Editor's note: The following article is taken from the Chinese-language "The Real Point." The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

"Some have called the response to this pandemic, a war. We must ensure the war is against the virus and not against science," said Patrice Harris, former president of the American Medical Association, last year.

Unfortunately, until today, sensible voices like this have yet to work their way into the mainstream American society. Some politicians in Washington, driven by political self-interest and partisan politics, have taken on anti-intellectual positions which have not only raised eyebrows across the world, but also made the U.S. pay a heavy price.

In a report titled "'America Ranked First'?! The truth about America's fight against COVID-19" jointly released by three Chinese thinks tanks, researchers list a series of anti-science and against common-sense mistakes made by the American government in pandemic prevention and control, policy measures, and source investigation, showing to the world that the lack of science-based guidance was the direct reason why the U.S. became a "failed country in fighting the pandemic".

The memory is still fresh that at the early stage of the outbreak, decision makers in the White House chose to turn a deaf ear towards warnings from China and the World Health Organization (WHO), leading to a neglect of science in key anti-pandemic reactions, which was a deadly mistake.

Ironically, the then U.S. President also repeatedly spread false information through various channels such as press conferences and social media, promoting anti-intellectual narratives such as "the virus might disappear with the warming of the weather", "an injection of disinfectant can kill the coronavirus", etc.

Many people readily believed such misinformation and lost their lives. If there is anyone to blame, it should be American politicians who have made blunders in pandemic control and wantonly disregarded human life.

Since the pandemic broke out in an election year, the Democratic and Republican Parties took it as an instrument to attack each other and win themselves more votes. This has, to a large extent, fueled irrational sentiments within American society. Mask wearing, vaccination and social distancing are no longer matters that exclusively belong to the domain of science but start to bear political marks.

Anti-intellectual, anti-science and populist sentiments have overpowered rational voices, and American scientists and technocrats who made such voices have become targets of persecution. For instance, in April last year, Rick Bright was removed as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority because of his objections to an anti-malaria drug promoted by the then U.S. President as a treatment for COVID-19.

What's even more despicable is that some American politicians have adopted an anti-science approach to the origin tracing of the coronavirus. Facing America's anti-pandemic debacle, the new administration, rather than reflecting on past mistakes, continues with the "lab leak theory" hype and scapegoating in an attempt to gloss over its incompetence.

Apart from ordering the intelligence agencies to investigate the origins of the virus and submit a conclusion within 90 days, the White House also pressured the WHO to conduct the second phase of coronavirus origin tracing in China, and attempted to make a "presumption of guilt" against China by manipulating public opinion. These thinly veiled political moves have exposed the complete disrespect of science and human life on the American side.

As the world's only superpower, the U.S. has consistently botched its response to the coronavirus pandemic, making itself the world's No. 1 political blaming country, the world's No. 1 disinformation country, and the world's No. 1 origin tracing terrorism country. Seemingly unexpected, this is somehow inevitable.

More American lives have been lost to COVID-19 than to all wars the U.S. has engaged in over the past century - this will go down in history as an unforgettable humiliation for the country and a heinous crime committed by anti-intellectual American politicians against their own people.  

People are more and more keenly aware of the fact that however strong and technologically advanced the U.S. is, disasters will still happen when science is hijacked by self-interest driven, reckless politicians. Are American authorities really bent on heading down the anti-science and against common-sense path? Remember, because of this, over 610,000 Americans have lost their one and only life.

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