In all it was a huge unnecessary risk to take but I do not agree with experts claiming it was a sure mistake.
There was only one mistake. The US did finance illegal, world wide ostracized work in Wuhan, albeit they knew for sure that the lab-safety was not conform.
Mr. Fauci the founder of the Wuhan illegal virus enhancement work will soon overtake the US leader position (>500'000 death) in the historical ranking for man slaughtering with the help of bio weapons. Very likely the damage from Agent Orange has already been surpassed now!