Mitt vs Tulsi

[George K]

[LuFins Dad]

[George K]

@LuFins-Dad that's what I was wondering.

"Treasonous" is a strong word.

[jon-nyc]

Putin is talking about 'biolabs' in Ukraine, obvious to anyone with an IQ over 35 that he's preparing that as an excuse to escalate, perhaps historically but certainly tragically.

So of course Tulsi is warning about Ukrainian biolabs.

Even assuming (as is most likely the case) there are facilities that fit the description of 'biolabs' in Ukraine, surely to pile on to the Russian claims is irresponsible.

Mitt 1, Tulsi 0

[Renauda]

She, of all people, should know better than to fall for Putin’s insidious disinformation and join the ranks of his useful idiots brigade in the West.

[Horace]

That's disappointing.

[Copper]

It's probably coming from Tucker Carlson

Tulsi is a regular with Tucker

Tucker had a show last week about US funded biolabs (WMD labs) in Ukraine
I'm too lazy to look it up, I forget the exact story
His question was something like, why is the US funding these labs?

[LuFins Dad]

Uhm, there are bio labs in Ukraine… Biden’s undersecretary of the State Department testified about it the other day…

[Copper]

That's it, that's what Tucker was talking about

She testified that she was worried about the Russians getting these facilities

And he also made the point that nobody else seems to be reporting this story

[Mik]

I find it very difficult to believe we were funding WMD labs next door to Russia.

[LuFins Dad]

@Mik said in Mitt vs Tulsi:

I find it very difficult to believe we were funding WMD labs next door to Russia.

Did I say WMD? No, bio labs. Which is the same as what Gabbard said and is the same that the Undersecretary of the State Department testified to. Why is this being called Russian propaganda?

[Axtremus]

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/02/ukraine-biolabs-conspiracy-theory-qanon/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/02/25/fact-check-claim-us-biolabs-ukraine-disinformation/6937923001/

[Renauda]

@Copper said in Mitt vs Tulsi:

It's probably coming from Tucker Carlson

Tulsi is a regular with Tucker

Tucker had a show last week about US funded biolabs (WMD labs) in Ukraine
I'm too lazy to look it up, I forget the exact story
His question was something like, why is the US funding these labs?

Who’d ever thought that that fucker, Carlson, is a paid Putin stooge.

[LuFins Dad]

People are conflating 2 different issues.

1. Are there Bio-Labs in Ukraine that study dangerous pathogens funded by the US? Yes. This has been testified to by the Undersecretary.

2. Are there Biological Warfare labs Ukraine where weapons of mass destruction are being made? Don’t know, I doubt it.

But acknowledging and addressing #1 is not “being a Putin stooge”, “misinformation”, and certainly not treason. Gabbard’s comments that I have seen on Twitter seem to be about #1, not #2. But I could be wrong. I don’t exactly follow Gabbard everyday and I don’t twat.

[Axtremus]

@LuFins-Dad , the fact that there are bio labs in Ukraine with US involvement is not news … it’s publicly acknowledged in a statement posted by the U.S. Embassy back in April 2020 (almost two years ago), and press release in 2005 (more than 16 years ago) announcing the deal the U.S. struck with Ukraine on this matter.

New article from August 2005:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2005/08/30/us-to-aid-ukraine-in-countering-bioweapons/72059ed1-90ca-4381-ac6f-10f4e205f09e/

August 30, 2005
.
The United States and Ukraine agreed yesterday to work jointly to prevent the spread of biological weapons, signing a pact that clears the way for Ukraine's government to receive U.S. aid to improve security at facilities where dangerous microbes are kept.
.
The agreement, the result of more than a year of negotiations, was announced by Sens. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) during a visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. The senators credited Ukraine's reformist leaders, ushered into power by last fall's Orange Revolution, with breaking bureaucratic resistance to the pact.
.
One lab to receive funding is the I.I. Mechnikov Antiplague Scientific and Research Institute, in the Black Sea port city of Odessa. The institute was part of a Cold War network of "antiplague" stations that supplied highly lethal pathogens to Soviet bioweapons factories.

U.S. Embassy’s statement from April 2020:

https://ua.usembassy.gov/u-s-ukraine-partnership-to-reduce-biological-threats/

April 22, 2020
.
The U.S. Embassy would like to set the record straight regarding disinformation spreading in some circles in Ukraine that mirrors Russian disinformation regarding the strong U.S.-Ukrainian partnership to reduce biological threats.
.
Here in Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Biological Threat Reduction Program works with the Ukrainian Government to consolidate and secure pathogens and toxins of security concern in Ukrainian government facilities, while allowing for peaceful research and vaccine development. We also work with our Ukrainian partners to ensure Ukraine can detect and report outbreaks caused by dangerous pathogens before they pose security or stability threats.
.
Our joint efforts help to ensure that dangerous pathogens do not fall into the wrong hands. We’re proud to partner with the Ministry of Health, State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, and the Ministry of Defense to make us all safer.”

The criticism against the talking heads rehashing this issue now seems to be that some talking heads are presenting the situation as if the U.S. government is secretly working on something nefarious in those Ukraine bio labs, thus playing into Russia’s propaganda narrative. One would hope that our TV talking heads and politicians would know better, yet many apparently do not.

[89th]

@LuFins-Dad said in Mitt vs Tulsi:

People are conflating 2 different issues.

1. Are there Bio-Labs in Ukraine that study dangerous pathogens funded by the US? Yes. This has been testified to by the Undersecretary.

2. Are there Biological Warfare labs Ukraine where weapons of mass destruction are being made? Don’t know, I doubt it.

But acknowledging and addressing #1 is not “being a Putin stooge”, “misinformation”, and certainly not treason. Gabbard’s comments that I have seen on Twitter seem to be about #1, not #2. But I could be wrong. I don’t exactly follow Gabbard everyday and I don’t twat.

You are right. She said,

There are 25+ US-funded biolabs in Ukraine which if breached would release & spread deadly pathogens to US/world...

While I disagree with her alarmist "if breached, it would spread these (COVID-like) pathogens around the world..." statement, I'm not sure if this fits Putin's narrative, or what her goal is. Never looked her up before. Maybe Putin has dirt on her and is making her say something that fits his headline goals?

[George K]

I fail to see how what she said, which, taken on its face is accurate, rises to the level of "treason."

[89th]

@George-K said in Mitt vs Tulsi:

I fail to see how what she said, which, taken on its face is accurate, rises to the level of "treason."

Agreed. Even if she said exactly what Putin says, the US is not involved directly with this war, so technically it wouldn't be anti-US or treason or whatever. Not even close.

[LuFins Dad]

What she said was pretty much what President Biden's Undersecretary to the State Department testified to Congress. These labs do contain pathogens and do need to be secured and have the pathogens destroyed. Full stop.

Has nothing to do with giving credence to Putin or some fringe conspiracy group.

And in point of fact, the more dipshits run around yelling "She's giving credence to Russian Misinformation and it's treason" the more I start to wonder if there's more to this.

[George K]

So, the current administration is working with Russia to broker an Iran capitulation deal. Does that rise to the level of treason, Senator?