John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PEPE ESCOBAR IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“China Locked in Hybrid War with US”
I think the article's author is less than convincing in his thesis.
Of course, the US has been fighting a certain kind of “hybrid war” against China for a while, one whose weapons include sanctions, tariffs, disinformation, regulations, pressure against a Chinese company like Huawei, pressure against other countries joining the Belt and Road Initiative, accusations of intellectual property theft, accusations about human rights, accusations of currency manipulation, and more.
But the issue here is whether that “cold” hybrid war, much of it going on for years, has now become a hot one where people are killed and injured.
The author weaves a little tapestry of hints and suggestions, a lot of them wordplay stuff that is unconvincing.
We have to wait for real evidence, scientific stuff, or witnesses because this is a serious and dangerous charge being made.
The case for the coronavirus being an engineered bio-weapon, a case made recently by a number of authors, is quite plausible, but it is not proved.
Even the fact that the virus is not as deadly as a great many diseases can be understood as supporting the notion of a weapon intended to hurt and inconvenience and cost rather than just kill.
But the idea of the US deliberately having used it against China seems considerably less plausible for several reasons.
First, the risk of its spreading back to the US and other places, as it has.
Second, the risk that China with its advanced science would conclusively find that it was a weapon.
Third, such a conclusive finding would cause a lot of outrage in the world, in places like Europe, where the US already has lost a great deal of favor and reputation.
Fourth, the risk of reprisal.
Note that I am not listing moral or ethical considerations by the US. The country that has used napalm, white phosphorus, cluster bombs, fire-bombing, carpet-bombing, Agent Orange, and atomic weapons clearly doesn’t have any. The Pentagon has even embraced landmines despite an exhausting international effort for a convention, signed by over 160 nations, banning them.
But I note that the US has now some seriously unbalanced people in leading positions - Trump, Pompeo, and Co. – and possibly considerations against using bio-weapons could be pooh-poohed.
That's a strong statement to make, but it is sadly the reality of America today.
LATER NOTE
IMPORTANT PERSPECTIVES ON THE CORONAVIRUS:
http://www.yourdestinationnow.com/2020/03/most-of-those-infected-wont-even-know.html
https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/
http://www.domigood.com/2020/03/nobel-prize-winner-who-predicted-china.html
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/03/false-claims-about-the-novel-coronavirus-and-how-to-debunk-them.html#more
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9
