Musk admits the throttle he blamed on Washington was his own, the same day service was restored.

…(cont) On October 15, Russian strikes hit while the outage was still being worked; NBC reported Ukrainian officials blaming Musk's restrictions for drones losing connection in flight, and Musk, in the same report, pointing at Trump. Each side had an alibi. The drones still lost signal.

On October 19, Zelenskyy said Washington gave no warning before Russian strikes hit Kyiv's power plants — a different system, the same silence. Moscow grounded flights again.

By October 24, Starlink and Starshield were both back at full speed. That is the day Musk told CBS the slowdown had been SpaceX's own decision, made over drone strikes — not Washington's policy, not a technical fault, a choice with an author, named at last by the man who made it. By the time the admission arrived, the drones were already flying at full speed again; the week of mutual blame had already been spent, and nothing in the record says it cost the company anything to spend it.

A communications network one company can turn down without notice and turn back up without explanation was never a utility. It was a leash, and the week showed whose hand was on it. The fix, once it came, was the easiest kind: flip the switch back. The restriction itself had only ever been bunk.

In lieu of flowers, Congress should require any contractor supplying wartime infrastructure to disclose, in writing and before the fact, who holds the authority to restrict it.