Gulf
war syndrome A powerful US investigation committee is holding a meeting in Westminster today where evidence is being heard on links between service people's illnesses and the Gulf war. Campaigners hope it could pressurise the government into holding a public inquiry. Mark Oliver looks at the background and issues around 'Gulf war syndrome' Tuesday June 18, 2002 What is happening today? The Observer reported at the weekend that compelling evidence that thousands of British troops who served during the Gulf war are dying prematurely and suffering debilitating illnesses because of exposure to a lethal cocktail of chemicals is to be put before a powerful commission of inquiry that is meeting today. The US Congressional Subcommittee on National Security is holding an unprecedented meeting in Westminster, where it will reportedly be claimed that there is now enough evidence to make a direct link between serving in the Gulf and physical and mental disability. What is believed to be causing the illness? Many of the men affected were involved in clean-up operations following Desert Storm in 1991. Illnesses among more than 5,000 British veterans will also be linked to powerful immunisation tablets given to soldiers to protect them from chemical attack, including anthrax, and the use of corrosive organophosphates to try to keep down disease. Campaigners for Gulf veterans hope that the hearing by the US Congressional subcommittee, one of the most powerful investigative bodies in America, will put the government under enough pressure to order a public inquiry into the illnesses, which are sometimes described as gulf war syndrome, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Ministry of Defence (MoD) doctors have denied in the past that there any Gulf war disease. What are the symptoms? A typical scenario, NGVFA says, is that the stress and illness leads many sufferers to lose their jobs, their relationships deteriorate and they lose their homes and then eventually take their own lives. The MoD says official statistics record just 97 suicides among Gulf veterans, which is slightly higher than the suicide rate in a similar group of soldiers who did not fight in the war. The NGVFA says some deaths that were recorded as accidental were actually suicides. How many British service people were in the Gulf? How many veterans have claims against the government over the
illness? Have claimants had any success? Who will be at today's hearing? The MoD will be present at the Congressional hearings but only as observers. Yesterday Mr Perot, a Texan oil billionaire who has funded research into the illness, told a Westminster press conference the UK was under an "enormous obligation" to investigate the syndrome. What evidence will be heard? Tomorrow the US representatives will give presentations to around 150 peers and MPs, outlining their views of the progress being made in the US to identify the causes of Gulf war illnesses. |
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