According to the source, these conclusions put an end to a hypothesis that was widely spread, when it was believed that hundreds of American employees had most likely been targeted, by a secret enemy, through a weapon of energy waves.
This landmark and critical assessment of US intelligence is the result of years of effort by the CIA, along with other intelligence agencies.
Investigations have tried to find out the reason behind the injury of American diplomats and employees with a disorder that causes painful sensations in the sense of hearing.
The disease was described as mysterious, after it left a number of American employees in a painful and “confusing” health disorder, while it required expensive treatments.
A number of those affected by the health disorder said that they were victims of deliberate attacks, most likely by an enemy country such as Russia, while suspicions also hung over Cuba.
The Washington Post quoted US intelligence officials as saying that the conclusions of the investigations contradict the patients’ view of being directly targeted.
Seven intelligence agencies participated in the United States, in order to consider the cases of about a thousand cases who suffered “unusual health incidents.”
The description of “unusual health incidents” was used to refer to a combination of symptoms such as whistling in the ear and pressure in the head, along with nausea, headache, and a feeling of severe discomfort and discomfort.
And 5 US intelligence agencies concluded that it is “extremely unlikely” that “foreign adversaries” are responsible for the occurrence of these symptoms in patients, whether through “targeted operations” and intended through energy weapons, or through other activities such as electronic monitoring.
Among the possibilities that were studied was that the electronic surveillance of US diplomats and employees had infected them with the disease, without it being intended, but it turned out that this was not the case.
The two US officials spoke to The Washington Post, without mentioning their names, due to the sensitivity of the issue and their lack of authority to talk about the matter publicly and officially.
Painstaking research and thorny conclusions
One agency abstained from voting in its conclusion that a foreign party was responsible for the “Havana syndrome”, but no agency opposed the finding that no foreign party could be responsible for the symptoms, which first appeared at the US Embassy in Havana in 2016.
The officials said that as analysts examined a range of reported cases, including at US embassies, they did not find a common pattern or set of points that could link individual cases.
Nor did they find any evidence, including forensic information or geolocation data, that would indicate that any foreign entity used some form of directed energy such as radio waves or ultrasound beams.
Even in geographic locations where US intelligence has the full ability to monitor the environment for signs of “malign” interference, one of the officials said, analysts have found no evidence that the adversary is targeting individuals.
The official added that there was no intelligence that foreign leaders, including in Russia, had any knowledge of or authorized an attack on American personnel that could explain the symptoms.
Another official said that analysts spent months altering the data, looking for patterns, and devising new analytical methodologies, only to come up with no plausible explanation.
The two officials emphasized that the intelligence community remains open to new ideas and evidence, and that if information emerged that a foreign adversary had made progress in developing a weapon that could in any way cause similar symptoms, that could prompt analysts to adjust their estimates.
The most complex challenge
US officials emphasized that intelligence agencies have devoted extraordinary resources to searching for a possible cause for the symptoms that US diplomats have suffered over the years.
An ad hoc group staffed by seasoned analysts and led by a senior CIA officer was set up to study the issue, which the participants in the analysis described as the most complex and difficult challenge of their careers.
The CIA and other agencies have also devoted more resources to providing medical care to injured employees, a move some of the injured have applauded, saying that in the first years when symptoms were reported, they were treated with skepticism by managers and their medical experts.
The Biden administration has also announced that it will continue to ensure employees have access to medical care, and that it will process requests under a law that compensates government employees who have experienced symptoms and, in some cases, had to stop working. Some individuals will be eligible for six-figure compensation.
The conclusions of the final report are in line with an earlier interim assessment by the same group of agencies, which found that the health incidents may not have been the work of another country launching a global attack.
A senior CIA official said at the time that it was unlikely that a foreign actor, including Russia, would wage an ongoing global campaign harming American personnel with a weapon or mechanism.
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