A Chinese national was arrested this week after allegedly photographing military aircraft at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. The base houses U.S. Strategic Command — you know, the people responsible for our nuclear deterrent — and apparently this gentleman thought it would be a lovely spot for some amateur photography. Of fighter jets. On a restricted military installation. In the middle of America’s heartland.

But sure, let’s all pretend this is a Yelp review situation. “Five stars, lovely tarmac, excellent selection of classified aircraft. Would spy again.”

We’ve been doing this dance for years now, folks. A Chinese national gets caught somewhere they absolutely should not be — a military base, a power grid facility, farmland conveniently located next to a weapons testing range — and every single time we act like it’s some kind of bizarre coincidence. Like Beijing just happens to breed the world’s most geographically confused tourists.

Let’s connect a few dots here, because apparently our intelligence community needs the help. This is not an isolated incident. Chinese nationals have been caught at or near military installations across this country with a regularity that would make a Swiss train conductor jealous. They’ve been found photographing facilities in Florida. They’ve been caught trespassing at bases in Texas. They’ve purchased farmland next to Air Force installations in North Dakota. At some point, “isolated incident” stops being an explanation and starts being a cover story.

The arrest happened on April 23rd, and to the credit of base security at Offutt, they actually caught the guy. That’s the good news. The bad news is the question nobody in Washington wants to answer: how many didn’t get caught? How many “amateur photographers” from Beijing have waltzed around our military infrastructure, snapped what they needed, and walked right back out?

We’re talking about Offutt Air Force Base. This isn’t some forgotten National Guard armory in the middle of nowhere. This is the headquarters of U.S. Strategic Command. The people who manage our nuclear triad operate out of this facility. The reconnaissance aircraft that fly out of Offutt are among the most sensitive platforms in our entire military. And some guy with a Chinese passport was out there playing paparazzi with a telephoto lens.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. “Bob, maybe he was just a tourist who wandered off the highway.” Right. Because when most people visit Nebraska, the first thing on their bucket list is photographing the underside of an RC-135 Rivet Joint. Forget the world’s largest ball of stamps in Boys Town — this guy wanted wing configurations.

The Chinese Communist Party has been running an intelligence collection operation against the United States that is breathtaking in its scale and brazenness. They use students, businessmen, tourists, and apparently amateur photographers. They buy farmland near bases. They launch spy balloons across the entire continental United States — and Joe Biden let one finish its cross-country tour before doing anything about it. They’ve infiltrated our universities, our tech companies, our research labs, and our political fundraising networks.

And what do we do? We arrest one guy, charge him, and then go right back to pretending this isn’t a pattern.

Here’s what should happen. Every single Chinese national caught conducting surveillance on American military installations should be treated as what they almost certainly are — an intelligence operative working on behalf of a hostile foreign government. Not a confused tourist. Not an overzealous bird watcher. A spy. Because when someone from a country that has publicly stated its intention to surpass American military power shows up at the headquarters of our nuclear command with a camera, the burden of proof should not be on us to prove hostile intent.

The fact that this keeps happening tells us two things. First, China isn’t even slightly afraid of getting caught, because the consequences are a joke. Second, the ones getting caught are probably the B-team. The ones who are actually good at this are getting what they need and going home.

We spent three years being told that a lab leak theory was racist misinformation. We were told a Chinese spy sleeping with a sitting congressman was no big deal. We were told a spy balloon was just a weather device. And now we’re supposed to believe that a Chinese national photographing nuclear command aircraft is just a quirky travel preference.

At some point, America, we have to stop being the dumbest superpower in history. The Chinese Communist Party is not sending their people to Nebraska for the steaks. They’re sending them for the secrets. And until we start treating this like the intelligence war it actually is, they’re going to keep coming back.

Good on Offutt security for catching this one. Now do the other hundred we missed.