Thread by @MarkSZaidEsq

1/Let me explain why we should not use term #HavanaSyndrome to describe #UnidentifiedHealthIncidents (UHI).

I have been working these cases for nearly a decade. I rep victims from @StateDept, @DeptofDefense, @CommerceGov & @CIA.

Using Havana Syndrome undermines our efforts.

2/First, I get it. Media likes a simple term to fit all examples. They don't know how else to describe what has been happening.

Respectfully, not a good enough reason.

3/These cases started LONG before Havana, Cuba in 2016. Evidence exists tracking back these symptoms & incidents 50 years. My first client #MichaelBeck, @NSAGov employee, was impacted in 1996.

washingtonpost.com/local/was-a-sp…

4/In fact, @NSAGov admitted to me in writing back in 2014 that it knew of intelligence from 2012 abt these incidents. Here is the memo they gave me.

We know @CIA has classified info from 1980s & 1990s without doubt.

5/These purported @CIA kodachrome slides, which appear to date abt 1970, clearly show use of InfraRed & Microwave technology, for purposes unknown, was something they were investigating.

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8/No one I know - NO ONE - believes #Cuba was responsible for 2016 incidents. Havana was just location. Just like w/China, Russia, Colombia, Australia, England, Poland, Austria, Vietnam & list goes on.

This issue has significantly damaged our relations w/Cuba for no good reason.

9/Are we pulling our diplomats from any other country other than Cuba because of these incidents? No, we have not. Do we blame these other countries? No, we have not.

Even those we believe to be responsible - #Russia.

10/Personally, I find it disrespectful to all those victims who were injured prior to 2016 or elsewhere other than #Havana to tell them they suffer from #HavanaSyndrome.

And on that point.

11/No one publicly knows at this point whether what happened in Cuba is same as Russia, Vietnam, Austria, Colombia, Poland, England, etc.

Same technology? Weapon? Perpetrator? Each could be different. Depends on timing, location & many other factors.

12/Plus, saying #HavanaSyndrome places everyone in same basket. Assumes same symptoms/impact. And we can't do that. Ppl respond differently based on their own physiologies & medical history. Duration could be different. Intensity could be different. Reaction could be different.

13/We do victims a great disservice by saying they are all the same when we have no evidence other than similarities between symptoms.

The flu looks like COVID. Even suffering from inhalational anthrax (deadly) initially mimics flu symptoms. A similar symptom is not an answer.

END/I wish there was better name to use but until we know more, these incidents/attacks should be appropriately called #UnidentifiedHealthIncidents (UHI) so that we are not distracted by geo-politics & bias in determining the truth of what has been happening.

npr.org/transcripts/10…