[Peace-discuss] Guest Editorial

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

The Bloomington Pentagraph published this guest editorial, with photographs, 
in the Jan 19 edition. 

GULF WAR II: Defective Gas Masks, Duct Tape, Disabilities, and Death
Dr. Doug Rokke, Ph.D.; Major, Medical Service Corps, U.S. Army Reserve


"GAS, GAS, GAS", those three words elicit immediate fear and action. If these 
words or any other alarm from a "siren" to "banging on metal" are heard 
military personnel must stop breathing while putting on their gas mask and 
securing it within 9 seconds. Then they must put on their chemical protective 
clothing "MOPP suit" within 5 to 7 minutes.

The purpose of this equipment is to prevent breathing in and prevent skin 
contact with chemical, biological, or radiological poisons that may be used 
during Gulf War II or future battles by either Iraqi, the United States, or 
other nations.  You must use both pieces of equipment to survive and they 
must not be defective! 

The essential life-saving assumption is that the gas mask and MOPP suit will 
work when you wear it. However, the Army's  M40 series and the Navy's gas 
mask both leak when you move your jaw or head and when you sweat. Most of the 
masks also have numerous tears and holes in them. United States General 
Accounting Office investigators, U.S. Army reports, congressional testimony, 
and soldiers complaints have verified that the gas masks are defective and 
leak. These same reports have verified that over a quarter million MOPP suits 
that are defective have been issued to our troops, but they can¹t be located.

U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL.) sent a letter to Secretary of 
Defense Rumsfeld dated November 27, 2002 asking him (quote) "to certify that 
military personnel who may be deployed in Iraq are adequately equipped 
against biological and chemical attacks". As of Jan 17, 2003, Representative 
Schakowsky's staff said that Secretary Rumsfeld has not provided that 
certification. Today, Pentagon officials have deployed and are deploying our 
nation's and Illinois' finest sons and daughters for war with defective gas 
masks and MOPP suits.

As reported in the Pentagraph Editorial "Bad time to have doubts on Army 
protective gear" (1/1/03) U.S. Army spokesman "Capt. Benjamin Kuykendall said 
the shortcomings are being addressed and many are minor ones that could be 
fixed in the field with DUCT tape".  As an Army officer and expert in 
nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare I must emphasize that: DEFECTIVE 
GAS MASKS AND MOPP SUITS CANNOT BE FIXED WITH DUCT TAPE!  DUCT tape is not 
impervious to the chemical, biological, and radiological agents and DUCT tape 
will come off the mask once it gets wet.

The current gas masks leak because the mask does not have enough silicon 
rubber under the chin to keep the mask from coming off the head during 
movement. Another deliberately ignored problem is that the gas mask filters 
will not remove the very small (less than .3 micron) and very dangerous 
particles that are released during chemical, biological, and radiological 
incidents, especially use of depleted uranium.  This is a hazard if Iraqis 
use such agents, if the US again explodes any stockpiles they find in place, 
and from exposures to radioactive components of our own weapons.

In rebuttal to Capt. Kuykendall's solution for repairing defects with "DUCT 
tape", masks with tears and holes must be replaced -- not fixed with DUCT 
tape.  I must ask, and hope my neighbors care enough to ask; why didn't the 
military unit commanders report these defects and obtain equipment that is 
not defective? These defects have been known for years and have been 
willfully ignored.  Now widespread dereliction of duty threatens the lives of 
seasoned soldiers and young recruits alike, as we prepare to go to war.

Defective gas masks are not limited to the military. Our community police, 
fire, and medical personnel have also been issued defective gas masks and do 
not even possess necessary MOPP or equivalent protective suits.

Exposures during GULF WAR I (August 1990 - November 1991) caused in part by 
use of these same defective gas masks have resulted in over 159,238 Gulf War 
veterans on permanent disability, and over 8013 dead as of May 2002.  This 
casualty count is still increasing.  (Veteran's Benefit Administration, 
Office of Performance Analysis and Integrity Data and information System, May 
2002 Gulf War Veterans Information, September 10, 2002).  Today, the entire 
Persian Gulf region still is a toxic and environmental wasteland because the 
chemical, biological, and radiological contamination dispersed during Gulf 
War I was never cleaned up.

As a combat veteran of Gulf War I and the Vietnam War and as an Army officer, 
I must urge that every mother, father, son, and daughter demand that 
President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld replace all defective gas masks and 
MOPP suits. 

The President and Secretary Rumsfeld also must be required to finally provide 
medical care for thousands of us who are Gulf War I combat veterans and who 
are already sick because we were given and wore defective equipment while on 
duty in the toxic wasteland that is the Persian Gulf.

Remember the President and his staff work for each of us! That is how our 
government was created and must continue to function.  We cannot send the 
pride of our nation and our community to Gulf War II with defective 
equipment.  If we do, and thousands of our sons and daughters come back 
disabled as has happened since Gulf War I, the future of our community and 
nation is dismal.  

The media may not show you a single dead body or injured warrior during the 
next war. That was the strategy of the Gulf War I, but that's not the reality 
of war. Death and injury are the reality of war.  That includes children. 
Citizens who can see through the smokescreen of political rhetoric and the 
sanitized image of war must speak up and demand replacement of defective 
equipment. That is our obligation as Americans based on a heritage of 
freedom. A freedom won by the legendary "Minutemen", the pride of Concord and 
Lexington.