U.S. diplomat calls on Biden to investigate ‘sonic attacks’ before revising Trump Cuba policy

Mating crickets and mass hysteria?

From our Bureau of Sonic Attacks and Other Weapons of Mass Hysteria

Kimberly Breier has given Jar-Jar Biden some great advice in an opinion piece published in Politico.

She served on the Policy Planning Staff at the State Department from June 2017-October 2018, when she was confirmed as assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs. She is also a former U.S. intelligence officer.

She knows what she’s talking about.

Here’s an abridgment of her essay. Full essay HERE.

Kimberly Brier

Biden’s No. 1 Task in Cuba? Find Out What Happened in Havana

We still don’t know exactly how 26 American diplomats were injured in Havana in 2016 and 2017. But the evidence suggests Cuba at minimum failed to protect them.

With President Joe Biden in the White House, Democratic lawmakers and Washington think tankers are bustling with ideas about how the United States might ease economic pressure against the Cuban regime. While the new administration has said U.S. policy toward Cuba is currently under review, Biden promised during the presidential campaign to reverse Donald Trump’s policies toward Cuba and return “in large part” to the level of engagement under his former boss, President Barack Obama, who took the step of normalizing relations with Havana….

[Several paragraphs follow in which the full extent of the injuries sustained by American diplomats is described, along with descriptions of the medical studies that have proven the injuries. This is followed by an assessment of the Castro regime’s responsibility for these attacks, even in the case of some third-party involvement.].

So, what should the new U.S. administration do now? The Biden administration recently signaled a continued focus on the Havana attacks by appointing a high-level coordinator in the State Department, mirroring the Trump administration’s tapping the deputy secretary of State to be the lead official coordinating the response.This is a good first step, but it is not sufficient. Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers are urging the new president to lift restrictions on Cuban travel and remittances, as well as the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba. These calls demand nothing in return from the Cuban government—neither progress on human rights and democracy nor the cessation of support for the Maduro dictatorship in Venezuela, much less answers to how at least 26 Americans were injured in Havana.

Cuba almost certainly has information about the tools and method of attacks that could help the United States protect its personnel around the world. The United States should not ease economic pressure until that information is shared. If the new administration were to do so without first holding Cuba to account for the attacks, this would send the message that U.S. diplomats all over the world are fair game. The implication would be that there is no cost for injuring Americans, and in fact doing so wins you U.S. tourism and dollars.

The Biden administration has signaled that it will use a variety of strategies to hold other countries to account for their actions. The United States recently sanctioned Russian officials for the poisoning of a Russian opposition leader, for example, and launched airstrikes after rocket attacks against the U.S. facilities in Iraq. The administration must send a clear message that attacking or facilitating attacks on U.S. diplomats is not acceptable either. Accountability for the injuries of these 26 Americans must begin where the attacks started, in Havana.

1 thought on “U.S. diplomat calls on Biden to investigate ‘sonic attacks’ before revising Trump Cuba policy”

  1. I hate to remind you, Carlos, but WE know what we’re talking about, and what difference does it make?

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