I the first week of February, a Chinese spy balloon flew across the United States, causing upheaval from coast to coast. It was finally shot down off the coast of South Carolina.

Amid criticism for its slow response to this obvious threat to national security, the Biden administration's Defense Department claimed that spy balloons flew over the country during former President Donald Trump's tenure in office, but that his administration never detected them.

In essence, the implication was, "At least we were on our guard and managed to detect the balloon. The Trump administration hopelessly failed by not detecting multiple balloons."

While this narrative does further the Democrats' political goal of making Biden look like a competent commander in chief and Trump like a dangerous buffoon, unfortunately for them, that is not the full story.

The balloons that allegedly flew over the U.S. during the Trump administration could have gone undetected because the method to track the balloons was not developed until after he left office.

According to CNN, "a Chinese spy balloon briefly transited the continental United States" after Biden took office. Following that incident, the intelligence community developed a method by which it could detect and track the balloons.

The fact that the country now has a method specifically to track balloons puts Biden in an even tougher position after last week's debacle. We were prepared for this exact scenario -- and we did nothing.

Indeed, the Pentagon did finally shoot down the spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, but not before it had crossed the entire country and had the opportunity to send information back to Beijing.

This balloon should have been shot down before it ever reached American shores. As we just saw in Alaska, we are perfectly capable of downing unidentified airborne objects. There is absolutely no reason why the Biden administration needed to wait so long.

JUST IN - The closest and clearest video of the moment China spy balloon got shot pic.twitter.com/05bBH0UCOT

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) February 4, 2023

For what it's worth, Trump has said that if a Chinese spy balloon had been detected on his watch, "we would have shot it down immediately."

After the balloon was shot down, parts of it were recovered in the ocean.

China, incredibly, demanded their return.

BREAKING🚨: China calls on US to return spy balloon debris

A high-ranking Chinese diplomat has called on the US to return the debris from the spy balloon shot down over the weekend, saying that failure to give back the parts would be more proof that the Americans have been… https://t.co/QlR0XSEhj1 pic.twitter.com/0sOxkG6kj4

— Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) February 9, 2023

If the Biden administration is not willing to take swift action against hostile forces, the American people will lose confidence in the ability of their government to protect them.

But it will also send a signal to our foreign adversaries (Russia and China most of all) that we are indecisive and unwilling to stand firm against their aggressions.

We need strong leadership that will instill confidence in the American people and our allies, and make our enemies really think before they attempt to take action against us.

The Biden administration has repeatedly shown that it cannot provide that strong leadership, and thus, we will continue to be subject to incidents like this one.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.