House lawmakers are proposing to create a commission to investigate debilitating brain-related injuries caused during incidents against U.S. government personnel posted abroad, known formally as anomalous health incidents. A section of the current House intelligence authorization bill now being debated would set up a National Security Commission on Anomalous Health Incidents.
The malady is suspected of being caused by some type of directed energy first detected against U.S. diplomats in Havana and thus became known as “Havana syndrome.” U.S. intelligence agencies have insisted that the incidents were not the result of hostile action, a claim that has angered victims who are convinced they have been targets of sonic weapons or other directed energy.
The American spy services concluded there is no indication that a hostile power is behind the incidents and blamed the brain injuries on unspecified environmental or personal mental problems.
The authorization language proposes that a new nine-member commission would be formed to comprehensively address the risks posed by the incidents and the U.S. government’s responses. The panel would also seek to determine the origin of the incidents, whether research indicates they were caused by “an external actor,” and the potential for “novel mechanisms” hostile states might use for such weapons against the United States.
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.
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