A new CIA report determined it is “unlikely” a foreign government is behind the mysterious Havana Syndrome that has stoked fears an energy weapon has been used to afflict scores of U.S. diplomats with debilitating symptoms.
The U.S. government has been investigating the unusual symptoms reported among its personnel serving abroad. President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the CIA, William Burns, vowed during his confirmation hearing to investigate this issue seriously, and a CIA task force took the lead. This week, the task force released an interim report on the matter.
“Taking into account all of the intelligence we have collected and reviewed, at this point we assess that it is unlikely that a foreign actor, including Russia, is conducting a sustained worldwide campaign harming U.S. personnel with a weapon or a mechanism,” a U.S. official told the Washington Examiner.
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The official said the CIA had investigated a “large number” of reported incidents and that roughly two dozen cases remain unresolved. In those cases, the official said that “we have not ruled out the involvement of a foreign actor.” However, the official said the investigation turned up no evidence of another government’s involvement.
Symptoms, experienced by U.S. diplomats in multiple locations, include dizziness, head pain, vision problems, cognitive troubles, vertigo, and possibly traumatic brain injuries. One leading theory is these are microwave weapon attacks, and a possible top culprit was Russia, with China or Cuba also receiving speculation. None of that has been confirmed.
The conclusions were met with skepticism from a number of Havana Syndrome victims and from some Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill. Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the new assessment is preliminary and that an outside panel of experts has yet to weigh in. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, the committee’s vice chairman, said more study is required before a final determination can be made as to whether another country is behind the phenomenon.
The official said the majority of reports could be attributed to medical conditions or environmental and technical factors, including previously undiagnosed illnesses. But the official said the symptoms suffered by U.S. diplomats and other officials remain real.
“This finding does not call into question that our officers are reporting real experiences and suffering real symptoms, nor does it explain every report,” the official said.
The Havana Syndrome saga burst into public view following health incidents at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba in 2016, but related incidents have been reported to have occurred before and after. Hundreds of instances have allegedly been reported to the U.S. government, including recent ones tied to Vienna last year. Another alleged incident occurred in Hanoi just before a visit to Vietnam by Vice President Kamala Harris in August, while a member of the CIA traveling with Burns in India allegedly fell ill with similar symptoms in September.
A 2018 report by a State Department Accountability Review Board noted that “there were reports of similar incidents at several other posts (Tashkent [Uzbekistan], [redacted country name], and China).”
Burns said in July that “there are probably a couple of hundred” incidents across the United States and the world after Havana, adding that roughly 100 were connected to the CIA. He reportedly raised the issue with Russia’s intelligence services in November, warning them without placing any blame.
President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan HAVANA Act in October, saying it would help “ensure we are doing our utmost to provide for U.S. government personnel who have experienced anomalous health incidents.”
The National Academies of Sciences released a report in 2020 considering possible sources of the illness, concluding that 40 diplomats in Havana and a dozen in China suffered symptoms “consistent with the effects of directed, pulsed, radiofrequency energy” and called that the “most plausible” explanation for many cases. The group said that “the committee could not rule out other possible mechanisms.”
Other scientists and science writers have cast doubt on the energy weapon explanation, saying it is not supported by scientific evidence and would be implausible. A declassified but heavily redacted 2018 report by the JASON group, which was advising the State Department, also cast doubt on the energy weapon possibility.
Marc Polymeropoulos, a former senior U.S. intelligence officer hit with a wave of dizziness and vertigo during a 2017 Moscow trip, told the Washington Examiner that the interim report could have a chilling effect.
“I give Director Burns credit for ongoing healthcare, but I really worry about this interim report because it has now stigmatized victims that have come forward,” he said.
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An official familiar with the assessment disputed any claim the CIA’s interim findings represent the input of just one agency. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines convened the Joint Intelligence Community Council back in August to “promote and strengthen” intelligence community efforts to address the incidents.
Mark Zaid, a lawyer best known for representing the Ukraine whistleblower, told the Washington Examiner he represents more than 15 Havana Syndrome victims from the CIA and other agencies. He vowed to fight the interim report’s findings.
“The CIA’s interim conclusions are incredibly disappointing, insulting to those who are suffering, and highly suspect,” Zaid said. “For one thing, this report was not coordinated with other federal agencies engaged with investigating the issue and which hold different opinions.”
