It is understandable that many around the world are looking for a scapegoat for the COVID-19 pandemic as it has taken a costly toll due to forced shutdown of small and large businesses, the collapse of air travel, not to mention loss of life.

It would be prudent to leave it to the scientists to determine where the pandemic originated but it is hard to eschew the present day political hysteria keen to make China the whipping boy.

US commentator Jim Rickards recently joined others in pinning the blame on the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Others have rushed to similar judgments, with some even concluding that because of this, China has now become the enemy of the United States.

Such views join a stream of Western media reports that began appearing soon after the outbreak was identified suggesting that it was "leaked" from the Wuhan lab.

A year later, in early 2021, the World Health Organization completed a thorough investigation of the Wuhan Institute of Virology as well as an inspection of the nearby seafood market and other sites to see if any of those locations might have been ground zero for the outbreak. As reported by CNBC on February 8, WHO determined after extensive interviews and on-site document reviews that it was highly unlikely the virus originated from the lab in Wuhan.

Now countering the theory that the virus first emerged in China, more information is starting to appear that a US Amy lab in Fort Detrick, Maryland—potentially working in concert with Western billionaires—may be a compelling possibility as the source of the virus; yet this has been largely ignored by the official US media.

In October, 2019—two months before the public December outbreak of the virus was detected in Wuhan—Johns Hopkins University held a simulation exercise in New York City called "Event 201." Led by US health officials—and Western billionaires—this simulation of a coronavirus outbreak was designed to explore what should be done if a worldwide pandemic should break out.

This raises the possibility that US commentators are now seeking to assign blame for the COVID-19 pandemic to the Wuhan Institute of Virology as "a smokescreen" to cover up that "gain of function research" on the novel coronavirus may already have taken place earlier—and in concert with Western billionaires—at the Army pathogenic research facility in Fort Detrick, Maryland. This is a real possibility that needs further investigation.

Unfortunately, the US continues to block attempts by the WHO to go in and conduct a forensic audit of Fort Detrick. In the name of science, it does seem incumbent upon Fort Detrick to at least open their doors to a forensic audit that includes interviews of key staff and document reviews of all relevant records as was done in the audit of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Perhaps we all should be calling upon key officials to allow scientists to complete their work, collaboratively seek solutions, de-politicize the matter—and derail the rush to war.

Gregory K. Tanaka, PhD, JD, MBA, is the author of Systemic Collapse and Renewal: How Race and Capital Came to Destroy Meaning and Civility in American and Foreshadow the Coming Economic Depression (New York: Peter Lang Publishing).

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.

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