The US air force admitted to deploying weapons in space. Don’t expect the White House to explain why

In Hollywood at least, space weapons are a relatively simple concept. The good guys, from Captain Kirk and his crew in Star Trek, to Luke Skywalker’s rebel alliance in Star Wars, battle intergalactic villains with an array of colorful lasers and particle-beam cannons, then the bad guys get dispatched in a spectacular, explosive finale.

The messaging coming out of the White House on the subject, by contrast, could not be more vague.