U.S. officials disclosed earlier this month that six Americans were struck by a mystery illness believed to be caused by a covert sonic device in what many think was a clandestine operation targeting U.S. personnel stationed in the communist country.
The number of Americans impacted is greater than previously disclosed, according to multiple U.S. officials who told the Free Beacon that those suffering from symptoms of sonic damage appears to be more than 10.
"It's definitely in the double digits," one source told the Free Beacon.
Other Western diplomats, including the poster boys (and girls) for polite, responsible (dare I say nuanced?) foreign policy sensitivity--Canada--have suffered, too. The results include severe hearing loss.
I know. You're thinking, "How is this possible when you consider that President Obama reset our relations with Cuba? They should be well on the road to our bestest buddies by now!"
No less than Tom Hanks supported normalization with Cuba under the amazing logic that "what we were doing (sanctions) wasn't working" so normalization was the only alternative!
He didn't explain why even if the former was true why normalization with a thug communist regime was the only alternative.
Left undefined was what wasn't working, too, of course. If you mean American sanctions hadn't turned Cuba into a version of Vermont, that is true.
But if you mean the policy kept Cuba too poor to be a threat to America after losing Soviet financial support, the idea that the policy wasn't working is nonsense.
If you mean the policy showed our support for dissidents who hope for freedom and democracy in Cuba one day, the idea that the policy wasn't working is nonsense.
If you mean the policy avoided having America's productive system subsidize that cesspool of misery and despotism after losing Soviet and then Venezuelan financial backing, the idea that the policy wasn't working is nonsense.
But no matter! Reset! Legacy! Nuance! But get your poverty/despotism tourism in now before integration and prosperity ruin the Caribbean Communism Experience with Starbucks and KFC!
Well, that is no threat any time soon. Venezuela was open to the world and rich with oil yet still managed to muck things up with socialism. What were the communists in Cuba going to do, eh?
Of course, Cuba's rulers only wanted enough money to keep their racket going--not to spread prosperity to Cubans. So reset was fine for their objectives.
Cuba might not be behind the attacks on our people. It might be one of Cuba's rogue pals with office space in Havana. But Cuba allowed the attacks to take place, at the very least.
Cuba must pay a price for this outrage.
