Biden's quest for intelligence on COVID-19 origins bad joke: observer

HONG KONG - An observer said the question of COVID-19 origins is a scientific one and US President Joe Biden's quest for intelligence on the origins is a bad joke.

The intelligence agencies are hardly the ones to decide a question of science or to provide the truth in any realm, John Walsh, who was until recently Professor of Physiology and Cellular Neuroscience at University of Massachusetts Medical School, said in a commentary published in Asia Times on Aug 23.

Walsh said the intelligence agencies are discredited, citing their deception about the "Global War on Terror" for the past 20-plus years.

The 90-day deadline for the intelligence agencies to complete the investigations is another absurdity, he said.

"Finding the origins of pandemics has taken many years or decades, and sometimes the problem has remained unsolved," he said, stressing that science does not proceed according to a schedule.

He pointed out that blaming China is a distraction from the miserable performance of the United States in handling the pandemic.

"Let us not repeat the many errors of the past by trusting the COVID-19 question to America's discredited and disgraced intel agencies," Walsh said. "Let the scientists do their work."