Biden vows US will 'declassify' information about COVID's origins
The US president's commitment via newly signed legislation comes after FBI director Christopher Wray revealed the agency thought the virus "most likely" came from a Chinese laboratory leak in late 2019.
Mr Biden's bill, which he said would only limit the sharing of any information that "would harm national security", comfortably passed through both the Senate and House of Representatives.
A likely laboratory leak cannot be a surprise to anyone paying attention, but the announcement does leave us with a tacit admission that some pandemic information is still classified.
None of which comes as a surprise, but releasing some information is not the same as being open and transparent. Maybe they hope enough people won't notice that.
10 comments:
Ron Unz has persuaded himself that it was a biowarfare attack by the USA on China. A few other people have done likewise.
I'm a great sceptic about biowarfare because of the likelihood of the attacker getting just the same problems as the attackee. But the US fedgov is evidently run by unscrupulous bloody fools so who knows?
My guess is that US-funded research at Wuhan led to an accidental leak. If that were true all the rest of us would be justified in nuking the USA and PRC: if!
Why has fedgov suddenly adopted the lab leak hypothesis? What's their game? To distract attention from their Ukraine policy? To justify a war with China? Lord knows.
My guess is that the information they are not releasing relates to the types of measures that would be taken, were the US attacked. It probably shows how useless and panic-prone they are.
dearieme - I'm a sceptic about biowarfare too. One reason is that I can't see any member of any governing elite trusting the scientists to get it right, even elite fools. I don't know why they have suddenly adopted the lab leak hypothesis though. Merely a way to score a few competence points versus China is my guess. A move in the game with no downside left to bother about.
"but releasing some information is not the same as being open and transparent"
They still haven't released the CCTV of the plane hitting the Pentagin on 9/11, just a few frames of the explosion. It's this kind of secrecy for the sake of secrecy, that gives nut jobs the ammo they need to perpetuate conspiracy theories
I don't understand the level of paranioa, as is it seems to do nothing to help their cause. A video here, a document there and they could put a load of conspiracies to bed, but they choose not to. Just over thinking that, could make me think there's an even bigger conspiract afoot. Or just that Governments are dicks
Sam - probably information relating to research too, who is doing it, who is funding it and what they are doing. It is probably the case that nobody should be doing some of the research because it is too dangerous.
Bucko - there may be status attached to it as well. We have the overview but you don't, that kind of thing. There is something very democratic about information which they don't seem to like - if everyone knows then nobody is in a superior position.
AK Haart - Yes, good point. Also why they don't like us having info that they don't; why they want to outlaw Whatsapp's end to end encryption and the like. Under the smokescreen that criminals use it and if we've nothing to hide, we've nothing to fear, etc. But they don't mind hiding their own stuff
Mike Yeadon offers an explanation for fedgov sudden talking about a lab leak.
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/why-i-dont-believe-there-ever-was-a-covid-virus/
Bucko - yes it's strange how the nothing to hide, nothing to fear argument doesn't apply to them.
dearieme - I think he overstates his case and it's also too complicated. A lab leak or an animal source of a problem virus is the simpler explanation. It doesn't require such a remarkable degree of international coordination and such tightly secured public information. To exclude human bungling so rigorously doesn't feel like a good idea to me.
The draconian politics and blanket media support are where the longer term problems are after the event, which of course is his underlying point but we already know it. Yet if the whole charade is played out again, his ideas might be worth a second look.
There might be an element of diverting attention away from the Biden family's dealings with Ukraine in the 2010s.
Graeme - probably so, although US media don't seem particularly keen on probing that one.
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