last thing we need to be doing is picking fights with nuclear-armed Russia and China simultaneously. Washington must prepare for war without courting it. It is time for Americans to recognize the new geopolitical moment we find ourselves in and to recognize that the Chinese actions, while disturbing to the domestic peace, are normal in the context of great power relations.
We will do similar things to China and they will become angry at us for that.
America must do a better job of defending its airspace and deterring future behavior without escalating into the irrational area we all seem heading toward on this subject.
Finally, Americans must recognize that, as we are a great power, our behavior and our words affect the world. We should not be surprised when the world reacts to what we say and do, any more than our rivals should be offended when we respond to the questionable things they do and say.
Welcome to great power competition in the twenty-first century. Grin and bear it.
THAT says it all!!!
nothing more and the only reason is because we have an asshole president and committed to them
Divers from the US Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Salvage and Diving Unit 2 and cranes operating from the surface are expected to haul up the balloon’s payload in the coming days, according to a US defense official. The salvage operation is being managed by the commander of the USS Carter Hall, a dock landing vessel that normally carries US Marines and their equipment in an Amphibious Readiness Group, the official said.
The Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Philippine Sea and the USS Oscar Austin, a guided missile destroyer, were guarding the operation along with three US Coast Guard cutters — the USCGC Venturous, USCGC Richard Snyder and USCGC Nathan Bruckenthal.
They can intercept cell phone signals and monitor our communications, which satellites can’t do.
Giant condom.
Absolutely! The communications diagramming is worth a thousand pictures.
Spot on
At the time it was shot down, it was estimated to be at approx. 60,000 to 65,000 feet. At that altitude, there wouldn't be enough oxygen to sustain the engine.
Plus, if it was their intent to spy, it would have made more sense to fly directly east to the US rather than the thousands of miles NE to Alaska then back SE thru Canada into the US. The path it took appears to have been influenced by the shifting jet stream which travels west to east with shifting northerly and southerly winds.
Besides, satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. The antennas then capture those signals and process the information coming from those signals. So there is no reason to believe that the Chinese can't intercept those signals.
I’m not talking about satellite communication, I’m talking about cell tower communication.
If one is going to monitor cell tower communications, they would have to install a permanent clandestine operation near the tower communication network they wanted to monitor.
They wouldn't try it from a temporary fly over from a balloon at an altitude (58,000 - 60,000 ft.) nor would it even be possible since they were over 10 miles ABOVE any towers.
You're not going to get ANY cell tower connection at that altitude. Forget the fact that airlines request you turn off your cell phones while in flight but it's impossible for one to make a cell phone call at a cruising altitude of a mere 38,000 feet.
Why? Because you can't make any connection to any tower.
I seem to recall the government once telling us the raid on Benghazi was caused by an anti-Muslim Video. And the list goes on.
"The balloon “was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations”
Sounds legitimate, doesn't it? OK, time to move on.
So who in the MSM is asking the question "How do they know this if they blew the damn thing to smithereens and the parts are scattered in the ocean?"
The reality is, they don't but they have to come up with some damn story they think the MSM and the public will accept.
Well I don't accept it and I want someone in the MSM to start asking the critical questions that need to be answered.
What I find disappointing was the fact that I entered into a two hour discussion with another FReeper last night about the ability to propel and navigate that balloon at the altitude of 68,000 feet.
He had his arguments and I had mine. Personally, I feel that my arguments outweighed his and he was never able to counter the physics I presented to show that it was almost impossible.
But that is irrelevant. What was most disconcerting was the fact that he was willing to accept this government's explanation of the alleged "spy balloon" and go out of his way to delegitimize my concerns. But that's the nature of debates, I have nothing against him for that since he did offer some valid points.
But back to the article you directed me to, I would like to hear from the government how exactly they know what kind of communication surveillance equipment was on that balloon and what kind of communications they were monitoring since it was blasted to pieces.. If it was cell phone communications, that would be an impossibility.......
If it was satellite communications, the Chinese already have satellites in orbit that are doing that very thing.........
Would it be "Chinese Weather Balloon spotted over the US"?
Or
"Chinese Spy Balloon discovered flying over military bases"?
That's how it works.....grab the headlines and run with it.
Because we used to send balloons. You go with what works.
The blasted the balloon to pieces, the cargo underneath is not blown to pieces, it will be damage in the fall, but not blown up.
Whatever, who the F' cares. From a 68,000 foot freefall, there ain't gonna be much to recover. And don't you find it a little bit strange that they have already identified the pieces and particles that may have been discovered as being communication surveillance equipment or was that a pre-planned narrative?
I'll leave it up to you to believe the government narrative.
As for me, there's not a God damn thing they have been telling us that makes any sense despite your attempt to convince me they are.
End of conversation
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.