A US-funded laboratory origin of Covid-19 would certainly constitute the most significant case of governmental gross negligence in history. The people of the world deserve transparency and factual answers on vital questions.
  • rootsbreadandmakka [he/him]
    ·
    9 months ago

    Fourteenth, the FBI and Department of Energy have reported their assessments that the laboratory escape of SARS-CoV-2 is the most likely explanation of the virus

    The department of energy’s “low-confidence” hypothesis is that Covid originated from the chinese cdc, not the wuhan institute of virology as sachs is suggesting. This is actually a more likely hypothesis than sachs’, because the ccdc is located right near the wet market that became the epicenter of Covid in wuhan. The wiv is located far away from the wet market.

    Also as sachs notes the defuse project was never approved, and I wish he’d be more clear with what he’s suggesting. Is he saying it was never approved but went ahead anyway? Was this in line with the wishes of the dod/niaid, or were they just going rogue?

    Anyway I find this unconvincing. All these things are just the same right wing talking points we’ve been hearing for years, except i guess im supposed to find them cool and good because he’s blaming the USA and not China. It just backs up my general feeling that the lab leak people don’t really know what they’re talking about, and their “theory” is just a conflicting mess of competing theories. I mean he’s citing people in here who contradict the theory he’s putting forward. Sachs should stick to what he knows, apologizing for inflicting shock therapy on post-Soviet Russia.

  • anarchoilluminati [comrade/them]
    ·
    9 months ago

    Wow.

    I'm going to remain a bit skeptical on this because it's so close to Right-wing conspiracy theories, but damn that would make so much fucking sense. If this is true then all these chuds calling it a "Wuhan virus" and "China virus" when the US was actually behind engineering it and either accidentally or intentionally leaked it would be historic levels of ironic projection.

    Honestly wouldn't even be shocked if China went to war with the US over this but I know they won't.

    Probably the wildest article I've read in a long time. Holy shit.

    • shreddingitlater [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      9 months ago

      It's authored by Jeffery Sachs, not exactly a fringe-right wing conspiracy theorist (though still right wing as much as he tries to play otherwise)

      • anarchoilluminati [comrade/them]
        ·
        9 months ago

        Oh, it's not even about my concerns for the author's political leanings. I'm more concerned about my own. Mao could've risen from the grave and written the article and I'd still be skeptical.

        I just think it's so similar to a conspiracy theory I thought was nonsense for years but this one coincidentally plays right into my Leftist suspicion of the US. Although, damn, at this point I'm really just saying I'm skeptical out of caution because I'm ready to believe it. This really explains everything, perfectly puts all the puzzle pieces together, and just makes a lot of fucking sense to me. The US never ceases to amaze me.

    • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
      ·
      9 months ago

      trying to cover it up?

      I love this line of reasoning. COVID is simultaneously something horrible that China would cover up, but also just a cold and we should go to work as normal so line go up.

    • MoreAmphibians [none/use name]
      ·
      9 months ago

      Please read the article. The US massively funded gain-of-function research on viruses including on coronaviruses. This research was eventually banned in the US and so they moved it off-shore to evade those regulations. China should certainly have come down a lot harder on any US-backed biowarfare research in the country.