Just because it’s a conspiracy theory, it doesn’t mean it’s not true

It’s not just social media that start rumours. A week ago, the Washington Times  published a story linking the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan to the highest-category bioresearch lab in that city. An Israeli expert emailed the WT with the allegation – or speculation, shall we say – that the Wuhan facility was part of the Chinese government’s clandestine  biological weapons program, though only indirectly: what he called ‘dual civilian-military research.’ According to the WT article, the US State Department issued a report last year echoing such suspicions.

Chinese scientists uploaded the results of their analysis of the new virus’ genetic code on 22 January, which to some may seem suspiciously fast, bearing in mind the first case of infection was identified in December. Nevertheless, in itself this timing is not sinister: when SARS broke out 18 years ago US and Canadian scientists unravelled the code in little over a month. Since then a range of bat-related coronaviruses have been studied and the Chinese findings are that the latest one is 79.5% identical to SARS. So, no smoking gun there.

Why would an Israeli intelligence officer break cover with a story like this, at this time? Is it a move to help sustain funding for the military at a time when President Trump’s detailed ‘two-state’ plan to settle the Palestinian issues threatens to bring some kind of peace to the region? We can all play at conspiracy theories.

However, raising the biowarfare issue may prove an embarrassment to this informant’s side, if he has one. Unlike China and the USA, Israel is not a party to the Biological Weapons Convention, whereas Palestine, Iraq, Syria and Libya are, and Egypt is a signatory awaiting ratification. Naturally determined to defend itself when surrounded by mortal enemies, Israel is alleged to have not only numerous nuclear weapons but an offensive biological warfare capability.

If so, was that email to the Washington Times intended precisely to draw foreign attention to Israel’s multivariate arsenal? Sunni-Shia tensions centring on Iran may have encouraged a group of Middle Eastern countries to give a cautious welcome to Trump’s proposals, but the ostensibly (they know their supporters) ‘not contents’ include the Arab League; the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the President of the Palestinian Authority (Mahmoud Abbas). Perhaps Israel is rattling its tail and warning ‘Don’t tread on me.’

Biowarfare is one of the horrors to come out of Pandora’s box, and no-one knows how to stuff it back in again. As though humanity hasn’t enough ways to torment itself! We must suspect that a number of countries are saying one thing and secretly doing another but let’s remember that the last gift in the box was Hope.

A related – and topical - issue is disinformation, of which the Chinese lab one may be an example. Topical, because one of the undertakings in the 2019 version draft Political Declaration between the EU and the UK is a ‘security partnership’ to tackle ‘disinformation campaigns’ (paragraph 78). The term is not defined there and given both parties’ love of secrecy could mean ‘attempts to discover and reveal what our horrid leaders are up to.’

Julian Assange is still in jail. Unlawfully, according to his friend and veteran investigative journalist John Pilger. Shhh…