A massive United States flag draped over 230,000 pounds of rusted steel chained to the back of a semi truck Aug. 7 as the truck rolled onto Buckley AFB, Colo. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey sent the steel, believed to be from the top floors of the World Trade Center’s North Tower, to be used to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Security forces airmen stood guard overnight ensuring the steel reached its final destination in downtown Denver. Five of 16 pieces of steel from the World Trade Center passed through Buckley Sunday. The port authority will distribute the steel to all 50 states and seven countries.
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…