Gulf War Syndrome -- NOT All in Your Head!

Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) is a raging social question as indicated by the rash of recent stories in the main-stream press. It has always been a raging question for the veterans and their families suffering from GWS. The causes, both medical and political, are the makings of many debates. In this article, we would like to spend some time on the medical aspects-we'll get into what GWS is, its symptoms and some of the contributing risk factors-and finally we'll focus on exposing an underlying relationship between the military and U.S. Imperialism and the use and role of troops.

What is GWS?

GWS is the name given to a variety of debilitating and sometime life threatening illnesses affecting those who were in the Persian Gulf arena. The symptoms include one or more of the following:

• fatigue, in some cases, extreme to the point of being unable to move;
  
• rashes/dermatitis;
  
• head and body aches;
  
• pain-from mild to severe;
  
• memory loss;
  
• difficulty concentrating;
  
• sleep disturbance;
  
• depression;
  
• semen that burns anything it touches and creates open sores;
  
• birth defects (like extra fingers, no ears or ear drums, children dying of heart failure or liver cancer);
  
• responses to carcinogens in the body-tumors, cancer, abnormal hair growth.

GWS is chronic disease-meaning it is of a long duration as opposed to an acute disease which is shorter, like measles. It is believed to be transmitted much like HIV, through bodily fluids, but unlike HIV it appears to also be transmitted via physical contact, sweat and possibly in some cases air-borne.

As of March 1996, over 80,000 vets have officially registered with the Veterans Affairs (VA) as suffering from GWS. There are also thousands more veterans in some of the other "victorious" countries (Great Britain & Canada to name two) who are suffering from GWS.

So what is the cause of GWS?

There are many risk and exposure factors involved with GWS. I would like to get into some of the factors involved and develop one possible theory on what has happened. So let's first look at the risk factors that existed in the Gulf arena:

• the desert environment itself-the sand and the dust it creates as well as the insect population contained germs, bacteria and endemic infectious diseases unfamiliar to the invaders;
  
• in response to these insects, the military used pesticides and insect repellents in typical imperialist fashion-frequent and massive aerial "bombings" (sprayings) on the troop areas and the saturation of clothing and tents;
  
• Chemical Warfare (CW) agents-possible exposure to such agents as mustard gas, hydrogen cyanide and the nerve gases Phosgene, Sarin and Tabun.
  
• Biological Warfare (BW) agents-possible exposure to deadly germs like anthrax, and botulism. Much of the exposure to these agents, both CW & BW, came as the result of the U.S. bombing weapons storage facilities. To date, the Department of Defense (DOD) has confirmed one case of exposure to the CW agent mustard gas. Recently they were forced to announce that, first 5,000, and now some 20+ thousand soldiers were exposed to the fallout from the destruction of a weapons storage facility at Kamisiyah. The Czech monitoring teams reported detecting agents (& these have been verified by lab test) but the U.S. military command, including Powell and Schwarzkopf ignored these reports and did not authorize the use of protective gear. Their stated reason was to prevent panic from spreading through the ranks;
• Depleted Uranium (DU) shells-ammunitions that upon impact burn and vaporize, creating a deadly cloud of cancer causing material when inhaled or allowed to enter the body through open wounds. Natural uranium is comprised of three isotopes: 99.27% U238, 00.72% U235 & 00.0057% U234. DU is natural uranium with approx. .5% of U235 removed (99.75% U238). U238 has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Officially, 36 soldiers are known to have been exposed to DU through "friendly fire" and several dozen more were exposed during vehicle retrieval and maintenance;
  
• Oil well fires-they created smoke and fine particles of oil that were next to impossible to avoid breathing. Research has shown that when the CW agent mustard gas is combined with oil, the resulting compound created is more deadly than the individual elements.

These risk factors created what some are calling a toxic cocktail but I prefer to think of it as more like a toxic stew-an environment where many dangerous components were being blended together. But, here is the insidious imperialist hand adding a new twist; The troops sent to the Gulf were given various vaccines and preventatives, sometimes in combination, to "protect" them from the chemical agents in the arena. However, one of the drugs, called pyridostigmine bromide (PB), upped the stakes. PB is a drug that has been used since 1955 to treat some rare auto-immune diseases involving nerve disorders, like the faulty transmission of nerve impulses to muscles. It was decided by the DOD to see what kind of protection this drug would grant to nerve agents known to be present in the area. This was decided even though research with mice indicated that the drug does not protect but rather works with the nerve agent Sarin to cause greater damage. Normally, the drug PB must be administered under careful monitoring, regulated by the FDA and with the informed consent of the patient. But the FDA waived this regulation and up to 400,000 soldiers were given the drug, most without their knowledge of the risks and many forcibly. In other words, the DOD used the troops as guinea pigs.

Whenever the human body is given a vaccine it triggers an immune system response that will, if everything works properly, give the body the ability to recognize and fight the real disease in the future. However, while the body is responding to the vaccine, it is in a depressed state and susceptible to opportunistic diseases (this is how AIDS basically kills - depressing the immune response and allow other diseases to gain a foothold).

So let's paint a clear picture. You have a large number of soldiers, whose immune systems are struggling to deal with the drugs they were given, confronted with the stressful situation of war-and stress's known physiological effects include affecting the immune system, cardiovascular system and various hormonal responses-and then dumped into the middle of the toxic stew described above. It was a disaster, created by U.S. imperialism, waiting to happen and its name is GWS. A note of interest is that the French commanders refused to order their troops take PB or the other vaccines and they are the only country involved in the Gulf War whose veterans are not suffering from GWS.

Now the question that weighs heavily on the minds of these Gulf vets:
What has been the government's and military's response to GWS?

Recently the report of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illnesses was published and I had a chance to look through it. I suppose that if you were able to sit and read through the entire document, you may come away with a different opinion than I did, but I doubt it. It is the typical bureaucratic-ese and double-talk that comes out of Washington D.C. What the report boils down to is this: with the exception of one key area, the committee holds that the government's response has been proper and appropriate.
"Overall, the Committee is encouraged by the government's response to the range of health-related problems experienced by Gulf War veterans. We found the Vet Centers and Persian Gulf Family Support Program established by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to be effective outreach programs and recommend that these field-based initiatives serve as models for health education and risk communications campaigns.
The Committee agrees with the Institute of Medicine's conclusion that the clinical evaluation programs of the Department of Defense (DOD) and VA are excellent for the diagnosis of Gulf War veteran's illnesses. We found some shortcomings in the availability of treatment, particularly with regard to mental health and reproductive health, and recommend better follow-up care in these areas."

The report underscores this conclusion repeatedly. A quick scan of the report's summaries for the risk factors says it all-with the exception of two of the factors, the committee's cut-n-paste response is "unlikely to be responsible for the symptoms reported by the GW vet." With PB, they conclude that PB alone did not cause any problems but do hint at something bigger, "Ongoing federally funded studies should help the scientific community draw conclusions about the synergistic effects of PB and other risk factors." It is the conclusion on the final factor that is not a surprise and has been the source of contention for many veterans seeking medical help: "The Committee concludes that stress does not cause a unique illness or set of symptoms. Stress can contribute to a broad range of physiological and psychological illnesses. Stress is likely to be an important contributing factor to the broad range of illnesses currently being reported by Gulf War veterans." 1

And what is the key area of concern to the committee? The DOD's "investigation of possible exposures of U.S. troops to chemical and biological warfare agents in the Gulf. We found substantial evidence of site-specific, low-level exposures to chemical warfare agents. Moreover, we found DOD's investigations to date superficial and unlikely to provide credible answers to veterans' and the public's questions." 2

So there you have it in a nutshell. Cover-up, cover-up and more cover-up. And by the way GW vets, it's all in your head.

So now, to the important question:
Why the need for a cover-up?

Simply put, the government is lying and because of this is trying to save face. The Gulf War Syndrome exposes many contradictions about this system and its military. These contradictions lead people, especially GIs, veterans and their families, to question the whole war and even the role of the U.S. military around the world. If they will lie about GWS, what else have they been lying about? Let's take a quick look:

• Lie: Iraq was the unprovoked aggressor responsible for starting the Gulf War.
  Truth: Video tapes show U.S. Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie assuring Saddam Hussein that the dispute between Iraq and Kuwait was an Arab matter and that the U.S. would not interfere if Iraq chose to invade. In other words, the U.S. gave Saddam the green light and then used it as the excuse to fight a war for power and profit in the strategic area of the Middle East.

• Lie: The war was fought to save the world from a new "Hilter."
  Truth: Saddam may be the dictator of Iraq and responsible for many atrocities, but he was created by the dictator of the world-the U.S. Iraq was armed and funded by the U.S. during the eight year war with Iran. In fact, many of the weapons, including chemical and biological, were of U.S. origins. The U.S. began to demonize Saddam only when he, like Noregia in Panama, betrayed his imperialist master and made moves against U.S. interests.

• Lie: "Within three days [by August 5, 1990] 125,000 Iraqis with 850 tanks had poured into Kawait and moved south to threaten Saudi Arabia. It was then I decided to check that aggression." Quote from Bush.
  Truth: Satellite photos obtained for September 11, 1990 and analyzed by experts indicated that the Iraqi force was not even 25% the size the administration claimed. They showed no troop build-up anywhere near the Kuwaiti-Saudi border, in fact they showed considerable piles of drifting sand over the roads-something inconsistent with the kind of troop movements claimed. This information appeared in the St. Petersburg Times, Florida on January 6, 1991 and was not picked up by any of the wire services.

• Lie: The war was being fought to defend a democratic Kuwait.
  Truth: Kuwait is an oppressive monarchy where women are treated as property and not even allowed to drive. It is a country where Palestinians, Jordanians, Filipinos, South Asians are used as slave labor and where death squads target anyone who is opposed to the royal family.

• Lie: "We are not trying to systematically destroy the infrastructure or destroy Iraq...We are not trying to systematically destroy the activities of daily living nor are we doing it." Quote by Bush.
  Truth: The Gulf War was a slaughter-a war aimed at civilians. "The U.S. with chilling and deadly precision bombed the entire infrastructure necessary to sustain life and society." Quote from a delegation who visited Iraq in 1991 and conducted an International War Crimes Tribunal in NYC. The bombings included hospitals, churches, food storage facilities, homes, sewage treatment plants, factories, schools, electrical plants and even bomb shelters. The bombing was deliberate and designed to terrorize the population. 250,000 people were killed as U.S. aircraft dropped 88,500 tons of explosives on Iraq, equivalent to 7 1/2 Hiroshimas. 500 people, mostly women and children, were killed in the bombing of the Ameriyah shelter. Iraqi soldiers were bombed as they attempted to retreat along the road to Basra at the end of the war. The miles of incinerated bodies and vehicles is known as the Highway of Death.

• Lie: Sanctions are an alternative to war. The U.S. used them to try to get Saddam to back off. When he didn't listen, war was the last resort.
  Truth: Sanctions are war by other means. Sanctions is a method of waging war against a population, not against a military adversary. Since the end of the war, sanctions have resulted in the death of over 700,000 children and another 300,000 men and women due to the lack of food, clean water medical supplies and proper medical care. To support sanctions, embargoes or blockades is in reality to legitimize U.S. intervention and to support war.

The government lies because it has to cover-up its contradictions and maintain its illusions. It is the illusion of "fighting for freedom and democracy" and the role of the military and its troops that we would like to address next.

What is the purpose of the military?

What was once believed by many Vietnam vets, and what even Clinton wishes now, is that the military exists to defend this country and what it stands for-freedom and democracy. But serving in that military, especially during times of war, gives one new insights and understandings. The reality is that the military exists to serve the interests of U.S. capital, interests which are rarely the same as those of freedom and democracy. From this country's beginning and all during its growth, the military was heavily involved protecting capital in the form of ships, factories, mines, railroads, telegraph lines, and settler expansion. 3 U.S. capital didn't confine its interests within its own borders, however. It soon turned outward and began to span the globe, then it was U.S. Imperialism. The military played a critical role to not only build but also maintain the empire with its war machine. And the troops are the cogs in that machine.

Over 60 years ago, Smedley Butler helped to shatter the illusion of this countries military forays being about freedom and democracy. A retired Marine officer, he spoke out against increasing U.S. war moves by describing his military career as being a "racketeer for capitalism." In 1935, he wrote:
"I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-12. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras 'right' for American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested... Looking back on it, I feel I might have given Al Copone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three city districts. We Marines operated on three continents." 4
Smedley came out and publicly said what many veterans before him had known and what many more veterans since him have learned-that when you are in the military, your job is to do the dirty work for the capitalists who run this country. That is the objective role of the U.S. military and its troops, and is something that the government does not want challenged.

VVAW AI has long held a position on the troops that has distinguished us from most mainstream veterans' organizations-we encourage, support and welcome the defeat of the U.S. military and its troops. It is a stand that began with the defeat in Vietnam, a defeat many of us proudly took part in, and has been deepened in the decades since. So, does this stand mean that we wanted to see GIs come home in body bags? VVAW AI's position is that they're our brothers and sisters in the military, but they are carrying out the crimes for the U.S. We need to give them the opportunity to learn exactly what they are doing. However, once they go, we stand with the oppressed of the world. Being Vietnam vets we saw people being slaughtered by U.S. troops, we saw it and knew that the only way to stop it would have been to turn the guns around. So the real question was: Do we support U.S. troops in slaughtering defenseless Iraqis? As veterans we know all to well the realities of war and that death is a familiar reality of U.S. aggression. It is because of this knowledge that we can see through the hypocrisy behind the government's concern and the call to "support the troops"-this so-called concern from the very same government who knowingly poisoned its own troops. To support the troops is in reality to support the military, which is nothing short of supporting U.S. imperialist aggression-aggression like that carried out on the road to Basra, the Highway of Death. We must be clear in our understanding that to take up the call to "support the troops" is poison to the peace & anti-war movement. The strength and impact of the movement against the Gulf war was weakened by the widespread promotion of the slogan "support the troops" within the anti-war movement itself. This slogan is another lie by the government used to divide and confuse anti-war forces and cloud the real issue-U.S. aggression in the sole interest of U.S. capital. The government and its military depend on the fact that the troops are made up of our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. They use this to hold us hostage: "You may not agree with the decision to send in the troops but, now that they are there, you must support them or you will be responsible for the deaths." Bullshit! Another reality of war that we also know is who is responsible for the deaths of that war-the same ones who sent the GIs into war in the first place, the U.S. government and its military officers.

One of the pillars of power for U.S. imperialism is its military strength. This was critical to their massacre in the Gulf war. But, contrary to what some say, they are not "all powerful," in fact their military strength is being undercut. Look at the different, recent crisis in the U.S. military-rape in military schools, racism in the military, exposure of the School of the Assassins (a U.S. run mercenary school for third-world soldiers), exposure of the so-called "humanitarian interventions" in Haiti and Somalia, and finally after 6 years, the admittance that some Gulf GIs (tens of thousands) did get poisoned and the very real possibility that the U.S. had the most direct hand in it. We welcome anything that undercuts and weakens the U.S. military. We need to take this crack, the Gulf War Syndrome, and open it up, let it see the light of day. It is a contradiction for the government and military because it exposes the reality that the interests of the Gulf veterans are not the same as the government and military who experimented on and poisoned them. Gulf vets, like Vietnam vets before them, are learning that their interests are really with those they were sent to kill-with the people of Iraq and the rest of the world. It is this knowledge and understanding that is the real reason for the committee's report and the cause of concern by the government.

Let us make sure that their concern is not misplaced. We must welcome the Gulf vets back into out ranks and at the same time we must challenge them. We have learned of the power that lies with the union of veterans who went to war and those who resisted war. The government has spent years trying to convince Vietnam vets that "the war is over." But the legacy of the defeat of the Vietnam war still haunts them. The Vietnam war ended but U.S. war and aggression hasn't. Our work doesn't end when the shooting stops. As a new generation of war vets is created, the chance for unification once again comes before us. VVAW AI is an organization which has successfully united combat veterans with military resisters to take the most powerful message possible to the people of this country and the world. Rejecting all "honor" for having served as imperialist mercenaries, we know the honorable path we can take is to ensure that the world learns the lessons that have been hidden. Gulf War veterans face the similar questions that we did: Do we pretend it didn't happen and hope the nightmares go away? Do we turn our backs on the continued suffering of people we brutalized? Do we, by our silence, condemn future generations of youth to march off for a lie? Do we condemn future Third World generations to die like the millions of South East Asians and the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis did?

No, we are veterans made strong by our trials and we will take action. We call on Gulf vets, both those who went and those who refused, to join with us. Much is still hidden about the Gulf war. Let's forge a legacy against it.