Incompetence or conspiracy? Bird flu mixed with human flu vaccines and blacklisted defense contractors awarded contracts.

It is all incompetence.
The real question is: Is it the incompetence of our leaders or the incompetence of the people that elect the leaders?

Incompetence. Most likely, they were trying to get “ahead of the game” by working on an experimental avian influenza vaccine (in the event of a pandemic, they could be prepared in advance). In that context, someone f-ed up and allowed the inappropriate release of avian influenza genetic material/live virus. It indicates a problem with their biosafety-containment and QC processes, but I doubt a nefarious plot. Of course, you can feel free to try to piece together why a pharmaceutical company would attempt to deliberately release an avian flu virus in a vaccine that would easily and eventually be tracked back to them. Not the type of PR they would want in the short or long term.

It always easy to do what Blackwater did.
Oh wait I mean Xe.