Politico | Trump’s acting Pentagon chief urges Biden to tackle directed-energy attacks: ‘It’s an act of war’
- US officials are increasingly sounding the alarm about the suspected attacks, which cause symptoms similar to ‘Havana syndrome’
- Victims report lasting headaches, loss of hearing and balance, ringing and pressure in the ears, fatigue, and sometimes long-term brain damage
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Lara Seligman and Andrew Desiderio on politico.com on May 3, 2021.
The suspected directed-energy attacks on US government personnel worldwide are “an act of war”, said former acting defence secretary Christopher Miller, who launched an initiative to investigate the incidents during his time at the Pentagon last year and is urging the new administration to stay on the issue.
“If this plays out and somebody is attacking Americans [even] with a non-lethal weapon … we owe it to our folks that are out there,” Miller, who served as former president Donald Trump’s acting defence chief from November until January, told POLITICO. “We owe it to them to get to the bottom of this.”
Miller’s comments come as US officials increasingly sound the alarm about the suspected attacks, which cause symptoms similar to those reported in recent years by American spies and diplomats in Cuba affected by the so-called “Havana syndrome”. Victims report lasting headaches, loss of hearing and balance, ringing and pressure in the ears, fatigue, and sometimes long-term brain damage.
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Mystery illness that struck US diplomats in China and Cuba ‘likely caused by surveillance’
POLITICO first reported that Pentagon officials last month briefed lawmakers on the “urgent” and growing threat to US government personnel, including troops. The Senate Intelligence Committee has since vowed to “get to the bottom” of the issue.
The suspected attacks also include ongoing incidents involving military attaches at embassies around the world, a former official and a congressional source briefed on the incidents told POLITICO. Officials are focusing their investigations on suspected incidents near US embassies in South America, the congressional source said.
This suspected attack, which has not been previously reported, joins a growing list of incidents. Others have allegedly occurred in the US, including in Miami, Alexandria, Virginia, and the Ellipse in Washington. Both sources asked not to be named in order to discuss the investigation.
Defence officials who briefed lawmakers last month said Russia was likely to be the source of the attacks, but did not have a smoking gun.
US probes suspected directed-energy attack in Miami and near White House
A White House spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of the investigation, but said the Biden administration has taken the reports “very seriously since day one”.
“The investigation into the cause and culprit of the unexplained incidents is ongoing and a top priority for the Biden administration,” said the spokesperson, noting that the White House is coordinating the effort with departments and agencies across the federal government, as well as with experts in academia and the medical community.
“This concerns the health and well-being of American public servants from across the government, and we will continue to act with urgency to bring a whole of government response to these issues,” said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.
A Defence Department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Miller established an effort to investigate the incidents late last year. Soon after he assumed the role of acting defence secretary in November, he met a Defence Department official who was seeking medical treatment for a mysterious attack that left him temporarily incapacitated.
As soon as the official described his symptoms, Miller knew right away that they had been caused by a directed-energy weapon.
“He wasn’t a histrionic-type person, so when he described the attack it was like, ‘yeah, you got hit with this weapon,” Miller said. “There was no way to deny it.” CNN first reported the interaction between the two.
The goal of the effort was “to create a bureaucratic momentum to get the inter-agency to take this more seriously”, Miller said.
Now, Miller said he is “gratified” to see that the Biden team is keeping it in focus. The CIA recently launched a task force of its own to look into the issue, and CIA Director William Burns told senators during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee that getting to the bottom of the Havana attacks was a top priority.
In a statement on Friday, Senators Mark Warner and Marco Rubio, the chair and vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, said they welcomed Burns’ “renewed focus” on the matter and said they will continue to investigate.
“This pattern of attacking our fellow citizens serving our government appears to be increasing,” Warner and Rubio said. “The Senate Intelligence Committee intends to get to the bottom of this.”
‘Radio energy’ likely cause of mystery illness that hit US diplomats
Representatives for the Senate and House intelligence committees declined to comment further.
Doctors and scientists say the Havana attacks, which started in 2016, may have been caused by microwave weapons, which use a form of electromagnetic radiation to damage targets. While US officials have not publicly blamed Russia for the events, Moscow is known to have worked on microwave weapons technology.
Simone Ledeen, a former Pentagon official overseeing Middle East policy under Trump who worked on directed-energy attacks in a previous position at the Defence Department also called on the new administration to continue looking into the incidents.
“This was one of the missions that absolutely needed to continue,” Ledeen said. “I hope the new team picks this up – it is actually very important as Americans are clearly being targeted.”
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