It is “increasingly likely” that a violent foreign actor is behind the mysterious illness known as Havana syndrome, the House CIA Permanent Select Subcommittee concluded in an unclassified interim report released Thursday.
A short, unclassified version of the report previously took aim at the United States. Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) The assessment dismissed suggestions that this unusual condition was the result of a “deliberate weapon attack” and highlighted the need for further research into the issue.
“We have found that there is credible evidence to suggest that some abnormal health incidents (AHIs) are the work of a foreign enemy,” Subcommittee Chairman Rick Crawford (R-Arkansas) said in a statement. mentioned in.
AHI is the term intelligence agencies use to refer to Havana syndrome, which has plagued hundreds of U.S. military, diplomatic, and intelligence officials since at least late 2016.
of 10-page report of the subcommittee We agreed with the Chairman and determined that “it is increasingly likely that a foreign adversary is behind some AHIs.'' It also found “evidence that the ICA lacked analytical integrity and was highly irregular in its formulation.”
Your exact experience will vary. Some people claim to have heard the noise before their symptoms appeared, while others did not hear the noise before becoming ill. There was a question as to whether they were. The noise was actually crickets.
Symptoms also vary from person to person and can include ear pain, memory loss, fatigue, migraines, dizziness, cognitive problems, and hearing loss.
Despite the differences in those affected, the common thread was that they were all government employees.
“The subcommittee’s investigation uncovered information that indicates problems with the creation, review, and publication of the ICA. may be included. [intelligence community] It is an attempt to control the narrative,” the report added.
As evidence, the subcommittee noted that the IC Expert Committee had considered the matter before the ICA and declassified its findings in February 2022, stating that the signs of Havana syndrome were “real and convincing” He pointed out that the symptoms could be due to external stimuli.
The subcommittee did not provide more specific details in its unclassified report about why it believes it is “increasingly likely” that a foreign adversary is behind the mysterious illness. Crawford accused intelligence agencies of obstructing the investigation.
“Unfortunately, although the IC actively tried to thwart our investigation, we were still able to collect important evidence. “There is reason to believe that the IC's claims about this are false,” he said.
Crawford and his team are working to complete a “substantive and confidential report” on the issue.
The interim report also provided three main recommendations. The first is to require the IC to overhaul the intelligence community's analytical processes and provide a “fact-based” assessment of the issue.
The second is to strengthen the collection of Havana syndrome anecdotes to gather more evidence for further research. Finally, the committee called for codifying stronger medical care for people suffering from this strange disease.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) echoed Crawford's conclusions in the report that a foreign enemy was behind Havana Syndrome.
“I would like to thank Chairman Crawford for his tireless efforts in the AHI investigation. I agree with the interim report showing that a foreign adversary is likely responsible for some of the AHI.” he said in a statement.
