An inspector general report sent to Congress this week finds fault with the intelligence agency’s Office of Medical Services.
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The U.S. Embassy in Havana, where the first reports of the mysterious ailments emerged. Some victims believe the incidents were caused by a foreign power.
WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. sent an inspector general report that was critical of how the agency handled early reports of injuries that came to be known as Havana syndrome to Congress this week, according to current and former officials.
The report, said people briefed on the findings, criticized how the Central Intelligence Agency’s top physicians in the Office of Medical Services dealt with the unexplained incidents during the Trump administration, when some C.I.A. officials were doubtful about Havana syndrome-related illnesses. As a result, many people with symptoms found it difficult to get prompt medical care.
Diplomats and C.I.A. officers began reporting ailments arising from strange incidents beginning in 2016 in Havana. Since then, government employees and family members in China, Austria, Serbia and other locations around the world have also reported symptoms.
The report comes as the agency has begun making payments to some victims of what the government calls anomalous health incidents. Those victims have been frustrated with intelligence conclusions that the injuries were not the result of a worldwide campaign by a hostile country, such as Russia.
C.I.A. officials declined to discuss details of the report, but a spokeswoman said the review covered 2016 to 2020 and acknowledged it had found weaknesses in the agency’s response.
The Havana Syndrome Mystery
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What is the Havana Syndrome? The mysterious illness, which has affected military officers, C.I.A. personnel and diplomats around the world, manifests itself in a host of ailments such as chronic headache, vertigo and nausea.
When was it first detected? Some former government officials say the episodes stretch back decades, but the first victims in this spate of incidents were a group of Americans working at the U.S. Embassy in Havana in 2016. Since then, U.S. officials in several countries have experienced symptoms.
What is the source of the illness? Some officials are convinced that the symptoms are caused by Russian microwave attacks, but there is so far little evidence to support the theory. Outside experts have also suggested that the condition could be a psychosomatic reaction to stress.
How is the United States addressing the issue? The Biden administration, Congress and other agencies have taken steps to investigate the episodes and provide support to victims. The C.I.A. has also begun to make compensation payments to some current and former officers suffering from Havana syndrome symptoms, according to officials and others briefed on the arrangements.
“The review found the challenge of simultaneously understanding and effectively responding to the myriad of challenges associated with anomalous health incidents complicated the agency’s response during this time period,” said Susan Miller, a spokeswoman for the C.I.A.
The report, which went to lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, is largely classified. Victims called on the government Friday to declassify the report, or at least its conclusions.
“It is imperative the report be released to the public as victims deserve to know what actually occurred,” said Marc E. Polymeropoulos, a former C.I.A. officer who suffered Havana syndrome symptoms on a trip to Moscow in 2017. “The delay in health care that many suffered complicated their recovery.”
The Office of Medical Services has long been criticized by C.I.A. officers who sought treatment for symptoms related to Havana syndrome.
During the Trump administration, many officials were deeply skeptical of the Havana syndrome incidents, influenced by an F.B.I. document that concluded that many of them could be psychosomatic responses. A subsequent study by outside experts overseen by the National Security Council and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has said in many cases the physical injuries to the brain cannot be explained by stress or other psychological illness.
Soon after becoming C.I.A. director, William J. Burns removed the head of the Office of Medical Services, replacing him with a physician focused on patient care.
Mr. Burns also made it easier for C.I.A. officers to see brain injury experts at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. In the statement, Ms. Miller emphasized that the C.I.A. has taken steps to improve the health care provided to officers who have reported Havana syndrome symptoms.
“As we learn from the past and look to the future, we have expanded access to care and resources significantly over the past year and a half,” she said.
Many experts who have studied brain scans of victims are convinced that at least some of the incidents were caused by directed energy or radio waves.
But calls by the C.I.A., the State Department and the Pentagon early in the Biden administration for government officials to report possible incidents yielded hundreds of reports, most of which turned out to be explained by environmental causes or undiagnosed medical conditions.
The C.I.A. has been investigating the incidents with a new team of officers since Mr. Burns took over. While some victims believe the incidents were caused by a foreign power, the C.I.A. investigators have not found any evidence to support that conclusion.
Some individual incidents could have been the result of hostile action or a listening device turned into a weapon, but no single adversary appears to be responsible for the various incidents around the world, according to government officials.
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Source: nytimes.com
