[Peace-discuss] Fwd:Dick Cheney's role in pretending "Gulf War Syndrome" did

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 [Hpn] Stats on Gulf War Syndrome vets and their rate of death and disability

   Thomas Cagle nh-adapt at juno.com
   Sat, 05 Aug 2000 05:45:40 -0400

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This is going to seem like it is off topic to homelessness. However advocates that worked with Vietnam veterans will all too clearly see paralels to precursors of their work.

It is also some more facts for why a Bush--Cheney ticket may have yet more stuff to answer for than it wants to. Please redistribute widely.

Tom C


From: uudre at aol.com



A letter I sent to the New York Times Letters to the Editor page just this
morning:

To The Editor:

Dick Cheney served as Secretary of the Department of Defense under President
Bush from 1989 to 1993. During 1991, he helped formulate U.S. strategy in the
Gulf War.

In early 1991, Agent Orange Vietnam veterans finally got recognized by Congress in a long needed compensation bill. Cheney dragged his and his administration's heels on Agent Orange vet recognition for their 2 years in
power up to then.

It was also during Cheney's DOD watch that Persian Gulf War veterans (within
30 days of the start) began presenting with the serious symptoms later named
Gulf War Syndrome. Cheney dragged his heels on the needs of the sick vets

from this combat, too.

Without adequate research or fact collecting, Cheney's DOD publically began
connecting Gulf War Syndrome vets' debilitating symptoms to: old football

injuries, rashs like civilians have, poor dental care, male pattern baldness
and plain ole depression.

In that same year, 1991, the DOD buried early reporting by Czech troops that
troops were exposed to chemical agents. The DOD did not admit to seeing this
report in 1991 until the next administration.

VA physicians were prohibited from exploring the possibility of chemical and
biological agent exposure due to DOD denial that they were used. The doctors
did not feel safe enough in their positions to publicize that until the change in administrations.

Anthony Principi, #2 in the Veteran's Affairs Department and a Vietnam vet
himself, wanted to open a registry for Gulf War vets similar to the Agent

Orange vet registry to track future health problems. He was told no and even
chastised for puting the idea in a trackable memo. The VA's reasoning was
that the DOD could not afford the number of Gulf vets who might register their medical needs.

The VA/DOD argument over what diagnostic code might apply to sick Gulf vets
began then behind closed doors.

In 1992, under Cheney, The DOD reported to Congress on the conduct of the Pers
ian Gulf War. They reported that "In the beginning of the deployment, the

services were not adequately prepared to deal with the full range of CW (chemical warfare)/BW (biological warfare). There were limitations in most
area, including drug availability, protection, detection,
decontamination,
prophylaxis, and therapy."

But, the DOD still would not admit that U.S. troops were actually exposed to
chemical and biological agents during the 1991 war.

Nick Roberts, from Phoenix, Alabama, a Gulf War Syndrome vet who has since
died of his symptoms, said that "...they kept feeding us this line of bull
that nothing was wrong with us."

By March 1994, an average of 1,000 Gu