Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine is clearly an urgent foreign affairs challenge. But we must not ignore another sinister scheme that may be Moscow’s work: the shocking and unresolved riddle known as the “Havana syndrome.”
The issue: About 200 US intelligence officers and diplomats have suffered mysterious brain injuries in the past five years – and Russia is the prime suspect.
The episodes began in Cuba, a police state with surveillance in virtually every corner, which apparently served as Russia’s accomplice in the search for US and Canadian officials stationed on the island. More than 40 of them suffered the debilitating neural symptoms that characterize the syndrome – severe headaches, loss of vision and hearing, ongoing vertigo and brain damage – and had to leave Havana for treatment.
Because Washington has not yet established the causes, US officials call the disease “anomalous health incidents” — an innocuous term that masks the brutal reality of these deliberate and ongoing attacks.
THE Washington Post reported in November that CIA Director William J. Burns warned leaders of the Federal Security Service and Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service of “consequences” if Moscow is behind the injuries. Although the warning was tentative, the paper wrote, it reflects “the CIA’s deep suspicion of the Kremlin’s guilt.”
Almost simultaneously with the CIA warning, the FBI publicly acknowledged for the first time that several of its own agents, mostly deployed to Vienna, Austria, had experienced symptoms associated with the syndrome.
The most recent involvement of agencies in this situation came after pressure from members of the US Congress, who said they were alarmed by the fact that the syndrome had spread during the tenures of three US presidents without conclusive results. Urging the investigation, many of the victims complained that their woes were not taken seriously.
It wasn’t until October 2021 that the Havana Act (Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks – Havana) was passed to compensate, at the discretion of the State Department and intelligence agencies, American officials and affected family members . In many cases, victims needed extensive medical treatment in the US. Some had to retire early.
The exact cause of the damage seems to be becoming clearer. According to a December 2020 report from the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the observed brain injuries were consistent with the effects of radiofrequency energy, a type of microwave radiation. The attacks, the report added, were the result of “targeted” and “pulsed” energy, meaning the victims were specifically targeted.
Despite this well-researched and unequivocal conclusion by experts, some continue to promote unfounded theories, including that a possible cause of Havana syndrome is “mass hysteria.” Meanwhile, the problem has now become global. There are already reports of American authorities with symptoms in 17 countries: Cuba, China, Russia, Poland, Georgia, Germany, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Australia, Taiwan, India, Vietnam, Syria, Uzbekistan, Serbia, Austria and Colombia. Two attacks on US soil are also under investigation, including one against a National Security Council official near the White House.
This year, the attacks have become more brazen – likely encouraged by impunity. In Vienna, a center for longtime diplomats and spies, about two dozen US intelligence officers and diplomats developed symptoms in July, making the city the biggest hotbed of Havana syndrome after the Cuban capital.
In August, Vice President Kamala Harris’s trip from Singapore to Vietnam was delayed by several hours after the US Embassy in Hanoi flagged “a recent possible anomalous health incident.” And in September, CNN reported that an American traveling across India with CIA director William Burns was affected and needed medical treatment — a clear message that even those in the agency’s innermost circle could be hurt.
How exactly are attacks carried out? Experts suspect the use of a device similar to a satellite dish, which can be portable or mounted on a van, car, boat or helicopter. They usually have effects that can span a few rooms or even a city block. But high-powered devices might be able to fire beams for several kilometers.
While Russia denies involvement in the attacks, the CIA knows that, during the Cold War, the Soviets were secretly developing a weapon that could direct microwaves to produce nerve damage. Furthermore, in March 2018, Putin declared in his annual address to parliament that “Russia has every reason to believe that we are one step ahead” of other countries in creating “potential weapons based on new physical principles”. Russian officials later indicated that he was referring to microwave radiation as a weapon.
Despite conflicting reports on the status of the Havana syndrome investigation, informed sources believe that US intelligence agencies have recently made significant progress, thanks to communications intercepts and other findings. The agencies would be consolidating the case against Russia as the main culprit and Cuba as the accomplice.
Hopefully, the drawn-out debate over sufficient evidence does not delay the moment of truth and accountability. There is much at stake: US national security, the country’s position as the leader of the free world, and the health and safety of intelligence officers and diplomats.
© 2021 The National Review. Published with permission. Original in english.
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