Our picksTerrorists & COVID-19 | Death of American Competence | Yes, Blame China for the Virus, and more

American Exceptionalism Can’t Beat a Pandemic (Uri Friedman, The Atlantic)
For decades other countries were shaped by the traumas of disease outbreaks while the United States remained largely untouched. No longer.

The Death of American Competence (Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy)
Washington’s reputation for expertise has been one of the greatest sources of its power. The coronavirus pandemic may end it for good.
No matter how the federal government responded, the United States was never going to escape COVID-19 entirely. Even Singapore, whose response to the virus seems to be the gold standard thus far, has several hundred confirmed cases. Nonetheless, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration’s belated, self-centered, haphazard, and tone-deaf response will end up costing Americans trillions of dollars and thousands of otherwise preventable deaths. Even if the view that the dangers may have been exaggerated due to a lack of accurate data turns out to be correct, Trump’s entire approach to governing and the administration’s erratic response squandered public confidence and made a more measured reaction untenable. Despite his denials, he is still responsible for where the country is today.
But that’s not the only damage the United States will suffer. Far from making “America great again,” this epic policy failure will further tarnish the United States’ reputation as a country that knows how to do things effectively.

Chinese Hackers Attacked Foreign Health Care, Military, Oil Networks as Coronavirus Hit China (Patrick Tucker, Defense One)
In January, the ‘widespread’ assault targeted a vulnerability in virtual desktops, cloud computing, and network applications, FireEye announced.

This Is Just the Beginning(Yascha Mounk, The Atlantic)
People who now advocate that we “choose the economy” are not being honest about the consequences of that decision.

Yes, Blame China for the Virus (Paul D. Miller, Foreign Policy)
A bungled response in Western countries is no reason to take the heat off China. If China had a different government, the world could have been spared this terrible pandemic.

“Last Resort”: Alabama’s Plan for Deciding Which Coronavirus Patients Get Ventilators (Connor Sheets, AL)
Any of a wide range of underlying health conditions – such as metastasized cancer, AIDS, “severe mental retardation,” advanced dementia and “severe burns” – could disqualify patients from being put on potentially lifesaving ventilators.

Homeland Security Warns Terrorists May Exploit COVID-19 Pandemic (Alexander Mallin, Josh Margolin, ABC News)
The bulletin notes there is “no information” yet on specific plots.

Antarctic Glacier Retreats Nearly 3 Miles, Could Foreshadow Huge Sea Level Rise(Abrar Al-Heeti, CNet)

Sea levels worldwide could go up nearly five feet, researchers say.