Ralph Baric—with the assistance of his USAID funders and researchers at Wuhan's BSL4 lab—genetically engineering virulent SARS-like coronaviruses. He's ostensibly a world-leading expert in coronaviruses. Yet in late Jan., he was telling us SARS-CoV-2 was nothing to worry about. https://twitter.com/David_RMartinez/status/1222502006356684800

Here, David Relman asks Baric if he supports experiments that would enhance the human transmissibility of coronaviruses. Baric, visibly uncomfortable, cagily rambles about the infeasibility of such a study but very pointedly does not actually say no.

Later, however, Baric gives a similarly convoluted answer that he would not do an experiment using a human model, but, while he argues it's infeasible, he does not appear to be opposed to using a transgenic species to enhance human transmissibility.

In other words, he's carved out a loophole where he's perfectly fine enhancing the human-to-human transmissibility of a coronavirus, as long as it's done using, say, transgenic ferrets. What can we call this research other than weaponization?

Baric's SARS research was specifically funded by NIAID (ie, Fauci) under the auspices of "biodefense pathogens." This term is evidence that Baric's work enhancing the virulence of SARS was done in a military or "counterterrorism" context. https://healthtalk.unchealthcare.org/baric-and-heise-receive-21-4m-from-niaid-to-study-life-threatening-viral-infections/

Don't believe me? Take a look at how NIAID itself defines it's "biodefense" work. http://www.niaid.nih.gov/research/biodefense

Given the massive escalation of the US's work in this area since 9/11 and the anthrax attacks, as well as the US's continued refusal to give teeth to the BWC, I think we have to look at all bio-defense work as being essentially the US's a bio-weapons program.