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Tucker Carlson Claims Ukraine Is Making Bioweapons by Citing a Pentagon Official Who Actually Said the Exact OppositeMar 11th, 2022,
In an effort to argue that Ukraine is making biological weapons, Tucker Carlson cited an interview with a Pentagon official who – in that very interview – said the exact opposite of what the Fox News host told his audience the official had said.
For years, the Russian government has alleged the United States is funding labs in Ukraine to develop bioweapons, possibly to use against Russia. The U.S. denies the charge.
However, what was once a theory seen mostly in Russian state media and the fringes of the internet had a booster rocket attached to it by a State Department official named Victoria Nuland.
Nuland testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday and was asked, “Does Ukraine have chemical or biological weapons?”
Rather than answer the question, she responded,
Ukraine has uh, biological research facilities, which, in fact we are now quite concerned Russian troops, Russia forces may be seeking to uh, gain control of. So, we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of uh, Russian forces should they approach.
Nuland was not pressed further.
Carlson and others have pointed to her worried and waffling response as evidence that something sinister must be afoot. On Thursday, he chided reporters for repeating “Pentagon talking points.”
Oddly, though, in the same segment, the host cited an interview with a Pentagon official named Robert Pope in order to give oxygen to the bioweapons theory.
Pope leads the Department of Defense’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Agency, which was created in 1991 in order to “secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction and their associated infrastructure” stored in former Soviet republics, such as Ukraine. Back then, the Russians requested Western assistance in accomplishing this goal. Hence, the creation of the agency.
Incredibly, in the very same interview Carlson cited to bolster his claim that Ukraine’s bio-labs are making bioweapons, Pope said Ukraine’s bio-labs are not making bioweapons.
The host highlighted a Feb. 25 article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in which Pope is quoted. Here is how Carlson characterized Pope’s comments:
The day after Russia invaded Ukraine, Robert Pope, the man who heads the Cooperative Threat Reduction program at DoD, sat for an interview with the website Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Pope was in the man in charge of securing or eliminating Soviet-era bioweapons. So, he knows a lot about the subject – maybe more than anyone else. But it turns out that not all of these Soviet weapons are being destroyed or even secured, and Pope acknowledged that in the interview, which apparently CNN didn’t see.
According to his interview, Pope said the labs, quote “may hold pathogen strains left over from the Soviet bioweapons program, preserved in freezers for research purposes.” Pope said that, quote, “Scientists being scientists, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of these strain collections in some of these laboratories still have pathogen strains that go all the way back to the origins of that program.”
In other words, because as Pope put it, scientists are scientists, they don’t want to destroy all the bioweapons. Instead they’re using them to conduct new bioweapons research. That’s what he said.
“That’s what he said,” Carlson told his audience.
The problem is, that is not at all what Pope said. In fact, Carlson omitted crucial portions of the interview that directly contradict his claim that Ukraine is using the labs “to conduct new bioweapons research.”
Here is the passage from the article Carlson quotes. To emphasize how dishonest his framing is, the portions Carlson quoted are not in bold. The rest are. Notice how much ignoring he had to do to draw the false conclusion Pope claimed Ukraine is making bioweapons:
The invasion could also provide fodder for new disinformation narratives around the labs, Pope feared. The Russians, he said, “could potentially go to one of these facilities and fabricate something that they call evidence of nefarious activity at the facility.”
The pathogens in Ukrainian labs vary by facility, Pope said, but some can be characterized as presenting a concern in the Ukrainian environment. As an example, he cited African swine fever virus, which is highly contagious in pigs and has caused hundreds of outbreaks in Ukraine since 2012. Some labs, he said, may hold pathogen strains left over from the Soviet bioweapons program, preserved in freezers for research purposes.
“There is no place that still has any of the sort of infrastructure for researching or producing biological weapons,” Pope said. “Scientists being scientists, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of these strain collections in some of these laboratories still have pathogen strains that go all the way back to the origins of that program.”
“There is no place that still has any of the sort of infrastructure for researching or producing biological weapons,” Pope stated, though Carlson’s viewers wouldn’t know that because he has no interest in giving them an accurate account of what the man actually said.
Carlson also ignored Pope’s remark that the Russians “could potentially go to one of these facilities and fabricate something that they call evidence of nefarious activity at the facility.”
As if that weren’t enough, in the same publication on Wednesday, Pope reiterated his concern about what could happen if the Russians capture these facilities. Carlson also ignored these comments of his:
Should Russian forces occupy a city with one of these facilities, we are concerned that Russia will fabricate “evidence” of nefarious activity in an attempt to lend credibility to their ongoing disinformation about these facilities.”
“We know Putin lied when he said he wasn’t preparing to invade Ukraine,” Pope added, “and we are confident that Russia is willing to lie to try to justify their invasion.”
In an effort to argue that Ukraine is making biological weapons, Tucker Carlson cited an interview with a Pentagon official who – in that very interview – said the exact opposite of what the Fox News host told his audience the official had said.
For years, the Russian government has alleged the United States is funding labs in Ukraine to develop bioweapons, possibly to use against Russia. The U.S. denies the charge.
However, what was once a theory seen mostly in Russian state media and the fringes of the internet had a booster rocket attached to it by a State Department official named Victoria Nuland.
Nuland testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday and was asked, “Does Ukraine have chemical or biological weapons?”
Rather than answer the question, she responded,
Ukraine has uh, biological research facilities, which, in fact we are now quite concerned Russian troops, Russia forces may be seeking to uh, gain control of. So, we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of uh, Russian forces should they approach.
Nuland was not pressed further.
Carlson and others have pointed to her worried and waffling response as evidence that something sinister must be afoot. On Thursday, he chided reporters for repeating “Pentagon talking points.”
Oddly, though, in the same segment, the host cited an interview with a Pentagon official named Robert Pope in order to give oxygen to the bioweapons theory.
Pope leads the Department of Defense’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Agency, which was created in 1991 in order to “secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction and their associated infrastructure” stored in former Soviet republics, such as Ukraine. Back then, the Russians requested Western assistance in accomplishing this goal. Hence, the creation of the agency.
Incredibly, in the very same interview Carlson cited to bolster his claim that Ukraine’s bio-labs are making bioweapons, Pope said Ukraine’s bio-labs are not making bioweapons.
The host highlighted a Feb. 25 article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in which Pope is quoted. Here is how Carlson characterized Pope’s comments:
The day after Russia invaded Ukraine, Robert Pope, the man who heads the Cooperative Threat Reduction program at DoD, sat for an interview with the website Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Pope was in the man in charge of securing or eliminating Soviet-era bioweapons. So, he knows a lot about the subject – maybe more than anyone else. But it turns out that not all of these Soviet weapons are being destroyed or even secured, and Pope acknowledged that in the interview, which apparently CNN didn’t see.
According to his interview, Pope said the labs, quote “may hold pathogen strains left over from the Soviet bioweapons program, preserved in freezers for research purposes.” Pope said that, quote, “Scientists being scientists, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of these strain collections in some of these laboratories still have pathogen strains that go all the way back to the origins of that program.”
In other words, because as Pope put it, scientists are scientists, they don’t want to destroy all the bioweapons. Instead they’re using them to conduct new bioweapons research. That’s what he said.
“That’s what he said,” Carlson told his audience.
The problem is, that is not at all what Pope said. In fact, Carlson omitted crucial portions of the interview that directly contradict his claim that Ukraine is using the labs “to conduct new bioweapons research.”
Here is the passage from the article Carlson quotes. To emphasize how dishonest his framing is, the portions Carlson quoted are not in bold. The rest are. Notice how much ignoring he had to do to draw the false conclusion Pope claimed Ukraine is making bioweapons:
The invasion could also provide fodder for new disinformation narratives around the labs, Pope feared. The Russians, he said, “could potentially go to one of these facilities and fabricate something that they call evidence of nefarious activity at the facility.”
The pathogens in Ukrainian labs vary by facility, Pope said, but some can be characterized as presenting a concern in the Ukrainian environment. As an example, he cited African swine fever virus, which is highly contagious in pigs and has caused hundreds of outbreaks in Ukraine since 2012. Some labs, he said, may hold pathogen strains left over from the Soviet bioweapons program, preserved in freezers for research purposes.
“There is no place that still has any of the sort of infrastructure for researching or producing biological weapons,” Pope said. “Scientists being scientists, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of these strain collections in some of these laboratories still have pathogen strains that go all the way back to the origins of that program.”
“There is no place that still has any of the sort of infrastructure for researching or producing biological weapons,” Pope stated, though Carlson’s viewers wouldn’t know that because he has no interest in giving them an accurate account of what the man actually said.
Carlson also ignored Pope’s remark that the Russians “could potentially go to one of these facilities and fabricate something that they call evidence of nefarious activity at the facility.”
As if that weren’t enough, in the same publication on Wednesday, Pope reiterated his concern about what could happen if the Russians capture these facilities. Carlson also ignored these comments of his:
Should Russian forces occupy a city with one of these facilities, we are concerned that Russia will fabricate “evidence” of nefarious activity in an attempt to lend credibility to their ongoing disinformation about these facilities.”
“We know Putin lied when he said he wasn’t preparing to invade Ukraine,” Pope added, “and we are confident that Russia is willing to lie to try to justify their invasion.”
Ukraine Bio-Labs Expert Rips ‘Stooges of President Putin’ at Fox News for Pushing Bioweapons Theory
By Kipp Jones
By Kipp Jones
Mar 10th, 2022,
An expert on bio-labs in Ukraine, which have been discussed at length on Fox News this week, said Thursday the facilities are benign, and have never been a secret.
He also criticized hosts on the network who have discussed the labs. In some cases, hosts have wondered whether the labs are potential weapons threats funded by the U.S. government.
Andrew Weber, the former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs during the Obama administration, told Abrams the labs are research facilities — not unlike ones operated by county health departments.
The saga with the labs began when Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland mentioned them early this week.
“Ukraine biological research facilities, which, in fact we are now quite concerned Russian troops, Russia forces may be seeking to gain control of,” she said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. “So, we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of uh, Russian forces should they approach.”
The fear Nuland expressed was that such facilities could fall into Russian hands, Ukraine might find itself dealing with outbreaks of endemic illnesses.
Weber joined Dan Abrams on NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live to discuss the controversy, which he went on to explain in great detail.
Abrams, who is the founder of Mediaite, showed Weber clips of Fox News hosts discussing the facilities.
“So, you have been to these places,” Abrams said — referring to the fact that Weber has actually been to the Ukrainian bio-labs in question on multiple occasions. “Please tell us what exactly is going on in these labs in Ukraine.”
Weber responded,
They function just like your county public health laboratory. They monitor for infectious disease outbreaks. They’re sort of a smaller version of the [CDC]. And indeed the United States government has been supporting these laboratories since 2005, in order that they have a better system of detecting and responding to infectious disease outbreaks.
Abrams asked, “Is there anything at all sort of nefarious or secretive about these facilities?”
Weber said that the facilities are monitored, and explained why Nuland testified that she is concerned. Like Nuland, Weber expressed fear about the possibility Russian troops might target the bio-labs.
“[I’m concerned] for the same reason we’re concerned that Russia is attacking civilians, nuclear power plants,” Weber said. “These laboratories have culture collections from the endemic viruses and bacteria that are circulating in these areas. So, because of fear of a Russian military attack, the prudent thing for them to do would be to destroy those culture collections, so they’re not released into the environment or used somehow nefariously by the attackers.”
Abrams then asked if Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has made an issue of the labs all week, is asking fair questions about them. Weber replied,
No, we’ve been consistent about this. He and others who are taking this line are really acting as stooges of President Putin. It’s pretty disgraceful to see. They’re feeding right into the Russian propaganda, which is not new. It’s been going on for 15 years. They lie, they make false accusations about the United States surrounding Russia with secret biological weapons laboratories, and it’s just KGB-style dis-information. Just like they blame the HIV/AIDS on a U.S. laboratory in a KGB disinformation operation during the Cold War.
An expert on bio-labs in Ukraine, which have been discussed at length on Fox News this week, said Thursday the facilities are benign, and have never been a secret.
He also criticized hosts on the network who have discussed the labs. In some cases, hosts have wondered whether the labs are potential weapons threats funded by the U.S. government.
Andrew Weber, the former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs during the Obama administration, told Abrams the labs are research facilities — not unlike ones operated by county health departments.
The saga with the labs began when Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland mentioned them early this week.
“Ukraine biological research facilities, which, in fact we are now quite concerned Russian troops, Russia forces may be seeking to gain control of,” she said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. “So, we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of uh, Russian forces should they approach.”
The fear Nuland expressed was that such facilities could fall into Russian hands, Ukraine might find itself dealing with outbreaks of endemic illnesses.
Weber joined Dan Abrams on NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live to discuss the controversy, which he went on to explain in great detail.
Abrams, who is the founder of Mediaite, showed Weber clips of Fox News hosts discussing the facilities.
“So, you have been to these places,” Abrams said — referring to the fact that Weber has actually been to the Ukrainian bio-labs in question on multiple occasions. “Please tell us what exactly is going on in these labs in Ukraine.”
Weber responded,
They function just like your county public health laboratory. They monitor for infectious disease outbreaks. They’re sort of a smaller version of the [CDC]. And indeed the United States government has been supporting these laboratories since 2005, in order that they have a better system of detecting and responding to infectious disease outbreaks.
Abrams asked, “Is there anything at all sort of nefarious or secretive about these facilities?”
Weber said that the facilities are monitored, and explained why Nuland testified that she is concerned. Like Nuland, Weber expressed fear about the possibility Russian troops might target the bio-labs.
“[I’m concerned] for the same reason we’re concerned that Russia is attacking civilians, nuclear power plants,” Weber said. “These laboratories have culture collections from the endemic viruses and bacteria that are circulating in these areas. So, because of fear of a Russian military attack, the prudent thing for them to do would be to destroy those culture collections, so they’re not released into the environment or used somehow nefariously by the attackers.”
Abrams then asked if Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has made an issue of the labs all week, is asking fair questions about them. Weber replied,
No, we’ve been consistent about this. He and others who are taking this line are really acting as stooges of President Putin. It’s pretty disgraceful to see. They’re feeding right into the Russian propaganda, which is not new. It’s been going on for 15 years. They lie, they make false accusations about the United States surrounding Russia with secret biological weapons laboratories, and it’s just KGB-style dis-information. Just like they blame the HIV/AIDS on a U.S. laboratory in a KGB disinformation operation during the Cold War.
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