(image from wiki commons)
Though I've been writing essays every day for a year now, every one of them dealing at least partially with the pandemic, only twice have I ventured into the controversy over whether the virus that causes Covid-19 may have been created in a Chinese lab.
The first time was last April 15th (I'll reprint a summary of that piece below), when I recounted the sordid history of the U.S. government's experimentation with biological agents against its own population. To me, that is important context for this conversation.
The second time is today.
Like everything about this pandemic, its origin a loaded issue, since Trump demonized the "China virus," implying at times that it may have been a deliberate plot by the Communist regime in Beijing.
While that still could be true, I doubt it. But an accidental lab origin scenario is more persuasive.
Nicholson Baker, an author I've long respected, recently published his detailed inquiry in New York magazine assessing whether SARS-CoV-2 originated in nature or escaped from China's only BSL-4 lab in Wuhan. <https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/coronavirus-lab-escape-theory.html>
(A BSL-4 laboratory is a maximum-security biosafety facility that conducts research on the most dangerous known pathogens.) The facility in question is called the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and the U.S. government has partially funded its work for years.
First, Nicholson documents that there have been repeated accidents, exposures and deaths over the many decades that biological agents have been studied at BSL-4 labs in the U.S.
In the case of SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19), its specific characteristics more closely resemble an organism cultivated in a lab, Nicholson contends, than any that are known to occur in nature. But scientists are divided about this point and there remains broad controversy over his interpretation.
The Chinese government early on chose to suppress any suggestion that the virus may have been of an artificial (i.e. lab) origin, so very little useful information has emerged from the birthplace of the pandemic. Now, however, the World Health Organization has sent a team of experts to Wuhan to probe the virus's origins so new information may emerge in the coming months.
We should all be paying close attention.
While we await the outcome of WHO's investigation, Nicholson suggests that the RaTG13 bat virus, which is the closest known cousin to SARS-CoV-2 and has been used in experiments at the Wuhan facility for years, may have somehow escaped the lab and caused this awful pandemic.
His is the most logical theory I have seen to date. If it proves to be true, or even if it doesn't, we need to consider whether the kind of research conducted at BSL-4 labs really is in our best interests. It is much like nuclear bomb research -- the risks simply seem too high.
Human error is not the only issue here. We also have to be cognizant of the ever-present danger of corruption. In a disturbing development yesterday, a whistleblower report broke indicating that the agency of the U.S. government engaged in managing this highly sensitive work -- the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority -- has misused millions of dollars of funds.
Just imagine the national security risks inherent in that situation!
***
And now, for readers who are interested in my earlier work on the origin of Covid-19, I'm reprinting parts of my essay from April 15, 2020, when I discussed the historical precursors of biological and germ warfare experiments conducted by the U.S. government on its own population -- us.
"The Origin of Covid-19"
"Clouds of Secrecy: The Army's Germ Warfare Tests Over Populated Areas" by Leonard A. Cole, a bioterrorism expert.and author based at Rutgers.
I reviewed Cole's book for The New York Times when it appeared in 1988. His work was based on previously classified material that documented how the U.S. government deliberately exposed our population to viruses on a mass basis to gauge how vulnerable this country could be should an enemy launch a bioterrorism attack.
At the time, it was a shocking revelation, though the context included other government-sanctioned experiments such as administering LSD to unsuspecting American citizens.
These dark chapters in our government's history remain somewhat shrouded in mystery; any conscientious person wold hope such episodes ended log ago.
But the problem is that ours is not the only government capable of this kind of abhorrent behavior. China's government certainly is. Might there be bioterrorism labs say in the Wuhan region of China? I do not know. [UPDATE: We now know that there is one such lab.--DW]
I want to be crystal clear and explicit here about what I am proposing. I am *not* suggesting that Covid-19 is the result of a rogue government experiment. I have no evidence of that and frankly I doubt it is the case.
But to ignore history is to risk repeating it -- a cliche that like many cliches has more than a germ of truth.
What I am proposing is that journalists with sources in the military and intelligence agencies should dig into the hypothesis that Covid-19 may have been tested by governments as a possible agent for germ warfare.
The cover story for such experimentation is always to help a nation to prepare its defenses against attack. But when it comes to a runaway virus that spreads throughout the human population, there is no defense.
It can't be stopped.
I've been dismissive in my essays of the 30 percent of the American population who believe that Covid-19 was created in a lab. That's because I hate conspiracy theories -- they are the opposite of what I believe journalism should be -- they are preposterous fictions that feed on fear and paranoia.
We are seeing the worst of fear and paranoia swirling around this pandemic, as demagogues exploit the moment in a quest to consolidate their power and manipulate vulnerable populations.
Yet that cannot prevent us, as journalists, from checking out every lead, however tenuous, about what is actually happening here.
As far as I can tell, scientists have no concrete evidence on why this particular virus suddenly and virulently attacked us. Millions of people have become sick and many have died.
If there is any evidence that something untoward is afoot here, it remains confined to the classified realm of information.
(NOTE: I am indebted to the journalist and novelist Laila Comolli, who is also my daughter, for drawing my attention not only to the New York magazine article, but other inquiries into the origin of Covid-19 during the past year. Her instincts in these matters are usually better than mine.)
***
The Department of Homeland Security is out with a warning that further domestic terrorism is a possibility during the coming period. It is noteworthy that nothing substantial happened around the inauguration, despite similar warnings, but it seems like a bad time to be lulled into a state of false security.
The chatter on right-wing extremist message boards remains suggestive of new violence, and law enforcement agencies remain on edge.
Reuters has broken the news that the leader of the Proud Boys, one of the groups involved in the Capitol riot, has been a government informer for years. He is one of many people who once they get caught in the criminal justice system turn into snitches to avoid prison time.
In that spirit, it will be interesting to see how many of the 400 people reportedly under investigation for roles in the riot end up being charged, convicted and threatened with significant jail time.
I'm sure intelligence and all enforcement agencies are eyeing some of these people as potential future informers who may help keep the government better prepared to defend against future insurrections.
That's how it all works when it comes to extremism. Many of the loudest proponents of violence end up flipping sides under the pressure of many years behind bars. Those remaining in the ranks of groups like the Proud Boys can no longer be sure who is an ally and who is betraying them to the police.
And that is how many such organizations eventually wither and die.
***
The news:
* Officials overseeing the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, an arm of the federal health department, used millions of dollars from the fund to pay for unrelated salaries, administrative expenses and even removing office furniture, according to an inspector general investigation of a whistleblower complaint. (WashPo)
* Proud Boys Leader An Informer -- Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group, has a past as an informer for federal and local law enforcement, repeatedly working undercover for investigators after he was arrested in 2012, according to a former prosecutor and a transcript of a 2014 federal court proceeding. (Reuters)
* A member of the Proud Boys who was elected to the Sacramento County Republican Party’s Central Committee has been told to resign, after the party initially defended his right to run. [The Sacramento Bee]
* Proud Boys Were Key Instigators in Riot (WSJ)
* Threats against lawmakers fuel safety concerns for travel outside Washington (CNN)
* Capitol Police Detail Failures During Pro-Trump Assault -- The acting chief of the Capitol Police told lawmakers that the department knew days ahead of time of the risk of violence targeting lawmakers but was unprepared when the mob attacked on Jan. 6. (NYT)
* Biden promises more vaccines as pressure mounts for schools to reopen (WashPo)
* Fulfilling a campaign promise, Biden plans to reopen the HealthCare.gov insurance markets for a special sign-up opportunity geared to people needing coverage in the coronavirus pandemic. Biden is expected to sign an executive order Thursday. [AP]
* On his first day in office, Biden moved to erase the white supremacist legacy of the previous White House and address far older injustices. Biden issued an executive order on “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government” to put his pledge into action. The order received scant attention amid a wave of actions from the White House, but it shouldn’t be overlooked. [HuffPost]
* The Jungle Cruise at Disneyland is getting an update, after years of criticism that its depiction of Indigenous people is racist. The ride is one of the remaining original attractions at the park, which opened in 1955. [The Orange County Register]
* Surveillance And Local Police: How Technology Is Evolving Faster Than Regulation (NPR)
* Biden pledges crackdown on abuse of Asian-Americans (Financial Times)
* Democrats consider impeachment alternatives after GOP signals likely acquittal of Trump (WashPo)
* Acting Metropolitan Police Chief Robert J. Contee told the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that two police officers have died by suicide since responding to the riot at the Capitol on January 6. (CNN)
* Lone Wolves Connected Online: A History of Modern White Supremacy -- Forty years ago, Louis Beam had the idea of using the internet to drive a movement. Today, his vision is disturbingly prevalent. (NYT)
* A notorious alt-right operative, Douglass Mackey, whom HuffPost unmasked in 2018 as Donald Trump’s most influential white nationalist Twitter troll, “Ricky Vaughn,” was arrested in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday on federal election interference charges related to a disinformation campaign during the 2016 election. (HuffPost)
* U.S. warns of heightened domestic terrorism threat after presidential inauguration (Reuters)
* Biden’s administration is restoring relations with the Palestinians and renewing aid to Palestinian refugees, a reversal of the Trump administration’s cutoff and a key element of its new support for a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. [AP]
* Auschwitz survivors mark anniversary online amid pandemic (AP)
* Garry Kasparov urges UK to impose sanctions on oligarchs close to Putin (The Guardian)
* Even from prison, Navalny is the most potent political threat Putin has ever faced (WashPo)
* Biden and Putin Agree to Extend Nuclear Treaty -- The two leaders, who do not have a history of friendliness, spoke just a few weeks before the treaty is set to expire. (NYT)
* Hundreds of state and local elected officials are calling on Biden to lead a speedy, aggressive national effort to combat the climate and extinction crises by protecting 30% of America’s lands and 30% of its waters by 2030. An open letter from 450 officials representing 43 states comes as Biden’s team works to dismantle former Trump’s legacy of weaker protections for federal lands and wildlife. [HuffPost]
* Biden to place environmental justice at center of sweeping climate plan (WashPo)
* The Battle Lines Are Forming in Biden’s Climate Push -- The president is moving rapidly to address global warming, with unlikely allies backing him and huge hurdles, some from his own party, directly ahead. (NYT)
* Empty seas: Oceanic shark populations dropped 71% since 1970 (AP)
* Google to stop using Apple tool to track iPhone users, avoiding new pop-up warning -- Google's iPhone apps such as Maps and YouTube will stop using a tool from Apple Inc that allows them to personalize ads, avoiding a new Apple warning that informs users their browsing is being tracked. (Reuters)
* Increasingly Bold Israel Begins Building Settlements In Downtown Albuquerque (The Onion)
***
And you came to me ... it was almost like a song.
And we were so in love ... it was almost like a song.
Then the flames became a dying ember ...
All at once you weren't here.
And it's almost like a song ... but it's much too sad to write.
-30-
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