Global Security and Intelligence Studies
official , Robert Kadlec , continued with a warning of the financial constraints that would lead to the shortages of PPE and medical devices at a Senate hearing in January 2018 . “ We don ’ t have a sustained level of funding — a line item for pandemic influenza , for example — that would give us great confidence in longterm planning ” ( US Senate 2018 ). In just two years , this was a projection that the world would face head-on with fatal consequences .
COVID-19
The New York Times reported , “ It
started small . A man near Seattle had a persistent cough . A woman in Chicago had a fever and shortness of breath …. By mid-February , there were only 15 known coronavirus cases in the United States , all with direct links to China ” ( Watkins 2020 ). Yet , alarms were sounding at a MEDINT unit situated on a US Army base at Fort Detrick , in Frederick , Maryland . Intelligence , science , and medical professionals at the National Center for Medical Intelligence ( NCMI ) were monitoring and tracking global health threats that could endanger US troops abroad and Americans at home . At least one hundred epidemiologists , virologists , chemical engineers , toxicologists , biologists , and military medical experts , all schooled in intelligence tradecraft , work at this MEDINT unit . The center ’ s intelligence targets are medical and scientific issues . Its products , like those of the rest of the intelligence community , are predictive analysis and products for warning , produced in four divisions , whose experts follow developments in infectious disease , environmental health , global health systems , and medical science and technology . According to NCMI former Director Air Force Col . Dr . Anthony M . Rizzo , the organization ’ s mission is not to tell the public what is happening . “ It is our responsibility to tell policymakers and planners ... what we believe is going to happen ” ( Pellerin 2012 ). On February 25 , 2020 , NCMI did just that . They alerted policymakers and federal officials that within thirty days the coronavirus would progress from WATCHCON 2 — a probable crisis — to WATCHCON 1 — an imminent one ( Reichman 2020 ).
The NCMI warning was shared with numerous defense and health officials , including the Secretary of Health and Human Services . Its February 25 warning was included in an intelligence briefing provided to the Joint Chiefs of Staff . It is uncertain if this warning was shared with the President . But , as early as January 2020 , the US intelligence community included a detailed explanation of the potential cataclysmic disease in Wuhan , China , based in part on wire intercepts , computer intercepts , and satellite images , in the President ’ s Daily Brief ( PDB ). The PDB is a summary of all-source information and analysis on national security issues produced for the President , key cabinet members , and advisers ( Just Security 2020 ). In use since 1946 , this classified document is meant to be read and is now coordinated by the ODNI . According to ABC News ( 2020 ), “ That same day [ of being given pandemic information ], Trump , who was in New Delhi , India , tweeted :
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