Merged US may close Cuba Embassy over 'health attacks'

[dann]

For the most part, this article is not about the 'Havana Syndrome'. What makes it interesting in the context is mainly that it seems to confirm the idea that the U.S. Foreign Service is not a good place to be - with or without the 'syndrome'. It appears to be stressful and unrewarding, i.e. to have the kind of conditions that make it more likely for cases of mass psychogenic illness to occur:

We are facing a once-in-a-generation challenge to get the U.S. Foreign Service out of its current crisis of morale and to address the many challenges before us. Those of us on active duty know that it has gotten harder and harder to serve our country and to do our jobs well, while also preserving our personal lives as well as our health and emotional well-being.

COVID-19 has hit everyone hard. But members of the Service, who must pick up and move themselves and their families to every corner of the globe, some of them quite dangerous and unhealthy, have special concerns.

From the mysterious illnesses that have hit dozens of colleagues—“unidentified health incidents,” known as Havana Syndrome—leading many FS members to fear for their health and safety when they go overseas, to the summer Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “dog ban” import restrictions that have threatened to separate so many colleagues from their beloved pets, it keeps getting harder to serve.
(...)
Applications for the State Department Foreign Service are down sharply since 2010. Too many of our overseas posts remain badly understaffed and unable to do their work properly. How can we compete in a multipolar world if we leave nearly half our ambassadorships vacant, many for years at a time?
We’re All in This Together (American Foreign Service Association, November 2021)

 

[dann]

A good op-ed in the New York Times describes the 'Moscow Eye' and makes a case for why it is wrong to dismiss psychogenic illness as the explanation of 'Havana Syndrome':

A long time ago, soon after I arrived in the Soviet Union as a young wire service reporter and became acutely aware that I was being followed, my eye began to twitch.
It became hard to work, so I flew to Paris to have it checked out. By the time I landed the twitching had stopped, and the doctor who checked it out found nothing wrong.
Back in Moscow, at a chance meeting with the U.S. Embassy doctor, I recounted this incident. Nothing strange there, he said: “Everybody gets the ‘Moscow Eye’ soon after they arrive and it soon goes away.”

I took him to mean that it was a nervous reaction to the novel stress of finding oneself in a hostile state, secretly watched and listened to. It was hard on the nerves. Everyone had a story of KGB surveillance, like listening devices falling out of chandeliers or recording equipment spotted behind a closed door. One colleague got freaked out by suspicious flashes of light through the night, until he realized they were sparks from Moscow’s antiquated trolley buses, which drew power from overhead wires. “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean you’re wrong” was the watchword.
The Mystery of Havana Syndrome (NYT, Nov 3, 2021)

I've had the 'Moscow Eye' a couple of times when my working life was particularly stressful.

 

[dann]

Senator Susan Collins presents the story of what I think is Patient Zero, described by Robert Baloh in the quotation in post 979 like this: "A former CIA officer who was in Cuba at the time later noted that the first patient “was lobbying, if not coercing, people to report symptoms and to connect the dots.”"

In Susan Collins' story we learn that he was new to Havana. He arrived in the fall of 2016, and felt harassed by Cuban counterintelligence, presumably, before he heard the noise that we later learned came from crickets:

Adam recalls heavy-handed tactics that were designed to provoke and intimidate him, which are not entirely unexpected for U.S. personnel operating in a hostile part of the world. Drawing on the mental reserve he developed as a Maine police officer, Adam resolutely refused to lose his composure, knowing that any sign of weakness would only embolden the assailants. That is why, when an intense, penetrating noise began filling his bedroom one evening, he assumed it was another form of harassment and was determined not to leave the room.
(...)
Eventually, a summary of his medical history and a recording he took of the noise were elevated in his chain of command, and it was confirmed that the sound he kept hearing could cause serious injury or even death. Shortly thereafter, he was pulled out of Cuba and began receiving treatment for a traumatic brain injury.

Adam continued working and became an advocate for other victims from within his agency, creating an informal support network. He also advocated for his superiors to formally acknowledge and respond to Havana Syndrome.
ICYMI: Senator Collins Pens Column about Former Maine Police Officer Who Became a Havana Syndrome Victim (Susan Collins, Nov 1, 2021)

It would be nice to know exactly who confirmed that the sound he heard might be fatal. It is the one idea that all outside experts deny. But the group of 'Havana Syndrome' patients seem to stick to the idea that they were harmed by this sound, i.e. the cricket recordings, which they still continue to play for the press (post 1023), and which I imagine may make a lawsuit very difficult for their lawyer, as I have mentioned before (post 1040).

 

[steenkh]

I've had the 'Moscow Eye' a couple of times when my working life was particularly stressful.

I was treated for 'Moscow Eye' a few months ago. The Russians seem to be at it everywhere!

 

[Planigale]

Senator Susan Collins presents the story of what I think is Patient Zero, described by Robert Baloh in the quotation in post 979 like this: "A former CIA officer who was in Cuba at the time later noted that the first patient “was lobbying, if not coercing, people to report symptoms and to connect the dots.”"

In Susan Collins' story we learn that he was new to Havana. He arrived in the fall of 2016, and felt harassed by Cuban counterintelligence, presumably, before he heard the noise that we later learned came from crickets:




It would be nice to know exactly who confirmed that the sound he heard might be fatal. It is the one idea that all outside experts deny. But the group of 'Havana Syndrome' patients seem to stick to the idea that they were harmed by this sound, i.e. the cricket recordings, which they still continue to play for the press (post 1023), and which I imagine may make a lawsuit very difficult for their lawyer, as I have mentioned before (post 1040).

The communists conspired to create confusion and consternation in the CIA with the cacophony of the cadre of cuban combat crickets.

 

[dann]

In a short interview with Gen. McCaffrey on MSNBC, the general is asked about 'Havana Syndrome' (2:41 to 4:40). He declares that he thinks it's "real", i.e. not psychosomatic, because "it looks like there is semi-permanent damage to these people."
Gen. McCaffrey: U.S. message to China ‘should be more on deterrence than warfighting’ (MSNBC, Nov 4, 2021)

This is the argument that is repeated by the media again and again, and it's a lie, a point made very clear by Robert Bartholomew (see post 977) and Robert Baloh:

No physician has found a medical cause for the symptoms. And after five years of extensive searching, no evidence of a weapon has been found.
(...)
While not as sensational as the idea of a new secret weapon, mass psychogenic illness has historical precedents and can explain the wide variety of symptoms, lack of brain or ear damage and the subsequent spread around the world.
Havana syndrome fits the pattern of psychosomatic illness – but that doesn’t mean the symptoms aren’t real (The Conversation, Sep 30, 2021)

The general talks about "semi-permanent" damage as if he were referring to a bullet hole, and yet he ought to know better, which becomes clear when he mentions this:
"I am surprised that we haven't sorted out what the energy form is yet, though."
Acoustic shock? Pulsed microwaves? No idea, but the alleged "bad actor" needs to be punished nonetheless.

It would be a very good idea to start with the other question that "we haven't sorted out" before the speculations about "bad actors" begin. By giving credence to those rumors, the general himself becomes one of the bad actors.

 

[dann]

A good op-ed in the New York Times describes the 'Moscow Eye' and makes a case for why it is wrong to dismiss psychogenic illness as the explanation of 'Havana Syndrome':

The NYT article - and no paywall: Serge Schmemann: The mystery of ‘Havana Syndrome’ (Twin Cities, Pioneer Press, Nov 5, 2021)

 

[dann]

Warning! "POSTED HERE" in the quotation below takes you to the Dissent Radio podcast. Turn down the volume before you go there!

Scott Horton is joined by writer and chemist Cheryl Rofer. “Rofer penned an article back in May that debunked the increasingly popular theory that numerous American intelligence and diplomatic personnel were in fact the victims of a targeted microwave weapon. Rofer points out that all of the supposed evidence can be explained away. On top of that, the theoretical weapon itself does not even make any sense and can certainly not explain the alleged cases,” writes Horton.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY POSTED HERE.
Havana Syndrome – Source – Scott Horton Show (Wall Street Window, Nov 3, 2021 34:21 min.)

I think that this article was the first time we heard about Cheryl Rofer, "a chemist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory for 35 years," in the context of the 'Havana Syndrome": Claims of Microwave Attacks Are Scientifically Implausible (Foreign Policy, May 10, 2021)

Cheryl Rofer's Twitter thread about the reactions to her article:

Reaction to my article has been not very analytical. 1/
(...)
The predominant reaction has been "Okay, if it's not a directed microwave weapon, then it must be something else." Many suggestions have been offered. 2/
(...)
But that reaction contains a number of assumptions.
1) That there is a defined set of symptoms comprising the Havana Syndrome.
2) That those symptoms are being caused by a malign agent.
3) That the agent is using a directed-energy weapon. 3/
...
Cheryl Rofer on Twitter (May 11, 2021)

 

[dann]

Two former diplomats, Jonathan Moore and Margaret Uyehara, have been appointed to take over the 'Havana Syndrome' response after former ambassador Pamela Spratlen.

Tackling ‘Havana Syndrome’ is ‘urgent priority’ for US: Blinken (AlJazeera, Nov 5, 2021)
State Dept. names new team to oversee ‘Havana Syndrome’ response (WP, Nov 5, 2021)
State Dept. names new team to oversee ‘Havana Syndrome’ response (NBC News, Nov 5, 2021)
Blinken names two officials to lead U.S. response to Havana Syndrome cases (Reuters, Nov 5, 2021)

Apparently no weapons, microwaves or bad actors were mentioned by Blinken. The closest he go was:

“We’re working tirelessly with partners across the government to identify what is causing these incidents and to learn who is responsible." (AlJazeera)

I don't think he will be entirely happy with the answer to the question about who is responsible for "causing these incidents," but that he seems to have dropped the cold-war rhetoric completely may be an indication that some of the people at the State Department are beginning to suspect that no weapons or foreign adversaries were involved in the 'Havana Syndrome' and that they need to stop treating it as if that is the case if they want it to go away.

 

[dann]

Mainly of interest to Danes/Scandinavians who aren't fluent in English. That wouldn't be ISF members, obviously, but they may know somebody who isn't:
The second Danish translation of an article about the 'Havana Syndrome' at Skeptica, this time Jonathan Jarry's article mentioned in post 1007:
Havana-syndromet – et argument for at eliminere det usandsynlige (Skeptica.dk, Nov 1, 2021)

 

[dann]

This thread began on September 17, 2017. It is interesting to see what some experts said about the 'Havana Syndrome' as early as August, 2017:

Collen G. Le Prell, director of the audiology program at the University of Texas: “the audiologist community wonders what could be the cause of the symptoms described in these cases because no one has a good explanation for it” (…) “the sudden onset of hearing loss without an audible source is very unusual”. (Newsweek August 29, 2017)

Andrew Oxenham, psychologist at the Laboratory of Auditory Perception and Cognition at the University of Minnesota: “I cannot explain to myself that disease and hearing loss are related to sound… there is no way that an acoustic device can cause hearing damage using inaudible sounds. You cannot stimulate the inner ear in a way that could cause harm” (Buzz Feed News, August 30, 2017)

James Jauchem, retired biologist and scientist who investigated the biological effects of acoustic energy in the US Air Force research laboratory: “the elements that researchers have to declare that it is an acoustic weapon are not known” (The Verge, September 16, 2017)

Joe Pompei, former Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher, founder and president of Holosonics: "There has never been any kind of physiological response that reflects the symptoms that have been reported caused by sound waves of any kind." (Business Insider, September 29 from 2017)

Jurgen Altmann, physicist at the Technische Universitat Dortmund in Germany: "I would say that it is quite implausible", "I do not know of any acoustic effects that can cause symptoms of concussion." (The New York Times, October 5, 2017)

Jun Qin, Acoustic Engineer at Southern Illinois University: “Sound through the air cannot shake your head.” “Ultrasounds cannot travel a long distance” (The New York Times, October 5, 2017)

Adam Rogers, a journalist for the publication Wired, specialized in technological issues, pointed out: "The adventures of the encounter between 007 and the X-Files in Cuba continue" (Wired, October 5, 2017)
https://www.alainet.org/en/articulo/213777 (Latin America in Movement, Sep 9, 2021)

 

[dann]

The third Danish translation, Robert Baloh's article mentioned in post 979:
Havana-syndromet svarer til mønstret for massepsykogen lidelse – men det betyder ikke, at symptomerne ikke er virkelige (Skeptica.dk, Nov. 6, 2021)

 

[dann]

This Is the End - or is it?!

I find this remarkable:
Anomalous Health Incidents and the Health Incident Response Task Force - FACT SHEET - OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON (U.S. Department of State, Nov 5, 2021)

I am not yet sure, but this may indicate that the U.S. government has finally realized what it is dealing with - without admitting as much. It seems to be meant to calm down the people affected by the 'syndrome' by making them feel safe and sound and in good hands.

The following words are conspicuously absent from the document: attack - assault - enemy - actor - weapon - threat - danger - microwaves - frequency - sonic - energy - pulsed - brain damage - white matter tract (white and matter do occur, but not in a context that has anything to do with brains) - hearing loss.
Not even immaculate concussion is mentioned! Not once!

To me, it seems to be an attempt to make people stop being paranoid of covert attacks and start healing. I don't think that we will hear the Biden administration openly declare that this was a case of very badly managed mass psychogenic illness even though they do owe the Cubans an apology - and probably the Chinese and the Russians as well. First and foremost, the USA would lose face by openly admitting how unprofessionally this whole thing was handled, and it would also upset the frustrated diplomatic corps and the CIA to be told that this is all in their heads. Maybe in time, when almost everybody has calmed down, in a year or two, when only Marco Rubio and the revanchists in Miami still insist that this was an attack by evil adversaries, it may become necessary to confront them with the truth.

Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but I think that this could be the beginning of the end of the 'Havana Syndrome'.

 

[dann]

The attitude in this letter to the editor is very similar:

I applaud Sen. Collins for championing an act that extends long-overdue support to those afflicted by Havana Syndrome; they need all the care we can provide. But to write that it is “likely caused by a directed energy attack” foments a poorly supported science fiction that is as unhelpful to our diplomacy as it is unhealthy for our diplomats, who could benefit from a “whole-of-government approach” focused on more likely and readily actionable causes.
Better to not foment Havana syndrome fear (The Portland Press Herald, Nov 7, 2021)

it is short and so well written that it makes me wonder if the author might be the professional writer(s) Michael Stanley.
The reference to Margaret Chase Smith is brilliant: "On June 1, 1950, Smith delivered a fifteen-minute speech on the Senate floor, known as the "Declaration of Conscience," in which she refused to name McCarthy directly but denounced "the reckless abandon in which unproved charges have been hurled from this side of the aisle."" (Wikipedia)

Most of the comments so far agree with the letter, for instance:

You have hit the real problem. We have millions of people who cannot, or can barely, afford drugs or treatment for real illnesses, something Susan COULD address. Her response? Grandstanding / fear mongering over something that affects a few dozen people. Pathetic.

 

[dann]

Havana Syndrome[edit]
Ok Skeptical folks... as years pass and and no indisputable evidence is uncovered proving the Havana Syndrome is the result of proposed but undiscovered sci-fi weapons, the likelihood that it is all due to mass psychogenic illness, the hypothesis put forward by the expert Robert Bartholomew, seems to be growing. YET, the Wikipedia page IMHO does not reflect this. And editors have kept this hypothesis totally out of the lead. What are we to do? RobP (talk) 01:50, 23 October 2021 (UTC)
In connection with this, the topic is being discussed on Administrators noticeboard! RobP (talk) 16:06, 3 November 2021 (UTC)
And now it has sparked discussions in several other locations, including: here, and here. RobP (talk) 06:06, 4 November 2021 (UTC)
Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Skepticism (Wikipedia)

See also:

This is the kind of ranty editor opinion/POV crap that that talk page has been filling up with for years instead of just following what reliable sources say about it. Geogene (talk) 22:42, 3 November 2021 (UTC)
Yes it was ranty... Here I can rant...As for articles, yes, WP:reliable sources rule apply. The problem is that in the RS sphere things are often gray and some editors (you know who you are) are leaning way too far in one direction IMHO trusting only JAMA conclusions (and the like), downplaying other commentary and subject matter expert opinion when they don't agree with JAMA. RobP (talk) 05:49, 4 November 2021 (UTC)
The trouble with the article is the crap sourcing. The JAMA source is unreliable; Buzfeed and podcasts are unreliable. One decent source (CDC report) seems to be saying, in effect, we don't know that anything caused anything, and if it did, we don't know what it is. That seems to be pretty much the state of "accepted knowledge" on this topic and what Wikipedia should be reflecting, so far as the science goes right now. Of course there's a shedload of politics on top of that which should also be covered. Alexbrn (talk) 06:02, 4 November 2021 (UTC)
Wikipedia: Fringe theories: Noticeboard: Havana Syndrome (Wikipedia)

 

[dann]

I was treated for 'Moscow Eye' a few months ago. The Russians seem to be at it everywhere!

And they do it to kids, too! I guess that if the Americans in Havana had waited till late 2020/early 2021 to come down with the symptoms, Pfizer might have been blamed.

 

[dann]

... Mass hysteria among trained diplomats is unlikely. ...

We have discussed this before, but the same unfounded claim still keeps popping up in online debates elsewhere:

As one Hill staffer told Puck News reporter Julia Ioffe, “Why would we question the sanity of people who are highly trained to handle some of the government’s most sensitive information and negotiations?”
(...)
Other commentators have similarly emphasized the occupation or security clearances of the patients, as if spies do not suffer the same spectrum of neuropsychiatric ailments as us mere mortals.
(...)
Havana syndrome may have nothing to do with a sonic death ray, but it is quite real. And for the people experiencing it, that’s all that matters.
The Big Misunderstanding About Havana Syndrome: High-level diplomats are as prone to sociogenic illness as anyone else. (NY Mag, Intelligencer, Nov 8, 2021)

This list from the article of common symptoms in the general population is very interesting:

According to one comprehensive study in New Zealand, 89 percent of the general population suffers from one or more symptoms, and 23 percent from ten or more. This includes many people with the same sorts of constitutional and neurologic problems described by ill spies and diplomats: 35.5 percent with fatigue, 35.4 percent headache, 15.2 percent difficulty concentrating, 12.4 percent numbness or tingling, and 12.1 percent memory problems.

 

[dann]

It is no surprise that the Miami Herald Editorial Board won't give up on the idea of attacks and evil adversaries:

When the culprits finally are unmasked — and we cannot wait for that moment — they must be punished for these out-of-bounds attacks on the U.S. and its diplomats. And whatever is causing Havana syndrome must be dismantled for good.
Is Cuba responsible for Havana syndrome? We hope a new US effort will finally tell us | Editorial (Miami Herald, Nov 9, 2021)

They do hate masks in Florida ...

 

[dann]

Julia Offe has been mentioned a couple of times recently, e.g. in post 1046 and post 1097

This article critizes Ioffe's biased reporting on the 'Havana Syndrome':

At the end of the story, Ioffe allows an anonymous CIA member to make the call to action explicit. “Some in the intelligence community are getting restless, eager to see the people who wounded so many of their comrades punished,” she writes. “Even if the intelligence is ‘medium confidence,’ one member of the community told me, that should be enough to go on. ‘We got bin Laden with medium confidence.'” I can think of a few other examples in which the United States took drastic action based on “medium confidence” that should give any journalist with half a brain some pause before becoming a willing CIA mouthpiece.
Behold: The Worst Havana Syndrome Report Yet (The Defector, Oct 21, 2021)

 

[dann]

I find this remarkable:
Anomalous Health Incidents and the Health Incident Response Task Force - FACT SHEET - OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON (U.S. Department of State, Nov 5, 2021).
(...)

I was reading about the treatment of conversion disorder (Wikipedia) when the case of Marc Polymeropoulos occurred to me:

Once a week, Marc Polymeropoulos goes to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for art therapy and acupuncture. The interventions aim to address the same problem: Polymeropoulos has had a persistent headache for years, which he can trace back to a fateful trip to Moscow in December 2017.
(...)
After a month of care at Walter Reed starting in mid-January — 10 hours a day, five days a week — Polymeropoulos' doctors diagnosed him with a mild traumatic brain injury.
"It was huge," he said. "All of a sudden, now I have this tangible thing."
Since then, Polymeropoulos' treatment has involved mostly alternative therapies like
meditation, deep breathing, and art.
"Art therapy has been incredible. It allows you to express yourself but not in words," Polymeropoulos said. "It's also a support group."
Mysterious brain injuries have plagued over 130 US spies and diplomats. Were they attacked with a microwave weapon? (Business Insider, July 26, 2021)

As skeptics, we know that acupuncture is basically BS. It is placebo, at best. Getting pricked with needles doesn't cure anything, but it may make you feel better.
Meditation, breathing exercises and art therapy also aren't medicine, but they can probably help stressed-out or anxious people relax. In other words, the treatment of Polymeropoulos (and, I assume, other 'syndrome' patients) seems to be psychological in nature rather than physiological.

Let us compare these therapies with the options for treating conversion disorder, which are:

1. Explanation. This must be clear and coherent as attributing physical symptoms to a psychological cause is not accepted by many educated people in Western cultures. It must emphasize the genuineness of the condition, that it is common, potentially reversible and does not mean the sufferer is psychotic. Taking a neutral-cause-based stance by describing the symptoms as functional may be helpful, but further studies are required. Ideally, the patient should be followed up neurologically for a while to ensure the diagnosis has been understood.
2. Physiotherapy where appropriate;
3. Occupational therapy to maintain autonomy in activities of daily living;[20]
4. Treatment of comorbid depression or anxiety if present.
conversion disorder (Wikipedia)

1. Due to the stance taken by the establishment, the explanation of Polymeropoulos's symptoms as psychological in nature has so far been ruled out since the diagnosis of "a mild traumatic brain injury" has come to mean: caused by an attack!
2. Physiotherapy does not seem to be appropriate in his case, unless some kind of massage might relieve his headache.
3. The meditation, breathing exercises and art seem to serve as occupational therapy ...
4. ... and may also help relieve depression and anxiety.

However, point 1. is crucial but may have been impossible since "Burns has taken action to remove individuals from the CIA’s medical office who aren’t treating the issue seriously." (See post 1073) And "treating the issue seriously" seemed to mean: accepting the idea of attacks with sci-fi weapons.
It is possible that this problem is now being remedied ...