At last, a voice of sanity. With all they have in orbit and space why send a balloon? But why delay a trip to China? What happened? Trivial dispute or a "deal breaker?" I expect that Biden wants a comprehensive deal to manage trade, Ukraine and even N Korea and Taiwan with a path to a future of cooperation; uh like Nixon and Kissinger did.
A bit more research has reminded me that the USA has pushed a treaty for open skies in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_Open_Skies. If China signs on, will this end the questions and make it legal for both the USA and China to have surveillance over the skies of both nations. Will anyone mention this treaty? or does anyone remember it? What is going on now?
OK. I did forget that Trump pulled us out of the Treaty frame. Then Russia also left. But we and Russia can rejoin if and when we want. It is an active group and this may solve a lot of problems. Why worry about balloons and drones (which may be impossible to restrict) when we have so much in space? Just let everyone snoop.
Like others, I'm mystified by the over-the-top reaction to China's "losing" control of its balloon, especially from the Congress. Shoot it down! Shoot it down! We do and these same folks are talking about it as if we look weak for waiting until it was over water. To me, the most interesting question is "Who in Beijing decided to send the ballon on its mission to coincide with the US Secretary of State's scheduled arrival in China?" Was it a mistake or purposeful?
Good question. Shades of the CIA sending a U2 spy plane over the Soviet Union as Eisenhower headed to a summit with Khruschev in 1960. A stupid mission, or on purpose?
Well said, a necessary take on this overblown story
At last, a voice of sanity. With all they have in orbit and space why send a balloon? But why delay a trip to China? What happened? Trivial dispute or a "deal breaker?" I expect that Biden wants a comprehensive deal to manage trade, Ukraine and even N Korea and Taiwan with a path to a future of cooperation; uh like Nixon and Kissinger did.
A bit more research has reminded me that the USA has pushed a treaty for open skies in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_Open_Skies. If China signs on, will this end the questions and make it legal for both the USA and China to have surveillance over the skies of both nations. Will anyone mention this treaty? or does anyone remember it? What is going on now?
OK. I did forget that Trump pulled us out of the Treaty frame. Then Russia also left. But we and Russia can rejoin if and when we want. It is an active group and this may solve a lot of problems. Why worry about balloons and drones (which may be impossible to restrict) when we have so much in space? Just let everyone snoop.
Like others, I'm mystified by the over-the-top reaction to China's "losing" control of its balloon, especially from the Congress. Shoot it down! Shoot it down! We do and these same folks are talking about it as if we look weak for waiting until it was over water. To me, the most interesting question is "Who in Beijing decided to send the ballon on its mission to coincide with the US Secretary of State's scheduled arrival in China?" Was it a mistake or purposeful?
Good question. Shades of the CIA sending a U2 spy plane over the Soviet Union as Eisenhower headed to a summit with Khruschev in 1960. A stupid mission, or on purpose?