From the Archive: Journalist Reese Erlich on Sonic Weapons in Cuba and the War in Syria

Peter B. Collins

Author and foreign correspondent Reese Erlich has just revealed he is dying of cancer, in a candid and somewhat amusing last column. Here’s a 2018 interview where we talked about the alleged sonic weapons aimed at US diplomats and spies in Cuba, and his reporting on the war in Syria. Reese died on April 6, 2021.Learn more about Reese Erlich’s body of work here, including his books on Iraq (one co-authored with Norman Solomon), Cuba, Iran and Syria. You can find other PBC interviews at peterbcollins.com, enter “Erlich” in the search window.

Here’s the original text from the 2018 interview:

Reese Erlich is a journalist, author and syndicated columnist, who returns to update claims that US diplomats in Cuba were sickened by mysterious causes, possibly sonic weapons; and the latest evolution of the Syrian war. Erlich visited Cuba in January, and filed this report. In 2016 and early 2017, American diplomats in Havana reported strange illnesses, and amid speculation about sonic warfare, most of the Americans were withdrawn, and Cubans were sent home from Washington. After investigation by Cuban authorities, the FBI and others, Erlich concludes the story was “bullshit”.

Erlich’s most recent book, Inside Syria, is based on his original reporting from the region. Here, he comments on recent developments, including Israel’s loss of an F-16 after a raid into Syria on February 10, the US attack on Syrian forces near Minjab last week, and the escalating war by Turkey on Kurds along its border with Syria. You can read his recent column on Syria here.