UPDATE: State Dept. Still Stumped Over 'Sonic Attacks' in Cuba
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UPDATE - January 9, 2018: More than a year after American diplomats in Cuba suffered hearing loss and dizziness from a mysterious "sonic attack," State Department officials told Congress on Tuesday they still don't know the cause.
Todd Brown, Diplomatic Security Assistant Director for International Programs at the State Department, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
"I'm not claiming that it's acoustic. I just know there's been an acoustic element associated with the sensations and the feelings."
Brown's comments were in response to a new FBI report that doubts a "sonic attack" is responsible.
Still, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the Associated Press that he's not sending U.S. diplomats back to Cuba until the mystery is solved.
"I'd be intentionally putting them back in harm's way. Why in the world would I do that when I have no means whatsoever to protect them?"
Read Countable's original story below.
Cicadas Behind Cuba ‘Sonic Attacks’?
What’s the story?
In September, the U.S. pulled the majority of its diplomats from Cuba after the staff complained of hearing loss and concussions from a "sonic attack."
Now, Havana officials are blaming the noise on boisterous bugs.
In a television special that aired in Cuba on Sunday titled "Alleged Sonic Attacks," Lt. Col. Juan Carlos Molina, a Havana government expert, told the audience:
"We compared the spectrums of the sounds and evidently this common sound is very similar to the sound of a cicada."
The half-hour, prime-time special claimed that sufficiently loud cicada and cricket chirps can "produce hearing loss, irritation and hypertension in situations of prolonged exposure."
Why does it matter?
Washington has never formally blamed Havana for the sonic attacks that left at least 22 U.S. diplomatic staff ill or injured with hearing loss, dizziness, and headaches. However, in mid-October President Donald Trump said that he holds Cuba responsible for the attacks, and believes their government could end them.
As Quartz explained, "U.S. investigators suspected the cause was a sonic weapon broadcasting noise above audible frequencies, but have not said more. The plot thickened this summer as Canadian diplomats, who traditionally maintain better relations with Cuba than their U.S. counterparts, also complained of sonic attacks and similar symptoms."
This past weekend, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called allegations of "the so-called sonic attacks…totally false."
"[It’s] political manipulation aimed at damaging bilateral relations, "Rodriguez said.
U.S. authorities have released a sample of the alleged sonic attack:
The Cubans have said that by analyzing this sound, they were able to discover that the noise is the drumming and chirping of cicadas and crickets.
According to the AP, the narrator of the "Alleged Sonic Attacks" program “said that unnamed ‘North American researchers’ had found that some cicada and cricket noises could be louder than 90-95 decibels, enough to produce hearing loss, irritation and hypertension in situations of prolonged exposure.”
What do you think?
Were the sonic attacks actually just vociferous insects? Or did they originate from a sonic weapon? Should the U.S. formally accuse Cuba? Hit Take Action, tell you reps, then share your thoughts — and guesses about the sound — below.
— Josh Herman
Related Reading
Should Visas be Available for Cubans to Play Baseball in the U.S.?
Fidel Castro’s Death: What Does It Mean for U.S.-Cuba Relations?
(Photo Credit: emptyclouds / iStockphoto)
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