INDEPENDENT PROBE URGED OF GULF WAR TOXIN CASES.Byline: Philip Shenon The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times A special White House panel has condemned con·demn tr.v. con·demned, con·demn·ing, con·demns 1. To express strong disapproval of: condemned the needless waste of food. 2. the Pentagon Pentagon Huge five-sided building (1941–43) in Arlington, Va., that is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense. Designed by George Edwin Bergstrom, it was, on its completion, the world's largest office building, covering 34 acres (14 hectares) and offering for its investigation into whether American troops were exposed to Iraqi chemical weapons in the 1991 Persian Gulf War Persian Gulf War or Gulf War (1990–91) International conflict triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. Though justified by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on grounds that Kuwait was historically part of Iraq, the invasion was presumed to be , and has called for an independent inquiry into more than 15 incidents in which nerve gas nerve gas, any of several poison gases intended for military use, e.g., tabun, sarin, soman, and VX. Nerve gases were first developed by Germany during World War II but were not used at that time. and other chemical agents were detected by American troops. In a draft of the final report, expected to be delivered to President Clinton next month, the panel said that the Pentagon had lost so much credibility on the issue that the new inquiries should be taken away from the Defense Department and given to outside investigators. The panel, the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, said that the Defense Department's investigation of chemical exposures in the Gulf War has ``severely undermined public confidence'' because it has ``lacked vigor VIGOR Internal medicine A clinical study–Vioxx GI Outcomes Report comparing a proprietary COX-2 inhibitor to standard NSAIDs , fallen short on investigative grounds and stretched credibility.'' ``The Department of Defense has conducted a superficial investigation of possible chemical warfare chemical warfare, employment in war of incendiaries, poison gases, and other chemical substances. Ancient armies attacking or defending fortified cities threw burning oil and fireballs. A primitive type of flamethrower was employed as early as the 5th cent. B.C. agent exposures,'' the report said, ``which is unlikely to provide credible answers to veterans' questions.'' The draft is the result of the most independent and far-reaching investigation of the actions of the Pentagon in dealing with the claims of American soldiers that they were exposed to clouds of Iraqi chemical or biological weapons in the war. The report, portions of which are still being rewritten, does not resolve the mystery of why tens of thousands of Gulf War veterans are ill. Members of the White House panel said they believed that while clusters of Gulf War veterans were exposed to Iraqi chemical weapons and some may be sick as a result, the evidence does not show that chemicals wafted over most of the soldiers who are now reporting ailments. ``Theater-wide contamination is highly unlikely,'' the report said. Copies of the draft were made available to The New York Times. The Defense Department, which has denied allegations that it has withheld information from Gulf War veterans about their health, said it would have no comment on the report until the president receives it. The committee, which includes several prominent doctors and scientists, concluded that there was ``overwhelming'' evidence that chemical weapons were released when American troops blew up a massive Iraqi ammunition depot near the southern Iraqi village of Kamisiyah in March 1991, shortly after the war. Thousands of American soldiers were deployed in the vicinity of the blast. ``The committee concludes that for nearby troops, exposure should be presumed,'' the report said. ``The releases at Kamisiyah suggest the need for a thorough investigation of other sites for which reliable detections exist or where information indicates C.W. agents could have been present.'' C.W. refers to chemical warfare. About 80,000 of the 700,000 American troops who served in the gulf have requested special medical examinations to determine whether they were made sick by their service. Many have complained of a variety of ailments, including digestive Ulcers (Digestive) Definition In general, an ulcer is any eroded area of skin or a mucous membrane, marked by tissue disintegration. In common usage, however, ulcer usually is used to refer to disorders in the upper digestive tract. problems, chronic fatigue and memory loss, which have collectively come to be known as Gulf War syndrome Gulf War syndrome, popular name for a variety of ailments experienced by veterans after the Persian Gulf War. Symptoms reported include nausea, cramps, rashes, short-term memory loss, fatigue, difficulty in breathing, headaches, joint and muscle pain, and birth . |
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