Pentagon’s investigation: Can COVID-19 be used by the enemy as a bioweapon?
WASHINGTON, (BM) – The Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community are investigating the possibility that US adversaries could use coronavirus as a biological weapon, learned BulgarianMilitary.com.
The Politico newspaper, citing representatives of the Ministry of Defense and Intelligence Services, reports that this state of affairs demonstrates a growing understanding of the risks posed by the virus from the national security apparatus.
At the same time, according to local officials, this does not mean that the United States believes that the virus was created intentionally for use as a weapon.
Meanwhile, as the newspaper writes, the intelligence community has already begun to assess the potential of opponents to use coronavirus as a weapon, in particular, against targets of special importance. The U.S. Department of Defense has turned its attention to more thorough monitoring of this possibility, three sources familiar with the situation said.
Pentagon spokesman Mike Andrews said the agency’s chemical and biological program, which plays a key role in implementing the weapons of mass destruction strategy, continues to support COVID-19 control measures taken by the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
He noted that this includes over $ 150 million of Pentagon investment in diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutic measures, and modeling.
At the same time, Andrews did not comment on the question of whether the Pentagon is investigating the possibility of using the virus by the adversaries as a weapon. According to him, the main issue remains the origin of the virus, as well as what Beijing knew about it at an early stage.
Recall, US President Donald Trump threatened China with “consequences” if Beijing deliberately allowed an outbreak of COVID-19.
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