Lytham_fy8
Well-known member
From the BBC
In what passes for relative transparency in the US government, the Biden administration has conceded the American intelligence community is split on Covid-19's origins - it could be the lab or animal-to-human contact - and no-one is near certain about it.
That marks a big shift from the derision heaped on the lab theory by many in the media and politics last year, when Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Senator Tom Cotton and others floated the idea.
Mr Trump and Mr Pompeo didn't help the situation, however, as they were coy about the grounds for their suspicion. And their theories floating alongside more far-fetched ones, such as that the disease was manufactured as a bioweapon in a Chinese lab. That possibility still seem highly unlikely.
The public may never know the full truth about the virus' origins, particularly if China continues to be uncooperative.
Mr Biden is pledging a full investigation, however, and if the US finds conclusive evidence of a lab leak, it will mean more than just a few prominent figures having to eat crow and re-evaluate their trust in authoritative "conclusions".
It could place very real strain on US-China relations for years to come.
In what passes for relative transparency in the US government, the Biden administration has conceded the American intelligence community is split on Covid-19's origins - it could be the lab or animal-to-human contact - and no-one is near certain about it.
That marks a big shift from the derision heaped on the lab theory by many in the media and politics last year, when Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Senator Tom Cotton and others floated the idea.
Mr Trump and Mr Pompeo didn't help the situation, however, as they were coy about the grounds for their suspicion. And their theories floating alongside more far-fetched ones, such as that the disease was manufactured as a bioweapon in a Chinese lab. That possibility still seem highly unlikely.
The public may never know the full truth about the virus' origins, particularly if China continues to be uncooperative.
Mr Biden is pledging a full investigation, however, and if the US finds conclusive evidence of a lab leak, it will mean more than just a few prominent figures having to eat crow and re-evaluate their trust in authoritative "conclusions".
It could place very real strain on US-China relations for years to come.