Tag: bioweapons

Gestalt #7 – SARS-2 Pandemic

Close all International Airports to passenger travel, now

SARS-2 is spreading human to human efficiently in Singapore and Japan. It is probably spreading efficiently in other countries as well. We just don’t know about it because insufficient testing is occurring. So far, governments have been reacting rather being proactive. Disaster looms if we don’t get ahead of the virus. And that means draconian travel restrictions. The only way to stop or at least slow down this virus is to halt all international passenger travel, now. For those who say this won’t work, let me ask you to do a Gedanken experiment: If travel from China to other countries had been halted in December 2019, how many cases would there be outside of China now? Answer: 0. Travel restrictions work. But they must be applied completely and in time.

Vaccine candidates

There have been recent reports of several vaccines for SARS-2. These reports are inaccurate. What has been created or will be created are vaccine candidates. We will not know whether these vaccine candidates will actually function as effective vaccines until they have been tested first in appropriate animal models and then in humans. Many vaccine candidates, especially for new pathogens, fail. Giving people false hope is dangerous and irresponsible. That said, an effective vaccine would be the best possible measure for dealing with the SARS-2 pandemic. So development and testing should go forward on as many fronts as possible. But hold the hype, please.

Senator Cotton and the “debunkers”

I have watched with dismay at the numerous attacks Senator Cotton has received at merely suggesting the idea that the BSL-4 lab in Wuhan that researches deadly viruses should be considered as one of several possible sources for SARS-2. This is an entirely reasonable suggestion given the following:

1. China has an aggressive biological weapons program.

2. These biological weapons are most likely being developed in the Wuhan BSL-4 facility.

3. The SARS-2 pandemic started in Wuhan.

4. Chinese labs have a history of leaks of dangerous viruses.

5. Xi Jinping has repeatedly lied about the risks posed by SARS-2.

6. Xi Jinping will not permit American scientists to investigate the origins of the virus.

Do the “debunkers” disagree with any of the points above? If so, please present your evidence.

There have been several preprints arguing for and against the presence of “unusual” sequences in SARS-2. The “debunkers” say that if there is no obvious artificiality to the viral sequence, then any reference to the Wuhan BSL-4 laboratory is a “conspiracy theory”. This is nonsense and they know it. With existing technology, it is possible to construct a virus with any sequence you wish, including one that looks completely natural. Yes, one could even put in mutations in the wobble position to make the virus look as if it had naturally evolved, if one wanted to get fancy. Further, the “debunkers” seemingly ignore the possibility that a virus, that may not necessarily have been engineered, could have been leaked, accidentally or deliberately, from the Wuhan BSL-4 facility. Analyzing sequence tells us nothing about this possibility.

I think a good discussion about the SARS-2 virus sequences is healthy and appropriate. But let’s not smear people with whom you disagree. And you should consider that picking Xi Jinping’s narrative over that of a US Senator who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee may not be the best bet. I notice that all of the attacks on Senator Cotton have been by news organizations which have various conflicts of interest. Have any other US Senators on the Intelligence Committee come to Xi Jinping’s defense? I haven’t noticed any.

References:

China and Viruses: The Case of Dr. Xiangguo Qiu. Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Dany Shoham
January 29, 2020. The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.

Weaponizing Biotech: How China’s Military Is Preparing for a ‘New Domain of Warfare’. Elsa Kania. August 14, 2019. Defense One.

Chinese general with bioweapons background takes leading role in coronavirus fight. Bill Gertz. February 16, 2020. Washington Times.

Conspiracy Theories and Biological Warfare

When I was a moderator of PFI_Forum, one of my self-appointed duties was to knock  down stupid conspiracy theories. There are many on the internet. There are some today regarding the origin of the Wuhan virus. But just because stupid conspiracy theories exist doesn’t mean we should assume the Wuhan virus is a product of nature.

Let me say at the outset that I have absolutely no information suggesting that the Wuhan virus is anything other than a product of nature. On the other hand, it would not surprise me at all if it turned out it did escape from a lab. At this point, we simply don’t know where it came from.

Is there any reason to think that China is doing research on viruses in order to create biological weapons? Yes there is. And we don’t need to go to stupid conspiracy sites for the evidence.

From: Chinese researcher escorted from infectious disease lab amid RCMP investigation, CBC, July 14, 2019, Karen Pauls

A researcher with ties to China was recently escorted out of the National Microbiology Lab (NML) in Winnipeg amid an RCMP investigation into what’s being described as a possible “policy breach.”

Dr. Xiangguo Qiu, her husband Keding Cheng and an unknown number of her students from China were removed from Canada’s only level-4 lab on July 5, CBC News has learned.

A Level 4 virology facility is a lab equipped to work with the most serious and deadly human and animal diseases. That makes the Arlington Street lab one of only a handful in North America capable of handling pathogens requiring the highest level of containment, such as Ebola.

[snip]

Qiu is a medical doctor from Tianjin, China, who came to Canada for graduate studies in 1996. She is still affiliated with the university there and has brought in many students over the years to help with her work.

Currently head of the Vaccine Development and Antiviral Therapies section in the Special Pathogens Program at the lab, Qiu’s primary field is immunology. Her research focuses on vaccine development, post-exposure therapeutics and rapid diagnostics of viruses like Ebola.

She is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of Manitoba.

Cheng also works at the lab as a biologist. He has published research papers on HIV infections, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), E. coli infections and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome.

[snip]

“The National Microbiology Laboratory would have some pretty sensitive biological research material that … could be shared either with or without authorization with foreign countries,” said Gordon Houlden, director of the University of Alberta’s China Institute.

“All of this is unproven, but even microbiology, sometimes especially microbiology, can have issues that involve national security.”

From: Questions Surround Canadian Shipment of Deadly Viruses to China, The Scientist, August 9, 2019, Nicoletta Lanese

Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory shipped Ebola and Henipah viruses to Beijing on March 31, raising suspicions from experts in biochemical warfare, who say they think China may use the pathogens to develop offensive biological agents.

[snip]

The same lab is the focus of an ongoing investigation by the RCMP. The inquiry began following the recent dismissal of the head of the National Microbiology Laboratory’s (NML) Vaccine Development and Antiviral Therapies section in the Special Pathogens Program, virologist Xiangguo Qiu. Qiu, her colleague and husband Keding Cheng, and a number of her international students lost security clearance to their lab on July 5.

[snip]

China agreed to the Biological Weapons Convention in 1984, but both academics and government agencies have recently asserted that the country is a world leader in bio-weapon production, according to the Edmonton Journal.

“I would say this Canadian ‘contribution’ might likely be counterproductive. I think the Chinese activities . . . are highly suspicious, in terms of exploring [at least] those viruses as BW [biological warfare] agents,” says Dany Shoham, a biological and chemical warfare expert at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, in an interview with the Edmonton Journal.

Wuhan has China’s only BSL 4 laboratory, like the one in Winnipeg. So, the only lab in China that can safely handle the Wuhan virus is in Wuhan. Now, this could be an incredible coincidence. Such things do happen. But I do not think it is irresponsible to ask about the types of SARS-like viruses researchers at the Wuhan BSL 4 laboratory were working on when the Wuhan (SARS-like) virus emerged. Wouldn’t such questions be asked if this happened in the US?

Responsible scientists and journalists should slap down stupid conspiracy  theories. But we should also not be naive. The “experts”  believe that China has an agressive, offensive biological weapons program. Scientists in China have a record of being sloppy with highly dangerous viruses, including SARS. It would be foolish to reflexively reject the possiblity that Wuhan virus is lab escapee just because some nuts say that it is. Sometimes the nuts are right.

 

False Security

From NPR, March 30, 2012

The Obama administration has announced a new policy to handle the risks posed by legitimate biological research that could, in the wrong hands, threaten the public.

The move comes in response to a huge debate over recent experiments on bird flu virus that got funding from the National Institutes of Health. Critics say the work created mutant viruses that could potentially be dangerous for people, or give terrorists a road map for making a bioweapon.

A committee that advises the government called the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) is again meeting Friday to discuss those flu studies. Late last year, it recommended keeping some details secret. But a panel of experts, including flu virologists assembled by the World Health Organization, called for full publication.

The new policy is aimed at preventing this kind of controversy from happening in the future. It covers federally-funded research — both ongoing work and future proposals. And it calls for special reviews of work that involves a list of 15 particularly nasty pathogens and toxins, including highly pathogenic bird flu virus, anthrax, and Ebola.

Funding agencies will have to evaluate certain kinds of experiments to see if they pose special risks. The idea is “to really upfront ask the questions: Should they be done? And if so, under what conditions should they be done,” explains Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH.

If an agency wants to fund an experiment that might yield potentially dangerous information, Fauci says, scientists could be asked to hold back on publishing details in order to receive funding.

Or, in some cases, the work might need to be classified. Fauci notes that the NIH does not do classified studies. “We would have to refer it to an agency that does classified research because we don’t,” he says.

This sets a very dangerous precedent. There are lots of types of biological research “that could, in the wrong hands, threaten the public”. Although the intent now may be to restrict this measure to certain types of research, once the precedent is set, there is no guarantee that it will not be extended to others. Who will decide what knowledge could or could not “threaten the public”? If it is politicians (or scientists who depend on the patronage of politicians), then almost by definition, this measure will be politicised. One can get whatever type of research one wants banned by picking the right members of the committee that will do the banning. There are recent of examples of this, for those whose memories go back a few years.

It is also disturbing that there is still no discussion of State sponsored bioweapons research, especially in China. There are many countries with the capacity to do this research without any help from the US. If this research in the US is classified, the general public in the US will have no idea what is or is not possible, what is or is not a threat.

I have a great deal of respect for the US military’s ability to fight conventional wars. However, in my opinion, their work on biological weapons defense is extremely poor. The DoD has demonstrated no grasp of the strategic threat involved nor any particular expertise in developing countermeasures. To be fair, their ability to detect emerging pandemic flu threats is apparently better than the CDC’s as they were the ones who first reported pH1N1. But this is not nearly enough.

The CDC conducted the same types of experiments as Fouchier and Kawaoka but failed to reveal the threat of a high CFR H5N1 pandemic. It would be a mistake to rely on the CDC for this research.

The DoD has USAMRIID, but it is not clear that they have the breadth or depth of personnel to cover all potential agents. Further, scientists there will be hampered if they cannot discuss their work with their colleagues at other institutions (as would happen if the work is classified). Given that the anthrax attacks apparently originated from a scientist at USAMRIID, it is not obvious why entrusting this group with work on dangerous pathogens is safer than to let this work be done by NIH scientists.

In my opinion, this ruling is tantamount to hearing the noise of breaking glass in your house and then pulling the covers over your head. Hiding from the threat will not save you. As scary as it is, your best option is to develop a strategy to defeat it, which may involve confronting the threat head on.

We could have delayed the threat of biological weapons by controlling the sale of gene synthesis machines to foreign countries. But no-one in the US government, including apparently the entire leadership at DoD, seems to have understood the risk of proliferating this technology. Given that the ability to create a high CFR pandemic virus already exists and has been actively pursued by countries like China, the question now is: what is likely to provide our best defense? Part of the answer will involve politically unpalatable decentralisation and the incorporation of citizen resilience in national defense policy. But part of the answer will come from a free exchange of information among the best scientists. We cannot develop countermeasures to a threat if we do not know what it is.

Increasing intentional deaths vs natural deaths and the “nature is the worst bioterrorist” meme

Throughout human history, and even before we became truly human, we’ve been killing each other. In simple hunter-gatherer groups, death by murder is a common occurrence among males. Our history as a species has not demonstrated any decrease in this behaviour over time. Indeed, as our technology has improved, so have the number of victims of aggression. Yet, there are 7 billion of us. How to reconcile these two facts?

As we all know, technology can be used for good or evil. It is usually used for both. However, on balance, more lives are saved by decreasing natural deaths than are lost as a result of aggression. This is why our numbers continue to increase despite increasingly effective weapons. Put simply, our natural deaths are decreasing more rapidly than our intentional deaths are increasing. But neither is static.

I first saw the phrase “nature is the worst bioterrorist” attributed to Malik Peiris, a flu biologist, some years ago. But recently I have seen this phrase attributed to a number of pundits and scientists. It’s a misleading statement. Before the invention of the spear, our ancestors could say “nature is the worst killer with sticks”. After the invention of the spear, this was no longer a true statement. Before the invention of the slingshot, our ancestors could honestly say “nature is the worst killer with stones”. After the slingshot was perfected, this was no longer a true statement.

For most of our existence as a species, we had no understanding or control over microbes. We were simply helpless victims. Within the past couple of hundred years our understanding has increased. This has allowed us to vastly increase human life expectancy with technologies like sanitation, antibiotics and antivirals. However, only within the last few decades have we acquired the ability to manipulate microbes. Only now can they be weaponised. Hence, the statement “nature is the worst bioterrorist” is disingenuous. Only nature could use this weapon throughout most of human history. Now humans can use it too.

Are there any examples of a technology that could be turned into an effective weapon that was not? I know of none. Viruses such as influenza can now be weaponised. Will they be?

Take an honest look at human history and decide for yourself.

Genocide and Margaret Chan, the Chinese government and the public health establishment

North Korea is a concentration camp. Its inhabitants are being systematically tortured and killed. Some are killed with bullets but most are being starved to death. This is being done at the behest and with the assistance of the Chinese government. Margaret Chan is using her power as Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to provide cover for the Chinese government to carry out this genocide. And the public health establishment is about to reward her for this with a second term as Director-General of the WHO (AFP, November 21, 2011).

Some facts:

1. North Korea contains concentration camps.

From: the Daily Mail Online, September 20, 2011

The North Korean government may deny their existence, but photos taken from space have revealed in unprecedented detail the concentration camps that are used imprison more than 200,000 citizens.

Men, women and children are forced to work seven days a week as slaves and eat ‘rats, frogs, snakes, insects’ and even faeces to battle starvation in the camps.

Previously there have been blurred images taken by satellite but new detailed pictures from South Korea’s Unification Ministry allow a closer look at the sites – and also prove they have grown.

Experts say the tens of thousands of prisoners at the camps are often taken from their homes or in the street for supposed ‘political crimes’ rather than actual misdemeanours.

Half of all the inmates will die of starvation or malnutrition with others dying because of fatal diseases that thrive in the squalid conditions.

This is if they are not killed by torture, firing squad, or a public stoning by Kim Jong-Il’s violent guards, former prisoners say.

One of the photos shows the Yodok camp, which holds an estimated 50,000 North Korean prisoners and is hidden in the mountains around 70 miles from the capital Pyongyang.

[snip]

Amnesty International has compared the satellite images to those taken 10 years ago and confirms they are growing in size and branded them ‘hellish’.

‘The outside world certainly doesn’t know what’s going on and very little from the inside comes out,’ Sam Zarifi, from Amnesty International said last month.

From Haaretz.com, December 9, 2011

[snip]

In its campaign to exterminate hundreds-of-thousands of innocent North Koreans, one-third of them children, the DPRK security apparatus has employed every action defined as genocidal in Raphael Lemkin’s Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. These atrocities include but are not limited to: public executions, systematic torture, state-induced mass starvation, forced abortions, infanticide, and forcible transfer and imprisonment of children.

[snip]

2. North Koreans in the concentration camps are being experimented on.

From Wikipedia:

Human experimentation was described by several North Korean defectors, including former prisoner Lee Soon Ok, former prison guards Kwon Hyok and Ahn Myung Chul, and others.[1] This testimony was corroborated by documents brought from Camp 22 in North Korea. In Lee’s testimony to the US Senate[2] and in her prison memoir Eyes of the Tailless Animals (published in 1999) she recounted witnessing two instances of lethal human experimentation. An episode of the BBC television programme This World[3][4] detailed some of the allegations.[5] The claims have been described as “plausible” by a senior US official.[6]

Lee described an experiment in which 50 healthy women prisoners were selected and given poisoned cabbage leaves. All of the women were required to eat the cabbage, despite cries of distress from those who had already eaten. All 50 died after 20 minutes of vomiting blood and anal bleeding. Refusing to eat the cabbage would allegedly have meant reprisals against them and their families.

Kwon Hyok, a former head of security at Camp 22, described laboratories equipped with gas chambers for suffocation gas experiments, in which three or four people, normally a family, are the experimental subjects.[7][8] After undergoing medical checks, the chambers are sealed and poison is injected through a tube, while scientists observe from above through glass. In a report reminiscent of an earlier account of a family of seven, Kwon claims to have watched one family of two parents, a son and a daughter die from suffocating gas, with the parents trying to save the children using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for as long as they had the strength. Kwon’s testimony was supported by documents from Camp 22 describing the transfer of prisoners designated for the experiments. The documents were identified as genuine by Kim Sang Hun, a London based expert on Korea and human rights activist.[3]

3. North Koreans in the general population are being systematically starved to death

From Haaretz.com, December 9, 2011

Photographs of starving and emaciated North Korean children, published in October by Reuters Alertnet, confirm the testimonies of tens of thousands of North Korean refugees: Innumerable people are dying of starvation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The UN reports that over six million North Koreans, almost a quarter of the population, are at risk.

North Korea would not exist without the intervention of the Chinese government. This is historical fact. The North Korean government would have collapsed long ago without the direct support of the Chinese government. This is established fact (see Joel Brinkley’s article: “China is North Korea’s prime enabler” in the San Francisco Chronicle for details).

I have documented in many blogs (see below) how Margaret Chan’s career was supported by the Chinese government. In exchange, she has assidulously carried out their orders. In her various positions in public health, she has been a useful tool to hide their bad behaviour including with regard to infectious diseases like SARS and H5N1 influenza. However, the most egregious action she has taken as Director-General of the WHO was her support of genocide in North Korea. When she visited North Korea in May of 2010, she was asked about starvation in North Korea. Here is what she said (from MaximsNewsNetwork, May 1, 2010)

…one thing I recognized is that walking is quite well observed in that country, and I suggest that is why I didn’t see many obese people.

No mention of concentration camps. No mention of starving masses. She had the audacity to try to explain away the emaciation she observed with her own eyes by attributing it to healthy exercise. In response to a reporter’s direct question about the quality of health care in North Korea, Margaret Chan responded:

Now based on what I have seen I can tell you they have something which most other developing countries would envy. For example, DPRK has no lack of doctors and nurses, as we have seen in other developing countries where most of their doctors have migrated to other places. But DPRK has enough doctors and nurses, they have a very elaborate health infrastructure, starting from the central to the provincial to the district level.

So, a country where men, women and children are experimented on and killed under the most heinous torture is a place that other “developing countries would envy”? This is beyond sick. Some commentators may suggest that she was simply confused or that her words are being taken out of context. But any such suggestion was proven false when Amnesty International dared to conflict with Margaret Chan’s version of North Korea.

From the AP, July 16, 2010

The World Health Organization found itself Friday in the strange position of defending North Korea’s health care system from an Amnesty International report, three months after WHO’s director described medicine in the totalitarian state as the envy of the developing world.

[snip]

Amnesty’s report on Thursday described North Korea’s health care system in shambles, with doctors sometimes performing amputations without anesthesia and working by candlelight in hospitals lacking essential medicine, heat and power. It also raised questions about whether coverage is universal as it — and WHO — claimed, noting most interviewees said they or a family member had given doctors cigarettes, alcohol or money to receive medical care. And those without any of these reported that they could get no health assistance at all.

[snip]

The issue is sensitive for WHO because its director-general, Margaret Chan, praised the communist country after a visit in April and described its health care as the “envy” of most developing nations.

[snip]

But whereas Chan had noted that North Korea “has no lack of doctors and nurses,” Amnesty said some people had to walk two hours to get to a hospital for surgery. Chan cited the government’s “notable public health achievements,” while Amnesty said health care remained at a low level or was “progressively getting worse.”

Margaret Chan doesn’t like being contradicted. So, she directed her press spokesperson, Mr Garwood, to attack Amnesty International (see WHO Blasts Amnesty for N. Korea Health Report from the AP on July 16, 2010, for more). I demonstrated the falsity of Mr. Garwood’s assertions in a blog.

It seems pretty clear. Margaret Chan is using her position as Director-General of the WHO to help the North Korean government cover up its genocide of its own people. Both are likely acting on the direct orders of the Chinese government in its attempts to depopulate Korea so that it take its resources. This is a strong statement. But there is ample evidence that the Chinese government and its military aim to depopulate countries with resources they want. For example, the Chinese government has supported genocide in Sudan (See “The ‘Genocide Olympics’” by Ronan Farrow and Mia Farrow for more).

In almost any corner of the world where evil is being done, you will find the Chinese government helping those who would practice genocide: in North Korea, in Africa and in Iran. How is it that the world does not appear to notice? As I and others have argued, this is partially due to the Chinese government’s co-option of Western governments via promise of access to the enormous markets to multinational corporations. The same multinationals that underwrite political campaigns for the politicians who should be protesting the Chinese government’s despicable behaviour. But I believe there is another reason: Racism. As long as the victims of genocide are Asian or African, the MSM has tendency to ignore the story. Slobodan Milošević made the mistake of committing genocide against Europeans. For this, he will be punished. However when Hu Jintao and his colleagues commit genocide against Asians and Africans, the West averts its eyes.

Most people in comfortable Western countries cannot imagine being the target of genocide. That’s something that only happens to other people, either long ago or in poor countries. This assumption is wrong.

Mr. Chi Haotian, then Minister of Defense and vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, is alleged to have given a speech on February 15, 2005 in which he argued for using biological weapons against America in order to depopulate it. According to this speech, the Chinese government and military want to “clean up” the US so that they can take our resources. Sound familiar? For a variety of reasons which I listed in a blog, I believe this speech is genuine. Those who question its authenticity should bear in mind that John Derbyshire, a columnist for the National Review Online, has heard similar claims from senior members of the Chinese military with his own ears.

The Chinese government spent billions of dollars in bribes to get Margaret Chan elected as Director-General of the WHO for her first term. It looks like they are doing it again as she appears to be about to be given a second term as Director-General. As far as I can tell, there is no opposition from the public health establishment to her re-appointment, despite her sickening support for genocide in North Korea.

Today, Margaret Chan supports genocide in North Korea. But tomorrow she may use her position as Director-General of the WHO to support genocide in the United States. Those in the public health establishment who supported her for her first term have an especial responsibility to speak out against her record of support of genocide. If they don’t, then they bear personal responsibility for what she does in her second term.

Related blogs:

WHO endorsement of genocide in North Korea

Margaret Chan versus Amnesty International – Part 1
Margaret Chan versus Amnesty International – Part 2
Margaret Chan versus Amnesty International – Part 3
Margaret Chan versus Amnesty International – Part 4
Margaret Chan versus Amnesty International – Part 5
Margaret Chan versus Amnesty International – Part 6

The Psychopath War – Part 5 – Evil at the World Health Organisation (WHO)
The Psychopath War – Part 6 – 21st Century Genocide

Bio-Response Report Card

A bipartisan group which includes as its members Senators Bob Graham and Jim Talent recently released a report on America’s preparedness, or lack thereof, in the event of a biological attack. Below, some excerpts:

REPORT CARD
THE BIPARTISAN WMD TERRORISM RESEARCH CENTER’S
BIO-RESPONSE
21ST CENTURY BIOLOGICAL THREATS
OCTOBER 2011

[snip]

Although naturally occurring disease remains a serious threat, a thinking enemy armed with these same pathogens, or with multi–drug-resistant or synthetically engineered pathogens could produce catastrophic consequences.

[snip]

No one in the fields of biodefense, public health, or medicine will be surprised by the report’s finding that the United States is unprepared to respond to a global outbreak of a deadly virus for which we have no medical countermeasures.

[snip]

Studies indicate that new strains of influenza and other newly emerging diseases are likely to spread even more broadly and quickly due to the mobility of the world’s population. Additionally, many of the diseases once managed with medical countermeasures are now re-emerging in strains resistant to drug therapies.2 And modern technology threatens to speed the development of such novel diseases and enhance the threat they pose to the population at large.

The emergence of such a deadly pandemic, for which the nation was unprepared to respond, could change America forever. Naturally occurring disease remains a serious biological threat; however, a thinking enemy armed with these same pathogens—or with multi–drug-resistant or synthetically engineered pathogens— could produce catastrophic consequences.

[snip]

As technology spreads, the growing challenge of attribution may also make us even more vulnerable than in the past.

Until now, the combination of the Biological Weapons Convention and traditional deterrence has prevented nationstate use of bioweapons. But, deterrence is largely ineffective against non-state actors because they are hard to find and hold accountable. Should rogue nationstates provide sophisticated bioweapons to non-state actors, while remaining “a silent partner” to bioterrorism, the problem would be compounded.

The threat of biological disaster is real and growing. There are people in this world with the capability and the intent to use biological weapons. Americans are vulnerable to such an attack, as we are to a naturally occurring disease pandemic. The consequences of either could harm the fabric of the nation itself.

[snip]

The Darker Bioweapons Future – a CIA Report

From: The Darker Bioweapons Future – a CIA Report

A panel of life science experts convened for the Strategic Assessments Group by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that advances in biotechnology, coupled with the difficulty in detecting nefarious biological activity, have the potential to create a much more dangerous biological warfare (BW) threat. The panel noted:

  • The effects of some of these engineered biological agents could be worse than any disease known to man.
  • The genomic revolution is pushing biotechnology into an explosive growth phase. Panelists asserted that the resulting wave front of knowledge will evolve rapidly and be so broad, complex, and widely available to the public that traditional intelligence means for monitoring WMD development could prove inadequate to deal with the threat from these advanced biological weapons.

[snip]

Growing understanding of the complex biochemical pathways that underlie life processes has the potential to enable a class of new, more virulent biological agents engineered to attack distinct biochemical pathways and elicit specific effects, claimed panel members.

[snip]

According to the scientists convened, other classes of unconventional pathogens that may arise over the next decade and beyond include binary BW agents that only become effective when two components are combined (a particularly insidious example would be a mild pathogen that when combined with its antidote becomes virulent); “designer” BW agents created to be antibiotic resistant or to evade an immune response; weaponized gene therapy vectors that effect permanent change in the victim’s genetic makeup; or a “stealth” virus, which could lie dormant inside the victim for an extended period before being triggered. For example, one panelist cited the possibility of a stealth virus attack that could cripple a large portion of people in their forties with severe arthritis, concealing its hostile origin and leaving a country with massive health and economic problems.

[snip]

The experts emphasized that, because the processes, techniques, equipment and know-how needed for advanced bio agent development are dual use, it will be extremely difficult to distinguish between legitimate biological research activities and production of advanced BW agents.

The panel contrasted the difficulty of detecting advanced bioweapons with that of detecting nuclear weapons, which has always had clear surveillance and detection “observables,” such as highly enriched uranium or telltale production equipment.

[snip]

I’ve quoted extensively from this report, but recommend reading the whole thing.

Perhaps one of the most noteworthy features of the report is its date of publication:
November 3, 2003.

What has happened since then?

November 25, 2003 – A PLA soldier by the name of Shi died of H5N1. His death was covered up by the Chinese government until June 22, 2006 (blog).

August 8, 2005 – Chi Haotian,  Minister of Defense and vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission describes the PLA’s plan to use biological weapons against the US (blog).

November 9, 2006 – Margaret Chan becomes Director-General of the World Health Agency, a position which gives her unilateral control of pandemic declarations. She attained this position with assistance of the Chinese government which is alleged to have used bribery to secure her election (blog).

April 2009 – The swine flu virus initiates a pandemic. According to top flu expert Robert Webster: “Where the hell it got all these genes from we don’t know. But this is a real super-mixed up virus.”

March 10, 2011 – China denoted the biggest threat to the United States by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (The Washington Times).

June 2011 – Riots in China due to inflation have begun (Business Spectator).

July 15, 2011 – China plans huge investment in biotechnology (Industry News).

I have argued many times in many blogs that China has the Means, Motive and Opportunity to launch a stealth bioweapon’s attack on the US. The Means is a weaponised flu virus the source of which could be undectable. The Motive is the end of Globalisation which will destroy China’s export economy. The PLA has given multiple signals that is planning to switch to an Imperial strategy which will first require the removal of the US military. The Opportunity lies in the control of the World Health Organisation (WHO) by Margaret Chan, a puppet of the Chinese Communist Party and the failure of the US Department of Defense to take Biological Warfare by Nation-States, especially China, seriously.

The only variable we can change is the last one. The next window of opportunity for a biological attack using influenza will open in November 2011 – 4 months from now. That may be how long we have to convince the US government to prepare for a threat to the continued existence of the US.

The Psychopath War – Part 6 – 21st Century Genocide

[This is an old blog originally written in December 2010. I am bumping it to the top given some of the issues that have been raised about the current pandemic. Many of the links in this blog are now dead. To the best of my knowledge, the quotes attributed to Chi Haotian have never been debunked. I have bolded some especially salient passages]

Why did the Chinese government expend so much money and effort to get Margaret Chan named Director-General of the WHO? It obviously was not because they care about public health. Everything they do is calculated to advance their own interests. Such a heavy expenditure suggests a substantial strategic interest. My fear is that they plan to use flu as a biological weapon and need the Director-General of the WHO to deflect suspicion away from them. I have outlined my concerns about this in the following series of blogs:

Thinking the unthinkable in the 21st century: Who would use influenza as a biological weapon?

Thinking the Unthinkable in the 21st Century – Part 2

Thinking the Unthinkable in the 21st Century – Part 3 – The Natural Solution

Briefly, I pointed out that influenza, or other viruses, can be engineered to precise specifications without any hint of an unnatural origin. Further, I argue that globalisation, the engine which has propelled China’s economy for decades, is collapsing. Without income from exports, the Chinese government cannot prevent widespread social unrest. Hence, they will be tempted to use an unattributed deadly influenza pandemic to depopulate large sections of the world, including parts of China itself.

Some consider this scenario outlandish. They suggest that no-one could be that evil. Further, they point out various risks that any such attack would be subject to. However, these criticisms do not take into account the psychopath mind. A psychopath does not care whether he kills 1 person or 1 billion. He is, in fact, incapable of caring. Furthermore, recall that psychopaths are prone to overestimate their odds of success.

On February 15, 2005, an article entitled “War Is Not Far from Us and Is the Midwife of the Chinese Century” was published at peacehall.com. It was said to have been a transcript of speech by Mr. Chi Haotian, then Minister of Defense and vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission. It was also published at Boxun. On August 8, 2005, an English translation was published at the Epoch Times. This is a long speech. Although I do not reprint the whole transcript, I do include quite long excerpts. These are worth the time to read, in my opinion, as they lay out both a strategy and a rationale for genocide on a scale never before attempted.

Comrades,
I’m very excited today, because the large-scale online survey sina.com that was done for us showed that our next generation is quite promising and our Party’s cause will be carried on. In answering the question, “Will you shoot at women, children and prisoners of war,” more than 80 percent of the respondents answered in the affirmative, exceeding by far our expectations [1].

Today I’d like to focus on why we asked sina.com to conduct this online survey among our people. My speech today is a sequel to my speech last time [2], during which I started with a discussion of the issue of the three islands [3], mentioned that 20 years of the idyllic theme of “peace and development” had come to an end, and concluded that modernization under the saber is the only option for China’s next phase. I also mentioned we have a vital stake overseas. Today, I’ll speak more specifically on these two issues.

The central issue of this survey appears to be whether one should shoot at women, children and prisoners of war, but its real significance goes far beyond that. Ostensibly, our intention is mainly to figure out what the Chinese people’s attitude towards war is: If these future soldiers do not hesitate to kill even non-combatants, they’ll naturally be doubly ready and ruthless in killing combatants. Therefore, the responses to the survey questions may reflect the general attitude people have towards war.

Actually, however, this is not our genuine intention. The purpose of the CCP Central Committee in conducting this survey is to probe people’s minds. We wanted to know: If China’s global development will necessitate massive deaths in enemy countries, will our people endorse that scenario? Will they be for or against it?

[snip]

As everybody knows, according to the views propagated by the Western scholars, humanity as a whole originated from one single mother in Africa. Therefore, no race can claim racial superiority. However, according to the research conducted by most Chinese scholars, the Chinese are different from other races on earth. We did not originate in Africa. Instead, we originated independently in the land of China. The Peking Man at Zhoukoudian that we are all familiar with represents a phase of our ancestors’ evolution. “The Project of Searching for the Origins of the Chinese Civilization” currently undertaken in our country is aimed at a more comprehensive and systematic research on the origin, process and development of the ancient Chinese civilization. We used to say, “Chinese civilization has had a history of five thousand years.” But now, many experts engaged in research in varied fields including archeology, ethnic cultures, and regional cultures have reached consensus that the new discoveries such as the Hongshan Culture in the Northeast, the Liangzhu Culture in Zhejiang province, the Jinsha Ruins in Sichuan province, and the Yongzhou Shun Emperor Cultural Site in Human province are all compelling evidence of the existence of China’s early civilizations, and they prove that China’s rice-growing agricultural history alone can be traced back as far as 8,000 to 10,000 years. This refutes the concept of “five thousand years of Chinese civilization.” Therefore, we can assert that we are the product of cultural roots of more than a million years, civilization and progress of more than ten thousand years, an ancient nation of five thousand years, and a single Chinese entity of two thousand years. This is the Chinese nation that calls itself, “descendents of Yan and Huang,” the Chinese nation that we are so proud of. Hitler’s Germany had once bragged that the German race was the most superior race on Earth, but the fact is, our nation is far superior to the Germans.

During our long history, our people have disseminated throughout the Americas and the regions along the Pacific Rim, and they became Indians in the Americas and the East Asian ethnic groups in the South Pacific.

We all know that on account of our national superiority, during the thriving and prosperous Tang Dynasty our civilization was at the peak of the world. We were the center of the world civilization, and no other civilization in the world was comparable to ours. Later on, because of our complacency, narrow-mindedness, and the self-enclosure of our own country, we were surpassed by Western civilization, and the center of the world shifted to the West.

In reviewing history, one may ask: Will the center of the world civilization shift back to China?

[snip]

We must greet the arrival of the Chinese Century by raising high the banner of national revitalization. How should we fight for the realization of the Chinese Century? We must borrow the precious experiences in human history by taking advantage of the outstanding fruition of human civilization and drawing lessons from what happened to other ethnic groups.

The lessons include the collapse of communism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, as well as the defeats of Germany and Japan in the past. Recently there has been much discussion on the lessons of the collapse of communism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, so I will not dwell on them here. Today I’d like to talk about the lessons of Germany and Japan.

As we all know, Nazi Germany also placed much emphasis on the education of the people, especially the younger generation. The Nazi party and government organized and established various propaganda and educational institutions such as the “Guiding Bureau of National Propaganda,” “Department of National Education and Propaganda,” “Supervising Bureau of Worldview Study and Education,” and “Information Office,” all aimed at instilling into the people’s minds, from elementary schools to colleges, the idea that German people are superior, and convincing people that the historical mission of the Arian people is to become the “lords of earth” that “rule over the world.” Back then the German people were much more united than we are today.

Nonetheless, Germany was defeated in utter shame, along with its ally, Japan. Why? We reached some conclusions at the study meetings of the Politburo, in which we were searching for the laws that governed the vicissitudes of the big powers, and trying to analyze Germany and Japan’s rapid growth. When we decide to revitalize China based on the German model, we must not repeat the mistakes they made.

Specifically, the following are the fundamental causes for their defeat: First, they had too many enemies all at once, as they did not adhere to the principle of eliminating enemies one at a time; second, they were too impetuous, lacking the patience and perseverance required for great accomplishments; third, when the time came for them to be ruthless, they turned out to be too soft, therefore leaving troubles that resurfaced later on.

[snip]

Our Chinese people are wiser than the Germans because, fundamentally, our race is superior to theirs. As a result, we have a longer history, more people, and larger land area. On this basis, our ancestors left us with the two most essential heritages, which are atheism and great unity. It was Confucius, the founder of our Chinese culture, who gave us these heritages.

These two heritages determined that we have a stronger ability to survive than the West. That is why the Chinese race has been able to prosper for so long. We are destined “not to be buried by either heaven or earth” no matter how severe the natural, man-made, and national disasters. This is our advantage.

Take response to war as an example. The reason that the United States remains today is that it has never seen war on its mainland. Once its enemies aim at the mainland, they enemies would have already reached Washington before its congress finishes debating and authorizes the president to declare war. But for us, we don’t waste time on these trivial things. Comrade Deng Xiaoping once said, “The Party’s leadership is prompt in making decisions. Once a decision is made, it is immediately implemented. There’s no wasting time on trivial things like in capitalist countries. This is our advantage.”

[snip]

In my last speech, I said that the fight over basic living resources (including land and ocean) is the source of the vast majority of wars in history. This may change in the information age, but not fundamentally. Our per capita resources are much less than those of Germany’s back then. In addition, economic development in the last twenty-plus years had a negative impact, and climates are rapidly changing for the worse. Our resources are in very short supply. The environment is severely polluted, especially that of soil, water, and air. Not only our ability to sustain and develop our race, but even its survival is gravely threatened, to a degree much greater than faced Germany back then.

Anybody who has been to Western countries knows that their living space is much better than ours. They have forests alongside the highways, while we hardly have any trees by our streets. Their sky is often blue with white clouds, while our sky is covered with a layer of dark haze. Their tap water is clean enough for drinking, while even our ground water is so polluted that it can’t be drunk without filtering. They have few people in the streets, and two or three people can occupy a small residential building; in contrast, our streets are always crawling with people, and several people have to share one room.

Many years ago, there was a book titled Yellow Catastrophes. It said that, due to our following the American style of consumption, our limited resources would no longer support the population and society would collapse, once our population reaches 1.3 billion. Now our population has already exceeded this limit, and we are now relying on imports to sustain our nation. It’s not that we haven’t paid attention to this issue. The Ministry of Land Resources is specialized in this issue.

But the term “living space” (lebensraum) is too closely related to Nazi Germany. The reason we don’t want to discuss this too openly is to avoid the West’s association of us with Nazi Germany, which could in turn reinforce the view that China is a threat. Therefore, in our emphasis on He Xin’s new theory, “Human rights are just living rights,” we only talk about “living,” but not “space,” so as to avoid using the term “living space.” From the perspective of history, the reason that China is faced with the issue of living space is because Western countries have developed ahead of Eastern countries. Western countries established colonies all around the world, therefore giving themselves an advantage on the issue of living space. To solve this problem, we must lead the Chinese people outside of China, so that they could develop outside of China.

[snip]

Our Party’s historical mission is to lead the Chinese people to go out. If we take the long view, we will see that history led us on this path. First, China’s long history has resulted in the world’s largest population, including Chinese in China as well as overseas. Second, once we open our doors, the profit-seeking western capitalists will invest capital and technology in China to assist our development, so that they can occupy the biggest market in the world. Third, our numerous overseas Chinese help us create the most favorable environment for the introduction of foreign capital, foreign technology and advanced experience into China. Thus, it is guaranteed that our reform and open-door policy will achieve tremendous success. Fourth, China’s great economic expansion will inevitably lead to the shrinkage of per-capita living space for the Chinese people, and this will encourage China to turn outward in search for new living space. Fifth, China’s great economic expansion will inevitably come with a significant development in our military forces, creating conditions for our expansion overseas. Even since Napoleon’s time, the West has been has been alert for the possible awakening of the sleeping lion that is China. Now, the sleeping lion is standing up and advancing into the world, and has become unstoppable!

What is the third issue we should clinch firmly in order to accomplish our historical mission of national renaissance? It is to hold firmly onto the big “issue of America.”

Comrade Mao Zedong taught us that we must have a resolute and correct political orientation. What is our key, correct orientation? It is to solve the issue of America.

This appears to be shocking, but the logic is actually very simple.

Comrade He Xin put forward a very fundamental judgment that is very reasonable. He asserted in his report to the Party Central Committee: The renaissance of China is in fundamental conflict with the western strategic interest, and therefore will inevitably be obstructed by the western countries doing everything they can. So, only by breaking the blockade formed by the western countries headed by the United States can China grow and move towards the world!

Would the United States allow us to go out to gain new living space? First, if the United States is firm in blocking us, it is hard for us to do anything significant to Taiwan and some other countries! Second, even if we could snatch some land from Taiwan, Vietnam, India, or even Japan, how much more living space can we get? Very trivial! Only countries like the United States, Canada and Australia have the vast land to serve our need for mass colonization.

Therefore, solving the “issue of America” is the key to solving all other issues. First, this makes it possible for us to have many people migrate there and even establish another China under the same leadership of the CCP. America was originally discovered by the ancestors of the yellow race, but Columbus gave credit to the white race. We the descendents of the Chinese nation are entitled to the possession of the land! It is said that the residents of the yellow race have a very low social status in United States. We need to liberate them. Second, after solving the “issue of America,” the western countries in Europe would bow to us, not to mention to Taiwan, Japan and other small countries. Therefore, solving the “issue of America” is the mission assigned to CCP members by history.

[snip]

We also must never forget what Comrade Xiaoping emphasized “refrain from revealing the ambitions and put others off the track.” The hidden message is: we must put up with America; we must conceal our ultimate goals, hide our capabilities and await the opportunity. In this way, our mind is clear. Why have we not updated our national anthem with something peaceful? Why did we not change the anthem’s theme of war? Instead, when revising the Constitution this time, for the first time we clearly specified “March of the Volunteers” is our national anthem. Thus we will understand why we constantly talk loudly about the “Taiwan issue” but not the “American issue.” We all know the principle of “doing one thing under the cover of another.” If ordinary people can only see the small island of Taiwan in their eyes, then you as the elite of our country should be able to see the whole picture of our cause. Over these years, according to Comrade Xiaoping’s arrangement, a large piece of our territory in the North has been given up to Russia; do you really think our Party Central Committee is a fool?

To resolve the issue of America we must be able to transcend conventions and restrictions. In history, when a country defeated another country or occupied another country, it could not kill all the people in the conquered land, because back then you could not kill people effectively with sabers or long spears, or even with rifles or machine guns. Therefore, it was impossible to gain a stretch of land without keeping the people on that land. However, if we conquered America in this fashion, we would not be able to make many people migrate there.

Only by using special means to “clean up” America will we be able to lead the Chinese people there. This is the only choice left for us. This is not a matter of whether we are willing to do it or not. What kind of special means is there available for us to “clean up” America? Conventional weapons such as fighters, canons, missiles and battleships won’t do; neither will highly destructive weapons such as nuclear weapons. We are not as foolish as to want to perish together with America by using nuclear weapons, despite the fact that we have been exclaiming that we will have the Taiwan issue resolved at whatever cost. Only by using non-destructive weapons that can kill many people will we be able to reserve America for ourselves. There has been rapid development of modern biological technology, and new bio weapons have been invented one after another. Of course we have not been idle; in the past years we have seized the opportunity to master weapons of this kind. We are capable of achieving our purpose of “cleaning up” America all of a sudden. When Comrade Xiaoping was still with us, the Party Central Committee had the perspicacity to make the right decision not to develop aircraft carrier groups and focus instead on developing lethal weapons that can eliminate mass populations of the enemy country.

[snip]

Biological weapons are unprecedented in their ruthlessness, but if the Americans do not die then the Chinese have to die. If the Chinese people are strapped to the present land, a total societal collapse is bound to take place.

[snip]

We must prepare ourselves for two scenarios. If our biological weapons succeed in the surprise attack [on the United States], the Chinese people will be able to keep their losses at a minimum in the fight against the United States. If, however, the attack fails and triggers a nuclear retaliation from the United States, China would perhaps suffer a catastrophe in which more than half of its population would perish. That is why we need to be ready with air defense systems for our big and medium-sized cities. Whatever the case may be, we can only move forward fearlessly for the sake of our Party and state and our nation’s future, regardless of the hardships we have to face and the sacrifices we have to make. The population, even if more than half dies, can be reproduced. But if the Party falls, everything is gone, and forever gone!

In Chinese history, in the replacement of dynasties, the ruthless have always won and the benevolent have always failed.

[snip]

It is indeed brutal to kill one or two hundred million Americans. But that is the only path that will secure a Chinese century, a century in which the CCP leads the world. We, as revolutionary humanitarians, do not want deaths. But if history confronts us with a choice between deaths of Chinese and those of Americans, we’d have to pick the latter, as, for us, it is more important to safeguard the lives of the Chinese people and the life of our Party. That is because, after all, we are Chinese and members of the CCP. Since the day we joined the CCP, the Party’s life has always been above all else! History will prove that we made the right choice.

Now, when I am about to finish my speech, you probably understand why we conducted this online survey. Simply put, through conducting this online survey we wanted to know whether the people would rise against us if one day we secretly adopt resolute means to “clean up” America. Would more people support us or oppose us? This is our basic judgment: if our people approve of shooting at prisoners of war, women and children, then they would approve our “cleaning up” America.

[snip]

This article appeared in Chinese dissident sources, so there is naturally a question as to whether it is authentic. The survey referred to in the transcript was not available when this translation was published. However, as a test of its authenticity, I used the Wayback machine, an internet archive, to see if I could find the original. And indeed I could. Here it is in its original form.  If you use Bablefish to translate, you will find that the survey at sina.com did in fact ask, back on June 8, 2004, whether it is OK for soldiers to shoot woman and children and prisoners of war if instructed to by higher authorities. So, this part of the transcript checks out. It is worth pointing out that sina.com was run by President Hu Jintao’s son-in-law, so this ghastly survey was likely conducted on the instructions of the Chinese government, as the transcript suggests.

Is Chi Haotian the sort of person who would make such statements? Indeed he is. He organised the troops who would massacre students at Tiannemen Square, which involved shooting unarmed men and women (Huffington Post, December 8, 2010). [hat-tip, crfullmoon].

John Derbyshire of the National Review stated back on September 26, 2006 that he thought the transcript was likely genuine [hat-tip Pixie]. However, he went on to suggest that the Chinese government was unlikely to follow through on such plans. I believe such an assumption is dangerously wrong. In the last year, the internal situation within China has changed dramatically. Although we don’t know for sure what is going on, many analysts fear that the PLA has, or is in the process, of taking over the government.

As everyone knows by now, the Chinese government is furious that Liu Xiaobo, who has been imprisoned for working for Democracy in China, received the Nobel Peace Prize. As part of their propaganda campaign, the Chinese government created a new prize called the “World Harmony Award”. Who is the first recipient?

Chi Haotian.

Chi Haotian’s speech describing a plot to “clean up” the United States by killing its citizens with biological weapons was published on February 15, 2005.

Margaret Chan became Representative of the Director-General for Pandemic Influenza at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in June 2005.

Chi Haotian proved he was capable of genocide at Tiananmen Square. Margaret Chan proved she was capable of genocide when she defended the North Korean public health system and attacked Amnesty International’s report of mass starvation.

The evidence for a plan of unprecedented evil is here for those who have eyes that can see.

No killer flu for you! The plan to stop viral armageddon.

As I have pointed out before, genes can now be synthesised from scratch in a matter of days. Bioweaponeers can create world-ending viruses with the click of a few keys. Some students at Virginia Tech had a good idea. How about if we monitor what genes people order over the internet and give some sort of warning if someone orders something nasty!

From Biotechniques, July 27, 2010

Students who competed at iGEM in 2009 have created a series of algorithms that can determine if unauthorized persons purchase synthetic cell parts that resemble biological weapons.

[snip]

Synthetic biology is a rapidly expanding field and the demand for biological parts is rising. Research into disease progression, drug delivery, and synthetic life are just a few of the ways that biological components can be extremely beneficial to researchers. But synthetic biology could be used for more sinister purposes, like biological warfare, if genetic components are used to create deadly viruses or toxins.

“When biological weapons were cultures of anthrax or other select agents, it was possible to prevent the spread of biological weapons by restricting access to dangerous samples. Now anyone can obtain sequences that are potentially dangerous,” Jean Peccoud, associate professor at VBI and leader of Virginia Tech’s iGEM initiatives, told BioTechniques. “So it is important to detect the possibility that people are using gene synthesis in an illegitimate way.”

According to Peccoud, a resurrection of 1918’s pandemic influenza virus is a good example of dangerous gene synthesis. “If someone were to order this sequence again, it would be important to detect it, and make sure that the person placing this order intends to use it for legitimate research,” said Peccoud. “The iGEM work will help gene synthesis companies and their customers ensure such research.”

This is a good idea. By all means, let’s not sell killer viruses to whomever has 35 cents a base to buy them. But what if the bad guys don’t need to order their killer viruses online? What if they have their own gene synthesis machines and can make all the killer viruses they want without telling anyone? Oops.

What is our defense against a country like China which does in fact have its own gene synthesis machines and can produce whatever type of viral monster it wishes whenever it wants?

None. None whatsoever.

Hey, Virginia Tech students. Could you work on that problem?

No-one else is.