I think I'm more inclined to believe the PRC line, first impression of the story which I guess a lot of people are just ignoring for :us-foreign-policy:, yeah why would they use a balloon and why would it even be worth the US elevating it to the public if they were.
At the same time, why not just float dubious weather balloons over the continental US? Ultimately it's just going to be embarrassing for everyone involved who makes a big deal of it, especially internationally in the parts of the world China is currently making inroads with often for the first time.
And it wouldn't fucking matter either way lol
Should be a red flag for everyone that this thing isn't what the government is claiming it is since they waited until it made the cross country trip before shooting it down.
But knowing Americans it will be seen as either
-Biden was just waiting to be sure no civilians are hurt by the debris.-Libs
-Biden is incompetent and possibly Chinese agent.-Conservatives
As explained in the article, they didn't want debris to fall. Also they admit that it doesn't provide any information a satellite couldn't provide.
The US should have surrendered to the balloon. It would have been a merciful ruler.
It would have been a merciful ruler.
I would have ran the place like a bad HOI4 game
So what happens when they recover this thing and discover it was just some amateur radio project or an actual weather balloon?
They'll lie.
The Pentagon will have a press conference and the spokesperson will say something like "We know the press wants details but in the interests of national security we are not at liberty to divulge yada yada yada..."
Don't forget some off the record source will say something like "high ranking officials are still seriously concerned about the surveillance capabilities of this craft and are developing protocols to deal with it in the future."
“high ranking officials are still seriously concerned about the surveillance capabilities of this craft and are developing protocols to deal with it in the future.”
That sounds exactly like something a Pentagon stooge working for MSNBC as some kind of "security expert" would say.
Ninja edit: It's a perfect fit. That's Ken Dilanian of MNSBC. I really hate that guy. Everything he says sounds like it was approved by the Pentagon, the CIA or similar.
Quietly sweep this under the rug and move the news back onto covering Trump and forget it happened lol
Nothing. This is just going to be memory holed, like every other bad thing the USA did
It will be like when the cops find some candles at a protest and documeny them as "incendiary devices".
Didn't they do that just the other day at the Cop City protests near Atlanta? It was a fucking camp stove. There were also "stabbing weapons" (a pair of scissors) recovered from the CRIME SCENE!
why do you think they waited to shoot it down until it was over the ocean
They hit the bottom (non-balloon) part of it with a missile. I doubt much is left. It was also over the water.
Using a fighter jet to shoot a balloon is a perfect metaphor for how stupid this country is.
We had some good slop thanks to that balloon, rest in power.
old Joe didn’t want people thinking he’s “weak on China”
I didn't think who is "toughest on China" would be a 2024 talking point but I'm now 100% sure it will be.
Related - https://hexbear.net/post/249465
The collective sigh of over 300 million americans as they can now rest easy knowing that china will no longer be able to spy on them masturbating in their backyard.
Amazon's BMS drones buzz happily. They are also known as Backyard Masturbation Spy Drones.
I'm fine with Jeff Bezos watching me crank the ol' hog but I draw the line at that shifty bastard Xi, he may NOT watch 😤
accompanied by the much smaller collective sigh of 20 thousand hexbear users who are sad for exactly the same reason
Xi you are genius. Your balloons are worth pennies, meanwhile the US Air Force is forced launch super wholesome F-22 Raptorinos armed with state-of-the-art AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles to shoot it down. It costs millions to shoot down the funni balloons
Iron dome missile price: $100000
Hamas rocket price: whatever the cost of scrap metal and RDX is
Bankrupt Israel with this one weird trick.
its a good thing the US didnt cave into china’s psychological warfare by shooting down the balloon with a fighter jet instead of the top secret weapon China was baiting the US into using.
The Space Force almost used their secret Orbital MAC Cannon on it, but level-headed Joe saw through China's game.
The visit was intended to reinforce communication and cooperation between the two countries as tensions have deepened over China’s increasing military aggression toward Taiwan and closer alliances with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Any idea what they're talking about "agression toward Taiwan" or are they just making things up?
Biden concluded that the U.S. would not shoot down the balloon because debris from it could cause damage on the ground, a Pentagon official said. Moreover, any information the balloon collects would have “limited additive value” compared with China’s spy satellites.
:he-admit-it: the balloon wouldn't add any valuable info
agression toward Taiwan”
drills in the straits precipitated by Pelosi's visit to taipei. so like it is made up but concrete enough if you leave out the context
So if this was an actually spy balloon, would shooting it down not be a direct act of war?
No since china claims it’s a weather balloon. But even if it was a spy balloon, I imagine it wouldn’t be an act of war since it’s unarmed and and incapable of doing anything to harm the country
it's US airspace. legally, the US has every right to shoot it down.
Didn't stop Trump from threatening to bomb Iran over shooting a drone in its airspace.
actions against spies/surveillance in a country's borders is not a hostile act against the spying country. spies do not enjoy diplomatic status and definitionally break the laws of the country they spy on.
