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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Pentagon Says There's No ‘Offensive' Bioweapons at US-Linked Ukraine Labs
2022-04-03
[Antiwar.com] US officials have said the labs could contain pathogens leftover from the Soviet Union's bioweapons program

A Pentagon official told Congress on Friday that there are no "offensive" biological weapons in any of the dozens of US-linked labs in Ukraine.

"I can say to you unequivocally there are no offensive biologic weapons in the Ukraine laboratories that the United States has been involved with," Deborah Rosenbaum, the assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs, told the House Armed Services subcommittee.

The Pentagon funds labs in Ukraine through its Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). According to a Pentagon fact sheet released last month, since 2005, the US has "invested" $200 million in "supporting 46 Ukrainian laboratories, health facilities, and diagnostic sites."

Moscow has accused Ukraine of conducting an emergency clean-up of a secret Pentagon-funded biological weapons program when Russia invaded. The World Health Organization said it advised Ukraine to destroy "high-threat pathogens" around the time of the invasion.

For their part, the US maintains that the program in Ukraine and other former Soviet states is meant to reduce the threat of biological weapons left over from the Soviet Union. While downplaying the threat of the labs, Pentagon officials have also warned that they could still contain Soviet-era bioweapons.

Robert Pope, the director of the DTRA’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, told the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in February that the labs might contain Soviet bioweapons and warned that the fighting in Ukraine could lead to the release of a dangerous pathogen.

The Biden administration has tried to portray any concerns about the labs as "Russian propaganda." When the issue gained more media attention, Biden officials started accusing Moscow of plotting to use chemical or biological weapons, but the US hasn’t presented any evidence to back up its claims.

NYP - Hunter Biden helped secure funds for US biolab contractor in Ukraine: e-mails
Posted by:Besoeker

#19   Is the sterno for cooking or for drinking?

Cooking. Engine coolant is for drinking, along with mouthwash. Does not everyone know this?
Posted by: trailing wife   2022-04-03 21:41  

#18  @#1 - Re: Item 7. I always thought, kinda-sorta, that DTRA was simply one big SAP.
Posted by: DooDahMan   2022-04-03 20:43  

#17  Is the sterno for cooking or for drinking?
Posted by: M. Murcek    2022-04-03 20:11  

#16  Don't forget the Sterno!
Posted by: Skidmark   2022-04-03 20:00  

#15  ^ now it comes reconstituted freeze-dried in a package.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2022-04-03 16:47  

#14  
Posted by: M. Murcek   2022-04-03 16:27  

#13  I studied Chem, Nuke and Bio weapons at a Navy school. Bio was puzzling to me. The countermeasure wash down system would have been the response to a spray, but attacking a destroyer with a crop duster seemed to be unlikely at the time. Poisoning the crew seemed like a possibility, but we were libel to do that ourselves. Enhancing and releasing a general plague to randomly depopulate the world seemed like it would serve no one, yet here we are. I was a naive young man.
Posted by: Super Hose   2022-04-03 16:17  

#12  Our biological weapons programs are inoffensive.
We try not to offend anyone until they do something that offends us.
Posted by: Crumble Thrique2167   2022-04-03 14:59  

#11  Anything the US does would be said to be defensive, even if the research could easily be used offensively. We're the good guys, remember.
Snort.
Posted by: Crumble Thrique2167   2022-04-03 14:57  

#10  I suggest an offensive bioweapon would be contagious (Smallpox) whereas a defensive bioweapon would be deployed in an exposure environment for individual consumption (Anthrax).

For example, the Chernobyl Russians were individually irradiated in an exposure environment but could still contaminate others. Is this offensive or defensive?
Posted by: Skidmark   2022-04-03 14:27  

#9  officials have said the labs could contain pathogens leftover from the Soviet Union's bioweapons program

"I swear we were just watching it for them."
Posted by: Dron66046   2022-04-03 12:35  

#8  Tell me why we should believe anything coming out of Washington and this administration?
Posted by: JohnQC   2022-04-03 11:25  

#7  There is a difference between having bioweapons and offensive bioweapons. Most labs will not transport the samples and have the military and civilian detection equipment shipped to them to verify it works, how well and what needs tweaked. They may also test antibody kits as well.

An offensive weapon means it has been weaponized, i.e. stabilized and put in a suspended state like a powder or such, loaded into a delivery device and ready for deployment.

Now all that being said given the government's track record on being honest what they have been doing with shit like this, looking at you China and Fauchi, I trust their collective asses as far as I can throw them.
Posted by: DarthVader   2022-04-03 10:53  

#6  I can smell the stench of the "lawyerly denial" from way over here.

"I can say to you unequivocally there are no offensive biologic weapons...

But there *is* some seriously nasty shit you can use to brew one up

... in the Ukraine laboratories that the United States has been involved with,"

We do this sort of work thru cutouts - like contractors and foreign governments. Our hands are clean.
Posted by: SteveS   2022-04-03 10:32  

#5  

"Pentagon Says There's No ‘Offensive' Bioweapons at US-Linked Ukraine Labs"

Where did we hear this before?
Didn't we hear pretty much the same carefully worded denial about the WUHAN Virus (aka Covid-19) from the same talking heads?

Offensive use versus Defensive use is a political dance around.

EG. I own a firearm that can used offensively or defensively depending on the situation.

Any weapon is no different.

Posted by: NN2N1   2022-04-03 09:36  

#4  "No Offensive weapon" ???? Is it just a defensive weapon? Or are they just researching unto supporting a bio war? A bullet in a gun is not offensive, its defensive, defending the person carrying the gun. Nuke weapons are a defensive weapon. This is just more of the pentagon talking out its ass!
Posted by: 49 Pan   2022-04-03 09:21  

#3  When get the info when they release John Kerry's military record.

[ever notice how stuff on that side of the aisle never seems to get leaked?]
Posted by: Procopius2k   2022-04-03 07:25  

#2  Pentagon caught with their collective pants down. Spin time is here.
Posted by: Dale   2022-04-03 07:04  

#1  The Pentagon funds labs in Ukraine through its Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). According to a Pentagon fact sheet released last month, since 2005, the US has "invested" $200 million in "supporting 46 Ukrainian laboratories, health facilities, and diagnostic sites."

1. Why, after 17 years of US involvement and funding are we just now learning about this project ?

2. Under what line-item in the DTRA and DoD budget is this effort listed ?

3. Who specifically is in charge of monitoring, reporting, and safeguards ?

4. What period of time does the "$200 million" in funding cover? Is this a monthly, annual, or life of the current program investment ?

5. Is this project a 'stand-alone' project or is it linked to similar CDC and NIH domestic or overseas efforts ?

6. Prior to recent discoveries, has anyone in House or Senate committees been briefed on this 17 year effort ?

7. Is this a DoD Special Access Program ?

8. Besides the DTRA, what other US Government Agencies are involved or provide assistance (financial or otherwise) to this project ?

9. Is this project a 'bi-lateral' project involving other countries? If so, what other countries ?

10. Have specimines or bacterial pathogens from the Ukraine effort been transported to the US or other locations outside of Ukraine ?

11. Have specimines or bacterial pathogens from the US or other nations been transported to the Ukraine ?

12. It would appear the Congress has initiated an investigation of these activities. Who is in charge of the investigation and what is the timeline? Will classified or unclassified reports be forthcoming ?
Posted by: Besoeker   2022-04-03 06:00  

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