Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2000 14:13:44 -0800

Panel finds Pentagon 'diligent' on Gulf War illness issue

'It's a whitewash,' veterans advocate says

December 21, 2000

Web posted at: 2:42 a.m. EST (0742 GMT)

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In this story:

Stress a 'primary cause of illness'

Board lacked independence, member says

Veterans' groups to continue fight

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WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon worked "diligently" and did not cover anything up in investigating Gulf War illness, a presidential panel concluded in a report called "a whitewash" by the head of a veterans' group.

The 90-page report released Wednesday details 30 months of work by the board President Clinton ordered to oversee Pentagon investigations of illnesses reported by thousands of vets from the war. Gulf war illness -- a series of veterans' ailments -- remains unexplained 10 years after the war.

MESSAGE BOARD

The U.S. military

The board concluded that the Defense Department has "worked diligently to fulfill the president's directive to 'leave no stone unturned' in investigating possible causes" for illnesses, which include memory loss, nervous system disorders, headaches, joint pains and chronic fatigue.

It also found the department "made no effort to deliberately withhold information," an allegation among critics who believe the Pentagon is hiding data about Iraqi chemical warfare agents or other toxins veterans may have been exposed to while serving.

"On the contrary, DOD has made an extraordinary effort to publicize its findings through the publication of reports and newsletters, public outreach meetings, briefings to veterans," a website and so on, said the Presidential Special Oversight Board for Department of Defense Investigations of Gulf War Chemical and Biological Incidents.

The board repeated the main theme of all Pentagon findings so far -- one that has frustrated veteran groups and contributed to suspicions of a cover-up: "To date, research has not validated any specific cause of these illnesses." It said research must continue.

An estimated $300 million has been spent and scores of studies have looked into such possible culprits as Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, service members' vaccinations, oil well fires, anti-nerve agent tablets taken by troops, desert sand and stress.

Stress a 'primary cause of illness'

"The board concludes that stress is likely a primary cause of illness in at least some Gulf War veterans," the report said.

"It is likely a secondary factor in (making possible) other causes of undiagnosed illnesses among some Gulf War veterans," it added.

The board acknowledged that owing to misunderstanding "an unfortunate reluctance" exists among the American public, some members of Congress and veterans themselves "to recognize the impact that stress can have on an individual."

But the board asserted that "stress can lead to genuine illnesses ... The symptoms are indeed real; they are not imagined and they are not 'all in the head.'"

During the Gulf War, the board said American military felt stress from being in the war zone; coming under fire; enduring the perception of a threat from biological or chemical warfare; coming into direct contact with smoke from Kuwait oil well fires or using insect repellent on a regular basis; working under adverse conditions; and struggling with family issues (like divorce, death, severe illness) far from home.

The board urged that combat stress be investigated by the private Washington-based Institute of Medicine "with the same academic and scientific rigor that was used to evaluate other Gulf War exposures whose investigation Congress mandated."

It found that department assessments regarding environmental exposures were consistent with "available evidence."

"Available evidence does not support claims that depleted uranium caused or is causing the undiagnosed illnesses (or diagnosed illnesses) from which some Gulf War veterans still suffer," the board said.

It also agreed with a previous report that special camouflage paint posed a health hazard only to about 200 personnel who participated in spray-painting operations.

Finally, the board found that contaminant concentrations in smoke caused by oil well fires in Kuwait "were below those known to cause short or long-term health effects."

It did recommend, however, that ongoing research must be completed before there is a final determination on oil well fires.

Board lacked independence, one member says

One of the board's seven members, immunologist Dr. Vinh Cam, dissented with the report in a three-page letter. An immunologist, Cam charged that the board -- largely retired military brass -- lacked independence from the Pentagon office it was overseeing, the Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses. She also said it had no authority to suggest that stress be studied further as a possible cause.

"At times (the board) acted more like an extension of OSAGWI," Cam wrote in her dissenting letter.

"It's a whitewash -- exactly the kind of whitewash we were expecting," said Pat Eddington of the advocacy group National Gulf War Resource Center, criticizing what he called the board's "cozy relationship with the Pentagon."

In a 1997 lawsuit still pending in federal court, Eddington is seeking thousands of pages of Pentagon and CIA documents he says could contain information on Iraqi chemical and biological weapons and other information relating to troop health.

Wednesday's report is the final one by the oversight board, which goes out of business this month.

Veterans' groups to continue fight

Steve Smithson of the American Legion said veterans' organizations will continue to push for better medical treatment and compensation for the sick.

"I'm not going to say there was a cover-up, but there have been problems," Smithson said. "Ten years later we still don't know any more, and in the meantime people out there are sick."

He noted that it was several years before the Pentagon acknowledged troops had been exposed to nerve gas when they blew up an Iraqi weapons stockpile in March 1991 at Khamisiyah.

Wednesday's report said that Khamisiyah remains "the only known potential exposure" of troops to chemical warfare agents. Officials have said about 100,000 troops were likely exposed to sarin and cyclosarin nerve gases but that the exposure was too low to cause health problems.

Officials have said that of the 700,000 troops who served in the Persian Gulf War some 100,000 have registered with the Pentagon or Veterans Affairs Department for free exams to look into unexplained illnesses. The two agencies have said about 20,000 of those were found to be ill.

Smithson said his group will work this year for changes in the VA system. So far, only 3,000 veterans have been compensated.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.