Share this page!

Olivia Gazis Profile picture
Twitter logo
14 Oct, 5 tweets, 2 min read
NEW: Lawmakers are urging the Secretary of State to take immediate action in response to proliferating reports of "Havana Syndrome," calling cases of the mysterious neurological condition "a significant, unmitigated threat to our national security."

cbsnews.com/news/havana-sy…
The letter, from a bipartisan group of top senators, follows dozens of new reports of suspected cases in Colombia, Austria, Germany, Vietnam and other countries. In several instances, the incidents have occurred with startling proximity to senior US officials traveling overseas.
Issued by @SenatorShaheen, @SenatorRisch, @SenatorMenendez and 8 others on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the letter to Blinken comes amid growing criticism by victims and other observers that the State Department's handling of the incidents has lacked focus and urgency.
"We believe this threat deserves the highest level of attention from the State Department, and remain concerned that the State Department is not treating this crisis with the requisite senior-level attention that it requires," the senators wrote.
Lawmakers called on Blinken to "immediately" appoint a senior-level official to replace Pamela Spratlen, a former ambassador who had been leading the Department's task force on the incidents - "Critically, this post must be a senior-level official that reports directly to you."

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Olivia Gazis

Olivia Gazis Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Olivia_Gazis

Olivia Gazis Profile picture
8 Oct
The bill authorizes funds to support US officials from the CIA & State Department who have suffered brain injuries from the mysterious health ailment known as 'Havana Syndrome.'

Signing comes amid unrelenting new reports of suspected cases by American officers around the world.
“As we continue our efforts to support victims, we must also redouble our whole-of-government approach to identify and stop the heartless adversary who is harming U.S. personnel,” said @SenatorCollins, lead author of the Senate’s bill: Image
House Intelligence Committee Chairman @RepAdamSchiff, who sponsored the House’s bill, also says U.S. must “ensure anyone responsible for injuring our people is held to account” - Image
Read 4 tweets
Olivia Gazis Profile picture
27 Sep
In a moderated conversation at @FIU today Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the intelligence community had completed a National Intelligence Estimate on climate
and would produce an unclassified version “in the coming weeks.”
Climate is “quite relevant to our national security landscape,” DNI Haines said.
Asked about domestic violent extremism, Haines said “the line between domestic and international is collapsing, or has collapsed…it’s very challenging to present a threat picture that doesn’t take into account both what’s happening domestically and internationally.”
Read 8 tweets
Olivia Gazis Profile picture
14 Apr
Happening now: Leaders of ODNI, CIA, NSA, DIA and FBI offer public testimony at
the Worldwide Threats Hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence -

Livestream: intelligence.senate.gov/hearings/open-…
Chairman @MarkWarner registers 'dismay' that this hearing did not happen last year - for the first time since 1994 - after then-DNI Ratcliffe refused to engage in public Q&A.
On the docket, Warner says, is how agencies have contended with COVID-19 - including vaccinating its personnel - plus cybersecurity, election security, domestic violent extremism and the Chinese Communist Party
Read 35 tweets
Olivia Gazis Profile picture
13 Apr
The NSA says it recently discovered "a series of critical vulnerabilities" in Microsoft Exchange and disclosed them to Microsoft, which today released a patch.
"NSA values partnership in the cybersecurity community," an NSA spokesperson said. "We are continuing the partnership by urging application of the patches immediately."
New @NSACyber Director @RGB_Lights: "Cybersecurity is national security. Network defenders now have the knowledge needed to act, but so do adversaries and malicious cyber actors. Don't give them the opportunity to exploit this vulnerability on your system."
Read 6 tweets
Olivia Gazis Profile picture
13 Apr
A senior administration official said this is not a conditions-based approach, telling @margbrennan POTUS has deemed that to be "a recipe for staying in Afghanistan forever." United States will remove its forces from Afghanistan "before September 11," SAO said.
The official said the decision is also reflective of the need to address a "global threat picture as it exists today, not as it was two decades ago."
SAO: "This is not 2001; it is 2021. And in 2021, the terrorist threat that we face is real and it emanates from a number of countries, indeed a number of continents....And we have to focus on those aspects of a dispersed and distributed terrorist threat"
Read 4 tweets
Olivia Gazis Profile picture
13 Apr
New: The U.S. intelligence community is warning in its Annual Threat Assessment of a “diverse array” of global threats that could further destabilize a world shaken by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, technological change and interstate competition:

dni.gov/files/ODNI/doc…
The 27pg document contains the collective view of the country’s 18 intel agencies; it said “the potential for cascading events in an increasingly interconnected & mobile world” would create new challenges, as adversaries jockey for influence & climate change heightens instability
It said China, Russia, Iran and North Korea would seek to challenge U.S. interests in different arenas and on multiple levels, and that transnational crime, cyber attacks and terrorist plots posed continued threats. Domestic violent extremists will pose an “elevated threat.”
Read 8 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @Olivia_Gazis has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @Olivia_Gazis!

Read all threads by @Olivia_Gazis

:(