神秘的健康白宫周五首次证实,影响全球数十名美国人员的事件也发生在美国境内。
这种疾病的源头,后来被称为“哈瓦那综合症”第一组病例在美国大使馆古巴,还不得而知。但是来自国会的压力越来越大,要求找出是什么影响了这么多美国外交官、间谍和其他官员,以及幕后黑手是谁或什么。
“此时此刻,我们不知道这些事件的原因,这些事件在性质上是有限的,其中绝大多数都是在海外报道的,”白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)在承认美国新报道的案件时说。
美国国家安全委员会(National Security Council)发言人向美国广播公司(ABC News)证实,拜登政府已经启动了对美国情报的审查,以确定是否有其他以前未报告的病例,以及是否存在“更广泛的模式”。
undefined更多:美国对古巴外交官脑损伤的拙劣的初步反应:解密报告
美国国会消息人士向美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)证实,上个月,美国国防官员向参议院和众议院军事委员会(House Armed Services Committees)的议员介绍了几起此前未报告的美国人员在据称暴露后生病的事件。
数十名美国人被诊断出一系列症状,包括创伤性脑损伤,其中一些人描述了奇怪的经历,如奇怪的噪音和感觉。美国政府已经承认了古巴、中国、乌兹别克斯坦和俄罗斯的病例,但现在也有其他国家的媒体报道。
自2016年哈瓦那大使馆报告首批病例以来,这个问题一直困扰着美国官员。虽然还没有明确的答案,但是国家科学院在12月发布报告受国务院委托,得出结论,最有可能的来源是“定向脉冲射频能量”
据《GQ》杂志、美国有线电视新闻网和其他媒体报道,在可能的新病例中,华盛顿地区也有至少两起事件。美国广播公司新闻尚未独立核实这些报道。
“这种攻击为我们政府服务的同胞的模式似乎在增加,”参议院情报委员会的民主党和共和党高层、弗吉尼亚州的马克·华纳说马尔科·卢比奥上周在一份声明中警告说。
华纳和鲁比奥称赞乔·拜登总统的中央情报局局长比尔·伯恩斯“重新关注这些袭击”,而其他议员则公开对行政部门的回应感到愤怒。
在上周的参议院听证会上,新罕布什尔州参议员珍妮·沙欣(Jeanne Shaheen)批评了美国情报界“对国会可用、公众可用的信息进行压制”。
沙欣说,这反过来导致越来越多的报道称,在不清楚这些事件是否与在古巴的美国人员发生的事情有关的情况下,发生了据称的事件。
“不清楚我们得到的信息是正确的还是不正确的,”她告诉国家情报局局长艾薇儿·海因斯。“马是从谷仓出来的。信息已经在那里了,我认为我们所有人都应该努力确保发布的信息是准确的,人们理解正在发生的事情。”
除了古巴,美国国务院此前在一份内部报告中承认了在中国、乌兹别克斯坦和一个国家发生的事件,该报告于2月份解密并发布。那个不为人知的国家可能是俄罗斯,一名前中情局官员说他在那里遭到袭击。
该官员马克·聚合罗普洛斯在3月份告诉美国广播公司新闻,他现在也在沃尔特·里德医疗中心接受创伤性脑损伤的治疗。
但是在报道了叙利亚可能发生的事件后,美国中央司令部的负责人说,他没有证据证明这是真的。
中央司令部司令弗兰克·麦肯齐(Frank McKenzie)今年4月对参议院一个小组表示,在包括叙利亚在内的中央司令部所在地区,“我没有发现这些袭击的证据”。在同一次听证会上,美国非洲司令部司令斯蒂芬·汤森将军补充说,他“在非洲也没有看到这种现象”。
一名执法人员否认了关于华盛顿地区一起事件的猜测,告诉美国广播公司新闻,“没有可信的证据支持这一点。”
一名发言人周五向美国广播公司证实,拜登的国家安全委员会目前正在对情报报告进行“全面审查,以确定是否有以前未报告的事件符合更广泛的模式”。
特朗普政府最初表示,受影响的人员遭受了“健康攻击”,但这位发言人补充说,这些事件是否是攻击,是否是外国演员的作品,仍在“积极调查”中。
White House acknowledges mysterious health attacks occurred in US, reviewing intel on incidents
The mysterioushealthincidents that have affected dozens of U.S. personnel around the globe have also occurred within the United States, the White House confirmed for the first time on Friday.
The source of the illnesses, known as "Havana syndrome" afterthe first cluster of casesat the U.S. Embassy inCuba, is still unknown. But there is growing pressure from Congress to figure out what has affected so many U.S. diplomats, spies and other officials -- and who or what is behind it.
"At this point, at this moment, we don't know the cause of these incidents, which are both limited in nature and the vast majority of which have been reported overseas," said White House press secretary Jen Psaki, acknowledging the newly reported cases in the U.S.
The Biden administration has launched a review of U.S. intelligence to determine if there are other previously unreported cases and if there is a "broader pattern," a National Security Council spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.
Last month, U.S. defense officials briefed lawmakers on the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on several previously unreported incidents of U.S. personnel falling sick after alleged exposures, congressional sources confirmed to ABC News.
Dozens of Americans have been diagnosed with a range of symptoms, including traumatic brain injuries, with several describing bizarre experiences like strange noises and sensations. The U.S. government has acknowledged cases in Cuba, China, Uzbekistan and Russia -- but there are media reports of other countries now, too.
The issue has vexed U.S. officials since 2016, when the first cases were reported at the embassy in Havana. While there's still no definitive answer, the National Academies of Science in Decemberissued a report, commissioned by the State Department, that concluded the most likely source is "directed, pulsed radio frequency energy."
Among the possible new cases are also reportedly at least two incidents in the Washington area, according to GQ magazine, CNN and others. ABC News has not independently verified those reports.
"This pattern of attacking our fellow citizens serving our government appears to be increasing," the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner of Virginia andMarco Rubioof Florida, warned in a statement last week.
While Warner and Rubio praised President Joe Biden's CIA director, Bill Burns, for his "renewed focus on these attacks," other lawmakers have become publicly exasperated with the executive branch's response.
During a Senate hearing last week, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., criticized the U.S. intelligence community's "clamp down on information that's available to Congress, that's available to the public."
That, in turn, has led to a growing number of reports of alleged incidents without clarity about whether or not they're related to what's happened to U.S. personnel in Cuba, Shaheen said.
"It's not clear whether the information we're getting is correct or incorrect," she told Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. "The horse is out of the barn on this. The information is already out there, and I think it behooves us all to try to make sure that the information that gets out is accurate and that people understand what's happening."
Beyond Cuba, the State Department has previously acknowledged incidents in China, Uzbekistan and one redacted country in an internal report that was declassified and released in February. That unknown country is likely Russia, where a former CIA official said he was attacked.
That official, Marc Polymeropoulos, told ABC News in March that he's now receiving treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center for a traumatic brain injury as well.
But after reports of possible incidents in Syria, the head of U.S. Central Command said he had no evidence that was true.
"I have found no evidence of those attacks" in CENTCOM's region, which includes Syria, Gen. Frank McKenzie, CENTCOM commander, told a Senate panel in April. During the same hearing, Gen. Stephen Townsend, head of U.S. Africa Command, added he's "not seen that phenomenon in Africa" either.
One law enforcement source dismissed speculation about one incident in the Washington area, telling ABC News, "There is no credible evidence to support this."
Biden's National Security Council is now conducting "a full review of intelligence reporting to ascertain whether there may be previously unreported incidents that fit a broader pattern," a spokesperson confirmed to ABC News Friday.
While the Trump administration initially said affected personnel had suffered "health attacks," the spokesperson added that whether the incidents are an attack and whether they're the work of a foreign actor are still under "active inquiry."