The Foreign Service Journal, March 2022

14 MARCH 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL microwaves and security of the Moscow embassy that went on within our govern- ment during this period was intense, and prevented a unified and effective response to the real technical espionage being conducted by the Soviets. Serious Investigation Warranted The evidence for Havana syndrome is sufficient to warrant serious scientific investigation even though there has never been any evidence of a directed energy attack despite five years of searching by State, the IC and others. The closest evidence is a secondhand report that an untrained person using an unreliable and inappropriate detector may have found high levels of microwaves at one of the residences overseas. The National Academy of Sciences, given its limited and managed access to information, rightfully concluded that microwaves were the most likely explana- tion for the phenomenon, but not that microwaves were the cause of the medi- cal problems. There may be a national security reason for attributing the medi- cal problems to a directed energy attack by Russia, China, Cuba or whatever nation has made our current enemies list, but this should not be at the expense of those who may be suffering from a real medical problem. The Moscowmicrowave affair was grossly mishandled by State, and we seem to be blundering down the same path with Havana syndrome. If there is a valid cause(s) for the syndrome, it is not a fore- gone conclusion that it is microwaves or a directed energy attack. State should fully disclose whatever information it has to a respected scientific investigation that has free rein to investigate any and all possible causes. What is done with the results of the investigation is another matter. n