PENTAGON MAY HAVE RELEASED WEAPONIZED TICKS THAT HELPED SPREAD OF LYME DISEASE: INVESTIGATION ORDERE

[underpants]

https://www.newsweek.com/pentagon-weaponized-ticks-lyme-disease-investigation-1449737?amp=1

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives quietly passed a bill requiring the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (DoD) to conduct a review into whether the Pentagon experimented with ticks and other blood-sucking insects for use as biological weapons between 1950 and 1975.

If the Inspector General finds that such experiments occurred, then, according to the bill, they must provide the House and Senate Armed Services committees with a report on the scope of the research and "whether any ticks or insects used in such experiments were released outside of any laboratory by accident or experiment design," potentially leading to the spread of diseases such as Lyme.

However, some Lyme disease experts are warning that Smith's claims should be viewed with plenty of caution. They include Phillip Baker, Executive Director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation (ALDF), who says Smith has been "terribly misinformed" with "false and misleading information."

"I think that Rep. Chris Smith is terribly misinformed by the Lyme disease activists and by the false and misleading information contained in the book written by Newby," Baker told Newsweek. "He would be well advised to check the facts by consulting the experts on Lyme disease at the National Institutes of Health or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] for accurate and reliable information before proposing such legislation."

[jberryhill]

1. Here we go again...

"The amendment was put forward by Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, who was "inspired" by several books and articles claiming..."

[GusBob]

4. Insects have been spreading diseases since, like, forever

Are they gonna claim the plague was a military plot?

[skypilot]

9. Pretty much the point where...

...I stopped reading.

[qazplm135]

2. eh, I mean it's not very useful as a weapon

1. it's indiscriminate
2. it has a long incubation period relatively speaking
3. it's at least somewhat treatable
4. it isn't likely to be very debilitating to an Army's ability to fight

I'm not suggesting the Army wouldn't do this as a matter of morality per se, I'm saying I don't see a practical reason to do it. The cons far outweigh the pros.

[GusBob]

5. The Nazis feared Thyphus like a, well, like a plague

IIRC there is a story of a Jewish Dr. who protected a town by claiming there was an outbreak of typhus

A plague would affect your soldiers and the enemies, as you point out

[qazplm135]

6. Typhus is far different from Lyme Disease

Typhus can kill you if left untreated.

But today, it's also fairly treatable.

There are plenty of much more debilitating and effective diseases that could be weaponized and that we don't need to "test" the spread of.

[hatrack]

13. "Ein Laus, der Tod"

Yeah, very popular messaging for the Wehrmacht public health service . . . .

[C_U_L8R]

3. What's the opposite of Occam's Razor

A Republican Crazy Straw?

[Victor_c3]

7. Republicans generally are conspiracy junkies

Or at least more likely to believe them

[GusBob]

8. General! We are being attacked by ticks!

Release the opossum brigade!

[underpants]

10. They aren't supposed to know about the opposum brigade

Come on!!!!

[Maru Kitteh]

11. . .

[GusBob]

12. Commander! We have wiped out he opposum brigade

You sure they aint playing dead?