10 Years After Gulf War, Sick Vets Looking for Answers March 1, 2001
WASHINGTON - Ten years after the victory over Iraq, many
ailing American veterans of the Persian Gulf War are trying to
understand why they are sick - and why their government has not done
more to help them.
On Wednesday, a half-dozen of them and their families,
along with Dallas billionaire Ross Perot, met with Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison on Capitol Hill.
"I'm sorry that this is the way we're celebrating the
10th anniversary of our great victory in Desert Storm," the Texas
Republican told the gathering. "We should not be continuing to talk
about Desert Storm syndrome as an undiagnosed illness."
Ms. Hutchison said that she had introduced legislation
to extend by 10 years, to Dec. 31, 2011, the deadline for chronically
ill Gulf War veterans to file disability claims with the Department of
Veterans Affairs.
Advocates for sick veterans say federal officials have
given little weight to complaints about widespread ailments such as
fatigue, memory loss, joint and muscle pain, neurological disorders
and intestinal problems. Worse, advocates say, officials have stymied
medical research on the disorders that could smooth the way for more
government help and disability payments to some veterans.
"These people are the guardians at the gate of our
freedom," said Mr. Perot, who has helped fund research into the
illnesses.
Mr. Perot said he was frustrated that federal officials
had not embraced research by Dr. Robert Haley, chief of clinical
epidemiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at
Dallas, who has found that exposure to some drugs and chemicals used
during the war may have caused brain damage in some veterans.
Critics say Dr. Haley has submitted inadequate research
reports and has not expanded his study beyond an original group of
249. Dr. Haley has defended his research and said it should be
continued and confirmed by others.
About 100,000 of the 700,000 military personnel who
served in the gulf have sought federal help for illnesses they think
stem from exposure to drugs or chemical warfare agents.
Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, chief of staff for the Office of
Special Assistant for Gulf Illness within the Department of Defense,
said investigators have come to agree that many veterans are genuinely
sick. The question is still why.
"I think there has been a change over time," Dr.
Kilpatrick told The Associated Press.
Officials also noted that the federal government has
funded 192 projects on Gulf War veterans' illnesses at a cost of $155
million.
The battle over Gulf War illness has lasted far longer
than the war itself. It took just 100 hours to rout Iraq's ground
forces. Ms. Hutchison said that it would take $25 million more for
enough research to obtain comprehensive findings and that she had
urged the Bush administration to shift responsibility for the research
from the Pentagon to the federal Centers for Disease Control.
by Christopher Lee