Xinhua.net carries commentary by Scott Ritter, a former chief UN weapons inspector and former US Marine Corps Intelligence Officer on the US-run Ukrainian biological labs in the Ukraine, uncovered by Russia:

Ritter drew special attention to 26 of these labs, which he said “is something the United States probably needs to answer for.”

“I also don’t understand how programs as have been alleged by the Russians could be allowed to exist,” he said, citing Russian claims that one such program focuses on the development of the weaponization of bird flu H1N1 that can be vectored or delivered by migratory birds flying from Ukraine into Russia.

According to Ritter, it is legitimate to investigate the “potential natural vectors” for security concerns, but bioresearch targeting specifically the migratory birds flying into Russia and not the other way around is very disturbing.

It is just so “problematic about this program that suggests that it isn’t done for benevolent purposes, that there is malfeasance attached, which makes it not a defensive program but an offensive program and this is a great concern,” he said.”