Category Archives: Diplomatic Attacks

SFRC Senators Express “Concern” to @SecBlinken For @StateDept’s Handling of #HavanaSyndrome

October 15, 2021 By in 71st Secretary of State, Blinken, Diplomatic Attacks, Foreign Service, Hotspots, MEDical, Realities of the FS, Secretary of State, Security, Senators, SFRC, State Department, Top Ranks, Trends, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , ,

 

In a letter to Secretary Blinken, Senators from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee writes “We believe this threat deserves the highest level of attention from the State Department, and remain concerned that the State Department is not treating this crisis with the requisite senior-level attention that it requires. “
Also that the Senators “continue to hear concerns that the Department is not sufficiently communicating with or responding to diplomats  who have been injured from these attacks. We are also concerned that the Department is insufficiently engaged in interagency efforts to find the cause of these attacks, identify those responsible, and develop a plan to hold them accountable. “
The Senators urged a replacement for Ambassador Spratlen imediately:
“We urge you to immediately announce a successor to Ambassador Spratlen to lead the Department’s Health Incident Response Task Force. Critically, this post must be a senior-level official that reports directly to you. It is incumbent that this individual has the experience to engage effectively with affected individuals and with the interagency. As you know, pending bipartisan legislation in the Senate would require the Secretary to designate an agency coordinator for AHIs who reports directly to you. We ask that you take this step now to demonstrate that the State Department does take this matter seriously, and is coordinating an appropriate agency-level response.”
Finally, the senators write, “We wish to support the State Department and U.S. personnel through every means possible, and to support the Department in effectively addressing this national security threat. We look forward to receiving your response, and to your heightened engagement on this issue.”
The letter is available to read here.
The State Department has a response from the podium but we’ll save you the anguish of having to read the same thing all over again.
Just yesterday, we got another email in our inbox that says “Those DPB comments are utter bullshit.”
The spox did say that “… we want to make sure that those who have come forward are getting the care that they need. And I can give you quite a bit in terms of what our Bureau of Medical Services has done, including since January of this year, to ensure that those who come forward are getting that care.”
But …. but… how are they getting the care they need?
If folks can’t even get an email response from MED except for a form email?
At least there’s a form email, right?
But that feeling when you’re worried you may have a brain injury and you get a form email — apparently, that does not generate a warm feeling of WE’RE HERE FOR YOU, WE CARE.
The senators are right to remain concerned. Foggy Bottom typically responds to a few external pressures — the courts, the press, and yes, attentiveness from the Congress.

 

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Havana Syndrome: Did the NSA Say It Was Crickets, Too, in 2014?

October 8, 2021 By in Diplomatic Attacks, Foreign Service, Huh? News, Investigations, MEDical, Realities of the FS, State Department, Trends, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , ,

2016-2018 (JASON Report Released via FOIA)
JASON report: “Acoustic Signals and Physiological Effect on U.S. Diplomats in Cuba”

2020 (Report Released by National Academy of Sciences)
An Assessment of Illness in U.S. Government Employees and Their Families at Overseas Embassies

2016-2019 (Released via FOIA in 2019)

“Cuba Unexplained Events Investigation—Final Report: Havana, Cuba, August 2016 to March 2019,”

2018: JAMA

Neurological Manifestations Among US Government Personnel Reporting Directional Audible and Sensory Phenomena in Havana, Cuba

2014 (NSA Case)

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HAVANA Act of 2021 Passes Congress, Heads to President Biden’s Desk

September 23, 2021 By in Americans Abroad, CIA, Congress, Diplomatic Attacks, Federal Agencies, MEDical, State Department Tags: , , , , ,

 

We blogged about the Havana Act in August 2021 (see Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks Act of 2021 Awaits Passage in the House, You Can Help). On September 21, the House unanimously passed legislation in a 427-0 vote to compensate USG employees who experienced traumatic brain injuries while serving in Cuba, China and other locations, also known as the Havana Syndrome. The U.S. Senate passed the HAVANA Act in June. The bill now heads to the White House for President Biden’s signature.

Blinken’s #HavanaSyndrome Meeting, Also Spratlen is Out as Task Force Advisor

September 23, 2021 By in 71st Secretary of State, Ambassadors, Blinken, Diplomatic Attacks, Foreign Service, Huh? News, MEDical, Realities of the FS, State Department, Trends Tags: , , , , ,

 

On September 3, we blogged about the Havana Syndrome again: Blinken Talks the Talk on Unexplained Health Incidents, Where’s the Walk? #HavanaSyndrome.
On September 21, NBC News reported that Secretary Blinken finally did meet with diplomats who were afflicted with the  Havana Syndrome mystery illness. It did not go very well, did it?
Via NBC News:

“It’s just incredibly sad. It’s the worst part of bureaucracy,” one of the diplomats said, describing the call as “identical to so many other phone calls” where they’re told about protocols in place to ensure proper treatment. “It’s so maddening because those protocols aren’t in place — not the way they think they are.”
[…]
A senior State Department official, responding to questions about Blinken’s call with the diplomats, acknowledged that there’s “frustration” among the group about a perceived stigma or lack of empathy by their colleagues, but said it did not extend to those at the top.

“That’s certainly not the case with the secretary and the senior leadership,” the official said in an interview. “Everyone is taking it seriously as a real issue that is affecting people who are experiencing real symptoms.”

Which members of the senior leadership is the SDO official talking about?

Diplomats told NBC News they were dismayed that Ambassador Pamela Spratlen, tapped by the Biden administration to oversee the State Department’s response, declined to conclusively rule out the mass hysteria theory.
[…]
One diplomat on the call described that response as “invalidating and inconsiderate.” Another said that Spratlen was “very clearly saying that she has not ruled out that we’re crazy.”  “In the end, we were interrupting Spratlen to try to get people in” to speak, a third diplomat on the call said. “It was ugly.”

Folks, if they’re talking about protocols in place that aren’t in place almost seven months after Blinken took office, then one can’t help but agree that Secretary Blinken is treating this “as an afterthought” as per former Senior CIA official Marc Polymeropoulos.
Another reason why we agree? Ambassador Spratlen who was appointed as Senior Advisor to the Havana Syndrome Task Force back in March is reportedly leaving after six months on the job. “The State Department says she’d reached her threshold of allowed labor hours under her status as a retiree.”
Well, dammit! So Foggy Bottom did not know that she’s going to max out on her allowed labor hours? Excuse me, did they think this job is going to be done after 950 hours on the job? (Also see Havana Syndrome Questions @StateDept Refuses to Answer). Note that State Department’s re-employed annuitant employees can work no more than 1,040 hours during their appointment year.
McClatchy says that Blinken “considers choosing her [Spratlen’s] replacement an important decision, a senior State Department official said.
“The secretary has been seized with this issue even before he became secretary,” the official said. “One of the meetings he proactively requested before the transition was on this issue.”
Oh holymoly guacamole, give it a rest PR people! This is an old, old tired trick, even an old dog would not pick up this stick!
Frankly, this is  getting to be so exhausting! Look. The fact of the matter is it doesn’t matter if Secretary Blinken requested “proactively” a meeting on the Havana Syndrome issue BEFORE the transition.
In fact, the next State Department official to bring up Blinken’s request for a Havana Syndrome briefing before the transition should be promptly fired for persistently living in the past.
What matters is — what Blinken is doing about this issue NOW.

UHI in the News: ‘Havana Syndrome’ and the Mystery of the Microwaves

September 14, 2021 By in Blinken, Diplomatic Attacks, Foreign Service, Hotspots, MEDical, Realities of the FS, Security, State Department, Trends, U.S. Missions Tags: , , ,

 

More clips about the unexplained health incidents (also known as Havana Syndrome) from BBC, an interview with retired CIA officer with PRI, and another case reported from the Canadian Foreign Service where “A high-ranking Canadian diplomat in Cuba was flown home for assessment this year after experiencing an attack consistent with Havana syndrome.”
Via BBC:

“This is not Havana syndrome. It’s a misnomer,” argues Mr Zaid, whose clients were affected in many locations. “What’s been going on has been known by the United States government probably, based on evidence that I have seen, since the late 1960s.”

Since 2013, Mr Zaid has represented one employee of the US National Security Agency who believed they were damaged in 1996 in a location which remains classified.

Mr Zaid questions why the US government has been so unwilling to acknowledge a longer history. One possibility, he says, is because it might open a Pandora’s Box of incidents that have been ignored over the years. Another is because the US, too, has developed and perhaps even deployed microwaves itself and wants to keep it secret.

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Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks Act of 2021 Awaits Passage in the House, You Can Help

August 23, 2021 By in Americans Abroad, Compensation and Benefits, Congress, Diplomatic Attacks, Foreign Service, MEDical, Realities of the FS, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , ,
The HAVANA Act of 2021 or the Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks Act of 2021 passed/agreed to in Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent on 6/7/21.

Summary: This bill specifically authorizes the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, and other agencies to provide payments to agency personnel who incur brain injuries from hostilities while on assignment.

Specifically, the bill allows agency personnel and their families to receive payments for brain injuries that are incurred (1) during a period of assignment to a foreign or domestic duty station; (2) in connection with war, insurgency, hostile acts, terrorist activity, or other agency-designated incidents; and (3) not as the result of willful misconduct.

The bill’s authority applies to injuries incurred before, on, or after the date of the bill’s enactment. Agencies must submit classified reports on the bill’s implementation, including the number of payments made and the amount of each payment.

Since 2016, some intelligence, diplomatic, and other governmental personnel have reported experiencing unusual cognitive and neurological impairments while on assignment (particularly abroad), the source of which is currently under investigation. Symptoms were first reported by personnel stationed in Cuba and have since been collectively referred to as Havana Syndrome.

S.1828 Havana Act of 2021 was introduced by Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] on 05/25/2021. It has 19 senators as co-sponsors.
Section 3 of S.1828 provides the authority to pay personnel of the Department of State for certain injuries of the brain.
The Act requires mandatory classified reporting for a budget/spend plan for the use of the authority detailing total amount expended, number of covered employees, dependents and individuals to whom payments were made, and amount provided. It also requires an assessment of “whether additional authorities are required to ensure that covered dependents, covered employees and covered individuals can receive payments for qualifying injuries, such as a qualifying injury to the back or heart.”
A companion bill H.R.3356 – HAVANA Act of 2021 was introduced in the House by Rep. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA-28] on 5/19/21. It has 22 co-sponsors as of this writing.
Similarly, Section 3 of H.R.3356 provides the authority to pay State Department personnel for certain injuries.
The House version also provides the following:

“(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary or other agency head described in paragraph (1) that provides payment under such paragraph shall prescribe regulations to carry out this subsection.

“(B) ELEMENTS.—The regulations prescribed under subparagraph (A) shall include regulations detailing fair and equitable criteria for payment under paragraph (1).

“(4) NO EFFECT ON OTHER BENEFITS.—Payments made under paragraph (1) are supplemental to any other benefit furnished by the United States Government for which a covered dependent, dependent of a former employee, covered employee, former employee, or covered individual is entitled, and the receipt of such payments may not affect the eligibility of such a person to any other benefit furnished by the United States Government.”.

GovTrack currently has a 38% chance for this bill to get enacted. It needs to pass the Committee, the House, then the Senate (bill needs to be in identical form) and then signed by the President to become law.
You can help by contacting your Congressional Representatives and urging them to pass H.R. 3356.

 

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New Havana Syndrome Hotspots — U.S. Embassies in Germany and Austria

August 19, 2021 By in Blinken, Diplomatic Attacks, EUR|Europe, Foreign Service, Hotspots, Huh? News, MEDical, Realities of the FS, Security, State Department, Trends, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , ,

 

 

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@NewYorker: Vienna Is the New Havana Syndrome Hotspot

July 19, 2021 By in Blinken, Diplomatic Attacks, Hotspots, MEDical, Realities of the FS, Security, State Department, Trends, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , ,
Thank you to over 500 readers and supporters who made our continued operation possible this year. Raising funds for a small outlet that is already open and free for all to read has often been the most challenging part of running  this blog. We are grateful for your continued support and well wishes. Gracias — DS

 

Via New Yorker:
Since Joe Biden took office about two dozen U.S. intelligence officers, diplomats, and other government officials in Vienna have reported experiencing mysterious afflictions similar to the Havana Syndrome. U.S. officials say the number of possible new cases in the Austrian capital—long a nexus of U.S. and Russian espionage—is now greater than the number reported by officials in any city except for Havana itself, where the first cases were reported.
[…]
The first possible syndrome case in Vienna was reported a couple of months after Biden’s Inauguration. That case and subsequent ones were reported to officials in Washington soon after they occurred. But the Biden Administration decided not to announce the Vienna outbreak—officials were concerned that any public disclosure about the cases would hamper ongoing U.S. intelligence and law-enforcement investigations, which are still under way in Vienna. The Austrian Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the cluster of cases.
CNN quotes a State Department spox:
“In coordination with our partners across the U.S. Government, we are vigorously investigating reports of possible unexplained health incidents (UHI) among the U.S. Embassy Vienna community or wherever they are reported,” a State Department spokesperson said. “Any employees who reported a possible UHI received immediate and appropriate attention and care.”
On May 25, 2021 U.S. government workers and their spouses who say they were injured by Havana Syndrome sent a letter to Deputy Secretary of State Brian McKeon (via NBC)

 

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US Embassy Eswatini Confirms Shots Fired at Embassy Vehicle, @USMC Augments Internal Security

July 12, 2021 By in AF |Africa, Americans Abroad, Diplomatic Attacks, Diplomatic Security, Hotspots, Realities of the FS, Security, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , ,
Thank you to over 500 readers and supporters who made our continued operation possible this year. Raising funds for a small outlet that is already open and free for all to read has often been the most challenging part of running  this blog. We are grateful for your continued support and well wishes. Thanks — DS

 

The US Embassy in Mbabane, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) issued a Security Alert, the sixth alert since late June following the continuing civil unrest in the country. The Embassy has also confirmed that shots were fired at a U.S. Embassy vehicle on July 1st and that U.S. Marines have augmented its internal security. @USMC has released a statement that a team of 13 Marines deployed on short notice to the embassy to support on-ground embassy security personnel along with the Diplomatic Security Service Mobile Security Deployments team.

Event:  The Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini announced a nationwide curfew from 1800 – 0500 hours.   Communication disruptions, including internet and cell phone service, are occurring.  Security forces are actively patrolling the streets during curfew hours.

The international airport, KMIII, is now operational.  U.S. citizens wishing to depart Eswatini should take advantage of commercial options available.

The U.S. Embassy has limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Eswatini.

Citizens are urged to respect the government curfew and exercise caution.

US citizens who require assistance should contact +268 2417 9000 and then PRESS TWO.

The South African land borders are currently open and antigen tests are available at the border at a cost of 300 Rand, payable in Rand only.  For citizens flying out of OR Tambo, PCR testing labs are available.  Citizens are required to have a negative PCR test in order to travel to the United States.

The U.S. Embassy is operating with reduced services. U.S. citizens needing emergency services should call the Consular Section using the contact information below.

Actions to Take: 

    • Monitor local media for updates on changing conditions.
    • Expect communication disruptions; contact family and friends to let them know you are safe.
    • If safe, stock up on groceries and water and then stay home.

 

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#HavanaSyndrome: Reports on Additional Cases, Wearable Sensors, More Clips

May 18, 2021 By in Diplomatic Attacks, Foreign Service, MEDical, Realities of the FS, State Department, Trends, U.S. Missions Tags: , , ,
13 Going on 14 — GFM: https://gofund.me/32671a27

 

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