{"id":1016322,"date":"2023-03-07T01:50:08","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T01:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/?p=138456"},"modified":"2023-03-07T01:50:08","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T01:50:08","slug":"the-havana-syndrome-case-cracked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/03\/07\/the-havana-syndrome-case-cracked\/","title":{"rendered":"The Havana Syndrome Case Cracked"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even before the attack on the homeland of the <\/em>weather balloons<\/a>,
\nthe Havana Syndrome tested America\u2019s mettle.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Havana Syndrome was first reported in Cuba in 2016. The mysterious malady initially afflicted US embassy staff in Havana, especially those attached to intelligence missions. It then spread to Canadian embassy officials. The sudden headaches, debilitating dizziness, and hearing excruciatingly painful sounds struck both at work and at home. Oddly, the Cubans themselves appeared immune to the pathology.<\/p>\n

Soon other cases of what the US Defense Department called \u201canomalous health incidents\u201d (AHIs) were reported<\/a> in Russia, China, Colombia, Uzbekistan, and then even in the US. This mass psychogenic illness was experienced mostly by US government spies, diplomats, and military personnel all over the world, according to Wikipedia<\/em><\/a>. A \u201cgovernment-wide response\u201d was precipitated<\/a> with \u201csupport groups\u201d established.<\/p>\n

The US State Department announced that it considered<\/a> attention to the Havana Syndrome \u201can absolute priority.\u201d Secretary of State Antony Blinken believed<\/a> \u201cthere\u2019s nothing we take more seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) concluded<\/a> in a December 2020 report that the most likely probable cause of the AHIs was pulsed microwave energy.<\/p>\n

Inferring blame to Cuba and Russia for the \u201csonic attacks\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

White House chief of staff John Kelly commented<\/a>: \u201cWe believe that the Cuban government could stop the attacks on our diplomats.\u201d In September 2017, non-emergency US embassy personnel and family members were evacuated<\/a> from Cuba.<\/p>\n

President Trump blamed the Cubans and in retaliation for the alleged attacks expelled most of their embassy staff from Washington. His Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said<\/a> the expulsions were \u201cmade due to Cuba’s failure to take appropriate steps to protect our diplomats.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubans, who had no incentive to provoke their powerful neighbor, denied any culpability. They offered to fully cooperate<\/a> with US authorities in their investigation of the syndrome.<\/p>\n

The Cubans deployed<\/a> 2,000 scientists and law enforcement officials in their investigation, which was hampered by the refusal by the US government to share medical information on those supposedly afflicted by the Havana Syndrome. Access to residences in Cuba that were purportedly targeted by the \u201csonic attacks\u201d was also blocked.<\/p>\n

But the Yankees had bigger fish to fry. Could the evil foreign adversary beaming the invisible energy waves be none other than the one blamed<\/a> for stealing Hillary Clinton\u2019s election victory? The so-called \u201cfree press,\u201d exemplified by this message from CNN,<\/em> incessantly reminded<\/a> us regarding the Havana Syndrome: \u201cThe list of known, and suspected, aggressions Russia has carried out against US democracy and American personnel is vast.\u201d<\/p>\n

In May 2021, Politico<\/em> breathlessly reported<\/a> that unnamed US government officials believe \u201ca notorious Russian spy agency [GRU] may be behind alleged attacks.\u201d \u201cIt looks, smells and feels like\u201d the Russians, according to an anonymous \u201cformer national security official involved in the investigation.\u201d What more conclusive evidence could one possibly want?<\/p>\n

The New Yorker<\/em>, meanwhile, warned<\/a> that the Havana Syndrome had spread to the White House. \u201cTop officials in both the Trump and the Biden Administrations,\u201d they reported, \u201cprivately suspect that Russia is responsible for the Havana Syndrome.\u201d<\/p>\n

CIA chief William Burns called<\/a> the incidents \u201cattacks.\u201d When the bipartisan HAVANA (Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks) ACT<\/a> of 2021 unanimously passed, the incidents were officially designated as \u201cattacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

CNN <\/em>reported<\/a> on the act: \u201cIts signing comes as cases continue to rise worldwide,\u201d floating the theory that \u201cRussia is behind\u201d these attacks. In September 2021, the CIA even recalled<\/a> one of its station chiefs for expressing \u201cskepticism\u201d about the veracity of the \u201cattacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mysterious sounds associated with the Havana Syndrome<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top State and CIA officials who had gone to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health with the Havana Syndrome complained<\/a> that the doctors treated them as if they were \u201ccrazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recordings of sounds associated with the Havana Syndrome were publicly released after the noise analysis<\/a> by the US Navy could not \u201csignificantly advance US knowledge about what is harming diplomats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former MIT researcher and sound expert Joe Pompei told<\/a> NBC News <\/em>that the reported sound waves could not cause the alleged symptoms.\u00a0 \u201cUnless they had transducers in the bathtub and had the diplomats submerge their heads for a long time, it\u2019s just not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biologists Alexander Stubbs at UC Berkeley and Fernando Montealegre-Z at the University of Lincoln scientifically analyzed the recordings, which they identified<\/a> as the song of a cricket (Anurogryllus celerinictus).<\/em> Even the New York Times,<\/em> reporting on the scientific findings, admitted<\/a> \u201cthe sounds linked to the initial complaints may have been a red herring.\u201d<\/p>\n

An earlier panel of Cuban scientists similarly concluded<\/a> that stressful conditions, not a \u201csonic weapon,\u201d sickened the Yankees. They too identified crickets as a possible source of the mysterious noises.<\/p>\n

Case cracked: cognitive impairment is an occupational hazard for US cold warriors<\/strong><\/p>\n

A little over a year ago in January 2022, an interim assessment by the CIA suggested<\/a> that the Havana Syndrome was NOT a product of \u201ca sustained global campaign by a hostile power.\u201d Stress, environmental conditions, and cognitive impairment<\/a> were the more likely culprits in the 1000 cases investigated with \u201canalytic rigor, sound tradecraft, and compassion,\u201d in the words of CIA Director William Burns.<\/p>\n

However, the interim investigation continued. Finally this month, all seven US intelligence agencies found<\/a> \u201cavailable intelligence consistently points against the involvement of US adversaries in causing the reported incidents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, anti-Cuba zealots did not accept this explanation for the selective pandemic. Senator Marco Rubio rejected the intelligence community\u2019s assessment,\u00a0 tweeting<\/a>, \u201cit\u2019s hard to accept\u2026it didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

US\u2019s Cuba policy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cuba may have been exonerated for the Havana Syndrome, but the socialist country is still targeted by the empire for regime-change. The 61-year-old asphyxiating<\/a> US blockade continues, which puts Washington at odds with the 185 countries that voted<\/a> in the UN against the unilateral coercive measures with only Uncle Sam and apartheid Israel voting in favor.<\/p>\n

In a parting gesture of ill will, Trump re-designated Cuba as a \u201cState Sponsor of Terrorism<\/a>\u201d eight days before he left the presidency. Obama had rescinded the designation in 2015, originally imposed in 1982 by Reagan.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Biden renewed Trump\u2019s designation, ironically citing<\/a> Cuba\u2019s efforts to broker a peace in Colombia between the government and a guerilla insurgency. Biden backtracked on his campaign promises to reverse Trump\u2019s harsh sanctions against Cuba and return to a process of normalization of relations.<\/p>\n

Inclusion on the terrorist list bars Cuba from access to most international finance<\/a>. \u201cThe real purpose of slandering Cuba as \u2018terrorist\u2019 is to justify the criminal blockade on Cuba,\u201d according<\/a> to the National Network on Cuba (NNOC).<\/p>\n

Among the grassroots organizations working to get Cuba off the terrorist list are ACER<\/a> and the NNOC<\/a>. The latter observes<\/a>: \u201cDespite the devastating impacts of the US economic blockade, Cuba still has a longer life expectancy, lower infant and maternal mortality rates, better health outcomes, higher literacy, more education, and less violence than in the US.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Havana Syndrome, used to falsely accuse Cuba of attacking US personnel, exemplifies how distorted US policy is. Like drug peddlers hooked on their own supply, the spooks and cooks who populate the US governmental apparatus suffered literal physical damage believing the paranoic false propaganda that they push on the populace to justify the empire\u2019s forever wars and brutal regime-change intrigues.<\/p>The post The Havana Syndrome Case Cracked<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.\n

This post was originally published on Dissident Voice<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even before the attack on the homeland of the weather balloons, the Havana Syndrome tested America\u2019s mettle. The Havana Syndrome was first reported in Cuba in 2016. The mysterious malady initially afflicted US embassy staff in Havana, especially those attached to intelligence missions. It then spread to Canadian embassy officials. The sudden headaches, debilitating dizziness, [\u2026]<\/p>\n

The post The Havana Syndrome Case Cracked<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1010,731],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016322"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1016322"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1016323,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016322\/revisions\/1016323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1016322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1016322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1016322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}