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OPINION:
Even Barack Obama’s former defense secretary thinks Joe Biden went bust on the China spy balloon.
In an interview on “CNN Newsroom,” Leon Panetta, who served as Obama’s Defense Department secretary from July 2011 through February 2013, and as director of the Central Intelligence Agency from February 2009 to June 2011, said: “I think we should have acted earlier.”
No duh.
It would seem a no-brainer that spy balloons sent by foreign nations over America’s lands should be shot down — immediately. A White House that balks at this duty is a White House that should be investigated for compromise and conflict of interest. Where are the catcalls about President Biden and China collusion, China collusion, China collusion?
“So the question obviously is — [the] Pentagon said that there were risks here,” Panetta said, The Hill reported. “I understand that argument that there were debris risks. At the same time, I think we should have acted earlier if our suspicions were valid that this was in fact on an intelligence mission.”
The spy balloon was reported on Jan. 28 by the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Seven days after entering U.S. airspace, Team Biden shot it down, as it drifted over the Atlantic Ocean. In the days between, the White House scurried to explain that the delay was due to concerns about citizens and whether shot-down debris might cause a safety issue.
But if that’s the standard — then America’s trouble with this one spy balloon from China is just the beginning.
Telling the world that America won’t shoot down any surveillance systems that fly over lands occupied by U.S. citizens is pretty much an open-door invite to come fly surveillance systems over U.S. lands.
From CNN: “[Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin and [Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark A.] Milley told Biden the risks of shooting the balloon down were too high while it was moving over the US, given the chance the debris could endanger lives or property on the ground below.”
Translation: All foreign spies, welcome.
Team Biden is so weak. And compromised.
China collusion!
“Minutes after the balloon was shot down,” CNN wrote, “a reporter asked Biden what message his decision [to shoot down the balloon] sent to China. He looked on silently before stepping into his SUV.”
That’s about right.
Speechless, bumbling Biden.
Even former Obama faces are starting to agree.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
