Secretariat
09-12-2006, 05:47 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060912/ap_on_he_me/gulf_war_illness
"VA study doubts Gulf War syndrome
By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 45 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The unexplained symptoms that afflict thousands of Gulf War veterans don't constitute a single illness, a federally funded study concludes.
Even though U.S. and foreign veterans of the 1991 war report more symptoms of illness than do soldiers who didn't serve in the Persian Gulf, there is no such thing as Gulf War syndrome, according to the Veterans Affairs-sponsored report released Tuesday.
Nearly 30 percent of all those who served in the brief war have reported problems."
Now, since JR wants me to comment on this I will.
I really don't know what to make of it, except one thing bothers me as reported by a veteran alleging he is among the 30% with Gulf War Syndrome.
Here is his contention:
"The direct relationship between the Anthrax shots of today and the “cocktail” of yesterday is deeply troubling,.
“During late 1995, devastating new evidence on Gulf War Syndrome was released, providing undeniable hard scientific proof for those who have long suspected that Gulf veterans are suffering short and long-term effects of unproven anti-bacteriological warfare inoculations and anti-nerve gas tablets, forcibly administered by U.S. Army doctors in Saudi Arabia.
With thousands of U.S. veterans suffering from Gulf War Syndrome, it came as no surprise to learn in October 1995 that several hundred British veterans were suffering in the same way, with three to five new cases being reported every week. Like their U.S. counterparts, most were puzzled by the origins of the disease, which they initially attributed to oil-laden smoke in Kuwait, toxic dust from depleted uranium rounds fired by U.S. weapons, and possible contamination from expended Iraqi chemical shells in the area, fired before the Gulf War commenced.
In a startling break with tradition, one British military doctor stated that in her view, 99% of the problems could be sourced back to the anti-bacteriological warfare "cocktail" inoculations, and anti-nerve gas tablets forcibly administered to military personnel in the Gulf region at that time. In an October 1995 broadcast of the ITN TV World News from London, she further explained that all British military personnel had been provided with the same untested and unproven drugs as the Americans, from U.S. medical sources. To reinforce the point, the doctor explained that the number of British personnel suffering symptoms correlated exactly on a per capita basis with U.S. personnel. It was a controversial claim, but apparently lacking in substance.
Shattering confirmation came eleven hours later, when Australian Channel 10 television carried exactly the same story at 5 p.m., but with an extra piece tagged onto the end. The extra piece claimed that French military personnel in the Gulf region, numbering the same as the British contingent, had been prevented from taking the "cocktails" and tablets on the direct orders of the French Commander-in-Chief. The story claimed that since the end of the Gulf War, not a single member of the French military has suffered from Gulf War Syndrome, or reported any of its symptoms. One hour later at 6 p.m. when the other Australian television networks ran their news broadcasts, the awesome story with its stunning proof had vanished from sight. Nor was it reported in the Australian newspapers.
For any scientist or veteran, the fact that the French should be completely clear of Gulf War Syndrome while the Americans and British suffered huge numbers of cases verified on a direct per capita basis, has huge and horrifying implications. After all, the French ate the same food, drank the same water, breathed the same air and trudged through hundreds of miles of the same desert. They also fired similar weapons at similar targets.
So what were the additional factors that made the French unique in their ability to completely withstand the deadly Gulf War Syndrome? The truth is there were none at all, save for the experimental American "cocktail" inoculations and nerve gas tablets. What the French had done, almost by accident, was provide hard scientific proof of the direct cause of Gulf War Syndrome. This proof took the form of its large 25,000-strong contingent of French servicemen participating n the Gulf War, who in all respects constituted a valid medical “control group”.
In an attempt to confirm this vital though very short-lived Gulf War Syndrome data, the author contacted the French Military Attaché in Australia and inquired if it was correct that the French Commander-in-Chief forbade his own personnel the untested substances. The Military Attaché was happy to confirm this, and also confirmed that not one French soldier or airman has suffered since the end of the Gulf War. It seemed to be a subject of which he was very proud, and rightly so. Perhaps it is time for U.S. and British veterans to confirm the same points with their local French consulates, before taking a very hefty legal swing at their own governments.”
Proportionately speaking, the same number of “French Control Group” troops were present when Kamisiyah was bombed and finally demolished, but not one of them suffered or even reported any of the effects of “Gulf War Syndrome”. And before you ask, yes, the French did indeed trudge wearily through the same areas of southern Iraq littered with depleted uranium 238 as the Americans and British. But still there is absolutely no trace of Gulf War Syndrome in any French soldier. "
...
"VA study doubts Gulf War syndrome
By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 45 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The unexplained symptoms that afflict thousands of Gulf War veterans don't constitute a single illness, a federally funded study concludes.
Even though U.S. and foreign veterans of the 1991 war report more symptoms of illness than do soldiers who didn't serve in the Persian Gulf, there is no such thing as Gulf War syndrome, according to the Veterans Affairs-sponsored report released Tuesday.
Nearly 30 percent of all those who served in the brief war have reported problems."
Now, since JR wants me to comment on this I will.
I really don't know what to make of it, except one thing bothers me as reported by a veteran alleging he is among the 30% with Gulf War Syndrome.
Here is his contention:
"The direct relationship between the Anthrax shots of today and the “cocktail” of yesterday is deeply troubling,.
“During late 1995, devastating new evidence on Gulf War Syndrome was released, providing undeniable hard scientific proof for those who have long suspected that Gulf veterans are suffering short and long-term effects of unproven anti-bacteriological warfare inoculations and anti-nerve gas tablets, forcibly administered by U.S. Army doctors in Saudi Arabia.
With thousands of U.S. veterans suffering from Gulf War Syndrome, it came as no surprise to learn in October 1995 that several hundred British veterans were suffering in the same way, with three to five new cases being reported every week. Like their U.S. counterparts, most were puzzled by the origins of the disease, which they initially attributed to oil-laden smoke in Kuwait, toxic dust from depleted uranium rounds fired by U.S. weapons, and possible contamination from expended Iraqi chemical shells in the area, fired before the Gulf War commenced.
In a startling break with tradition, one British military doctor stated that in her view, 99% of the problems could be sourced back to the anti-bacteriological warfare "cocktail" inoculations, and anti-nerve gas tablets forcibly administered to military personnel in the Gulf region at that time. In an October 1995 broadcast of the ITN TV World News from London, she further explained that all British military personnel had been provided with the same untested and unproven drugs as the Americans, from U.S. medical sources. To reinforce the point, the doctor explained that the number of British personnel suffering symptoms correlated exactly on a per capita basis with U.S. personnel. It was a controversial claim, but apparently lacking in substance.
Shattering confirmation came eleven hours later, when Australian Channel 10 television carried exactly the same story at 5 p.m., but with an extra piece tagged onto the end. The extra piece claimed that French military personnel in the Gulf region, numbering the same as the British contingent, had been prevented from taking the "cocktails" and tablets on the direct orders of the French Commander-in-Chief. The story claimed that since the end of the Gulf War, not a single member of the French military has suffered from Gulf War Syndrome, or reported any of its symptoms. One hour later at 6 p.m. when the other Australian television networks ran their news broadcasts, the awesome story with its stunning proof had vanished from sight. Nor was it reported in the Australian newspapers.
For any scientist or veteran, the fact that the French should be completely clear of Gulf War Syndrome while the Americans and British suffered huge numbers of cases verified on a direct per capita basis, has huge and horrifying implications. After all, the French ate the same food, drank the same water, breathed the same air and trudged through hundreds of miles of the same desert. They also fired similar weapons at similar targets.
So what were the additional factors that made the French unique in their ability to completely withstand the deadly Gulf War Syndrome? The truth is there were none at all, save for the experimental American "cocktail" inoculations and nerve gas tablets. What the French had done, almost by accident, was provide hard scientific proof of the direct cause of Gulf War Syndrome. This proof took the form of its large 25,000-strong contingent of French servicemen participating n the Gulf War, who in all respects constituted a valid medical “control group”.
In an attempt to confirm this vital though very short-lived Gulf War Syndrome data, the author contacted the French Military Attaché in Australia and inquired if it was correct that the French Commander-in-Chief forbade his own personnel the untested substances. The Military Attaché was happy to confirm this, and also confirmed that not one French soldier or airman has suffered since the end of the Gulf War. It seemed to be a subject of which he was very proud, and rightly so. Perhaps it is time for U.S. and British veterans to confirm the same points with their local French consulates, before taking a very hefty legal swing at their own governments.”
Proportionately speaking, the same number of “French Control Group” troops were present when Kamisiyah was bombed and finally demolished, but not one of them suffered or even reported any of the effects of “Gulf War Syndrome”. And before you ask, yes, the French did indeed trudge wearily through the same areas of southern Iraq littered with depleted uranium 238 as the Americans and British. But still there is absolutely no trace of Gulf War Syndrome in any French soldier. "
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