Panel: Pentagon 'Diligent' on Illness Source: Associated Press
December 21, 2000
WASHINGTON -- A presidential panel says the Pentagon has
worked "diligently" and did not cover anything up in investigating
Gulf War illness, a series of veterans' ailments still unexplained 10
years after the war. The head of one veterans' advocacy group called
the conclusion "a whitewash."
A 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.
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 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.
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 Illinois
(OSAGWI). 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.
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 anymore, 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.