Havana syndrome, an alleged malady that purportedly affects U.S. intelligence and military officials, is back in the news thanks to an investigative report by 60 Minutes. The report was accompanied by a big, splashy headline: “Russian nexus revealed during 60 Minutes Havana Syndrome investigation into potential attacks on U.S. officials.” That’s right: CBS has decided that the mysterious ailments—headaches, earaches, etc.—afflicting some American service personnel are perhaps explained by a secretive Russian program to create energy weapons.
The 60 Minutes report begins by interviewing “Carrie,” an FBI agent who claims that she was struck by just such an energy weapon while at home in Florida. Host Scott Pelley, providing narrative voiceover, explains that in order to protect her identity, CBS is redacting her full name and disguising her appearance.
As pointed out by numerous commentators (as well as BuzzFeed), Carrie’s “disguise” is hilariously inadequate and will not protect her identity in any meaningful way. What was 60 Minutes thinking?
But this is hardly the only thing wrong with the report, which combines breathless alarmism about foreign malfeasance with a healthy dose of outright science fiction—energy beams!—in order to advance the mainstream media’s favorite James Bond–esque narrative: Everything is Russia’s fault.
“The one thread common among most if not all of my clients,” Mark Zaid, an attorney who represents alleged Havana syndrome victims, told 60 Minutes, “is that they were all doing something relating to Russia.”
Hellbound and Down 