Thread by @PeterHotez

Unsure about a 9/11 commission. I was disappointed in House Select Committee last year: Members were not briefed, they either tossed softball questions on the science or politically-charged questions. No intellectual curiosity about what truly happened
thebulwark.com/we-need-a-9-11…

To really understand why we lost 555,000 Americans we need to do a deep dive in things that require some sophistication in science for instance.....

1) Why did we miss the entry of the virus from Europe into NYC at the end of January or early February. Why did it take until March 1 to diagnose the first case of COVID-19 in NYC? This created our first terrible wave. That was something far beyond politics.

2) Why didn't we get diagnostic testing up and running? Why did HHS feel it was necessary to prepare their own test, which did not materialize?

3) Whose decision was it to not organize a federal response to COVID-19 in 2020, insisting instead on the failed strategy to place the states in the lead, when everyone knew that would fail.

4) Who orchestrated the White House disinformation campaign (although I think I know that one) that began in the spring of 2020. Who directed West Wing to say such outrageous things and make phony claims

5) Why were we asleep when the virus surged in the Southern states over last summer. The states so ill-informed and unprepared, that's when we really needed a federal response

6) Same for our worst-of-all fall devastating fall surge that began in the Upper Midwest

Understanding these questions goes way beyond the politics, it requires understanding some real failures in science and health policy. After what I saw last year coming from the House, I'm not confident they have the intellectual chops to do this, and the Senate is too political

Maybe the National Academies, but they are just so tentative and skittish about anything to do with politics: that too is a problem.

It really takes a group that can be facile with both the science and politics, one that understands a very intricate web of the geopolitics of science, politics, and disease, along the lines that I outlined in my new book @JHUPress

And i almost forgot, thank you @gregggonsalves for his tweet, that’s what tipped me off to the 9-11 article