Usually, high-ranking military officials are the ones with stern looks and bulging veins in their necks as they chew out an underling. Thursday Pentagon officials were taking the verbal heat from U.S. Senators visibly ticked off about the way the military handled the Chinese spy balloon floating carefree in our airspace before it was shot down.
Jon Tester blasted four Defense Department officials sitting in front of him.
“I don’t want a damn ballon going over the United States when we could’ve taken it down over the Aleutian Islands.”
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski told the officials for her it was personal.
“As an Alaskan, I am so angry. Alaska is the first line of defense for America… It’s like this administration doesn’t think that Alaska is any part of the rest of the country!”
When the Pentagon officials had their chance to defend themselves for their actions, they made it clear they wanted to preserve the equipment in the balloon that could reveal secrets. Here’s what Assistant Secretary of Defense Melissa Dalton said.
“A key part of the calculus for this operation was the ability to salvage, understand and exploit the capabilities of the high-altitude balloon. If we had taken it down over the state of Alaska … it would have been a very different recovery operation and would make recovery and salvage operations very dangerous.”
The House was busy discussing the spy balloon too, and they passed a resolution condemning the Chinese Communist Party 419-0.
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