https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/russia-is-attacking-americans-time-to-attack-back
May 12, 2021
Suspicion is growing within the intelligence community
and on Capitol Hill that Russia is
conducting vicious attacks against Americans. Namely, as the Washington
Examiner reported, intelligence is
looking at focused radio frequency attacks ("microwave attacks")
against the nervous systems of U.S. government personnel serving in foreign
policy or national security roles.
National security insiders believe these attacks were
first tested in 1996, when two National Security Agency officers visited Russia
on business. After returning home, both men suffered early onset Parkinson’s
disease, with one dying in 2013. The microwave weapon issue took on added
weight in late 2016, when State Department and CIA officials assigned to the
newly reopened Embassy in Havana, Cuba, reported strange symptoms. These
included ringing in ears, nausea, balance issues, and even nose bleeds. Similar
incidents have been reported by U.S. personnel across the world since 2016,
including in Eastern Europe, China, and even
Washington, D.C.
President Joe Biden and his
newly appointed national security team have pledged to make the issue a top
priority. This represents a welcome shift from the Trump administration, which
seemed only to focus on a desire for the concern to go away. A notable
exception was the record of former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, who
pushed for much greater action in support and defense of affected U.S.
personnel.
Congressional Republicans have an important role to
play going forward. Following the lead of Marco Rubio, the vice chairman of the
Senate Intelligence Committee, Republicans should demand regular updates from
the intelligence community and Biden’s senior officials. They should focus on
three key concerns.
First, ensure that Americans who have suffered from
these suspected attacks receive the support they need.
Second, Republicans must keep up the pressure on the
intelligence community to figure out who is carrying out these attacks, how,
and to what end. There is a risk that Democratic political appointees might
attempt to underplay or sideline these attacks in an effort to avoid forcing
the Biden administration into difficult choices.
Third, and as an extension of the second point, if and
when Russia is attributed as being responsible, Republicans must demand a
decisive response.
In these circumstances, it would be utterly
insufficient for the Biden administration simply to expel a few Russian
intelligence officers or sanction a few more officials in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. Yet, considering Biden’s recent push for a summit with
the Russian leader, it is possible that his preelection get-tough-on-Putin
rhetoric might be paper-thin.
Republicans ought to demand a more commensurate
response, including the sanctioning of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline and the
expulsion of the Russian ambassador. Covert action to confront and disrupt
those carrying out these attacks is a must. This may seem like an overreaction,
but if Russia is indeed carrying out these assaults, their seriousness and
scale might reasonably see them described as acts of war.
Republicans might now be in the minority, but with
Americans seemingly under sustained attack, their oversight duty is clear.
