News and Politics | November 17, 2008 | 31 comments

Finally the US government admits: the Gulf War illness is real

source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/17/gulf.war.illness.study/index.html

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merasyad
An extensive federal report released Monday concludes that roughly one in four of the 697,000 U.S. veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War suffer from Gulf War illness.

It took our government 17 years to finally admit what independent groups have been telling us for years.

That illness is a condition now identified as the likely consequence of exposure to toxic chemicals, including pesticides and a drug administered to protect troops against nerve gas. The illness is identified as the consequence of multiple biological alterations affecting the brain and nervous system.

The 452-page report states that scientific evidence leaves no question that Gulf War illness is a real condition with real causes and serious consequences for affected veterans.

The report, compiled by a panel of scientific experts and veterans serving on the congressionally mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses, fails to identify any cure for the malady.

Imagine the number of innocent Iraqis who have been suffering from this disease as well.

Photo courtesy of: (msnbcmedia4.msn.com)
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31 comments // Finally the US government admits: the Gulf War illness is real

  • Cynic2
    • 0
      Cynic2  

    • EVEN YET ANOTHER REASON WHY KIDS SHOULD NOT BE GUNG HO TO GO TO WAR. THE RETURNING IRAQ AND AFGHAN VETS WILL BE 1 GRAND TIMES WORSE. GET READY FOR THE SHITSTORM!! WHEN WILL AMERICA EVER LEARN???????

    • 4 years ago
  • islek
    • 0
      islek  

    • These people risk their lives for others and for a cause that will only shun them when they need help? It's appalling.

      I know someone who is a Gulf War veteran. He is currently battling the early stages of Alzheimer's while in his forties.

    • 4 years ago
  • bansheewail
  • widget48
    • 0
      widget48  

    • It's about F***ing time! Gadzooks, it's a shame that the U.S. Gov't. would in essence call these vets liars. What an insult after such a sacrifice.
      One of the standards in American Law is Good Faith. That has surely been pummeled in this situation by the Gov.. It's shameful...
      How do you decide compensation? I would think you'd have to look to Torts for compensation based on loss of wages in the non-military sector as well as throwing in some stiff punitive damages awards.

    • 4 years ago
  • deeblackangel
  • YesWeDid
    • 0
      YesWeDid  

    • I love how the U.S. government talks up it's military and patriotism during election season but when the politicians aren't up for a vote and the soldiers can no longer hold a gun this government has a tendency to just throw our veterans out like last fridays pizza.

    • 4 years ago
  • krush_productions
    • 0
      krush_productions  

    • Not a shock to me, I knew getting shot up with some "vaccine" was too good to be true. This has kept me away from other vaccinations, including the tetanus shot. I'm no where near dead. You don't need a fucking vaccination to save you, your body is strong and can overcome a lot of things.

    • 4 years ago
  • ninepounds6
    • 0
      ninepounds6  

    • Yes, it is quite amazing just how much truth comes out of a lame duck presidency.

      This county needs to grow a pair and start dealing with things instead of hiding them until it does not matter. But honestly, the reason politicians do things like this is beacuse we, the people, will not elect a politician that tells the truth. We want to be lied to because we ourselves do not want to deal with the truth... part of a fast food, quick fix, give me the easy answer now society.

    • 4 years ago
  • drgutman
    • 0
      drgutman  
    • ninepounds6:

      Umm ... I disagree, I think they do things like that because they got away with them before, because they think the people can't punish them.

      And guess what, they are right.

    • 4 years ago
  • ReddFeary83
  • Tayllerand
    • 0
      Tayllerand  

    • BE ALL THE YOU CAN BE ,BE IN THE ARMY ......OH YEAH ........SOMEBODY SAY YEAAHAAA

      NO THANK YOU .....CALL ME COWARD BUT I DONT WANT TO DIE LIKE THAT.

      HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

    • 4 years ago
  • ReddFeary83
    • 0
      ReddFeary83  

    • Sadly, I am not the least bit surprised it took the U.S. government 17 years to admit that this illness was real. I am surprised however, that they actually admitted it is in fact an illness instead of going for the total denial thing.

      Just didn't see that one coming.

    • 4 years ago
  • drgutman
  • abbym0308
    • 0
      abbym0308  
    • Image

    • From user bansheewail, the panel found 1 in 4 vets to have Gulf War Syndrome. They're going to have to come up with some kind of compensation plan pretty quickly because by admitting this syndrome exists people are immediately going to start blaming the government for sending them to war and ignoring their suffering when they returned.

    • 4 years ago
  • arcticspirit
    • 0
      arcticspirit  

    • Yeah this is like what I started with. Only I wasn't given a medical discharge, I was given a honorable.

      I suspect what started all the problems that I have today would be.. "a drug administered to protect troops against nerve gas. The illness is identified as the consequence of multiple biological alterations affecting the brain and nervous system."

      They would just line us up and give us shots whenever we "needed" them. It was routine.

    • 4 years ago
  • artist_al_fine
  • megagrigg
  • michelleie
  • satanskidney
  • Inventor
    • 0
      Inventor  

    • The government only admitted that Gulf War Syndrome is real, on condition that it didn't have to do anything about this admission. Recently the Bush regime admitted that global warming was real.

      These are good questions: now that the Republicans are walking toward the bus station, will the next government do anything about half a million sick vets?

      Also, what about a million or two sick Iraqis, or have most of them already died due to the utter lack of health care in the war zone ?

      Finally, will Iraq stay permanently poisoned with a 1 out of 2 chance of anyone getting cancer in their lifetime, much as the United States already is poisoned?

    • 4 years ago
  • IMMININT
    • 0
      IMMININT  
    • Inventor:

      Global Warming is false... you're eating mainstream science.

      As for this disease, it is real. A friend of our family died from some type of neurological problem as a result of the toxic gasses, etc.

    • 4 years ago
  • Ares
    • 0
      Ares  
    • Inventor:

      Global warming is real, the thing most people are missing, or refusing to believe, is that it is a naturally occurring phenomenon. Why does everyone believe that we are the cause of it?

      Implying that the human race is responsible for this most recent global warming trend is akin to saying that if we were around during the last ice age, we could have prevented it.

      Hell, the very team of scientists that won Al Gore the Nobel Prize found recently that the polar ice caps are growing!

    • 4 years ago
  • Emil_G
  • covelogibbs
    • 0
      covelogibbs  
    • Image

    • "The report concludes there is no clear link between the illness and a veteran's exposure to factors such as depleted uranium or an anthrax vaccine administered at the time."

      Yeah, like I really believe that. :(

    • 4 years ago
  • Thomas_Morse
    • 0
      Thomas_Morse  

    • The military never would explain just what they were injecting into me before I headed to Europe in 1991.
      I was told not to worry about it and that it was to protect me.

    • 4 years ago
  • call1963
    • 0
      call1963  
    • Thomas_Morse:

      Not that i think you could have done anything about it anyways (i.e. Like saying "Stick that in you own arm jerkoff!")..., but someone in the government tells me, "not to worry about it and that it was to protect me"... I'l get the hell out of there....

      Like i said.. I know that doesn't apply in certain cases. There are lots of jobs out there where you are under contract, & have no choice.. except break the contract, & go to Leavenworth for the next 20 years. Believe me when i say.. I feel for ya..

      PS..BTW.. Thanks for serving...

    • 4 years ago
  • idealist
  • kparis
    • 0
      kparis  

    • Compensation? It took them this long to admit it was real, and veterans can hardly get any care as it is.

      But an answer to your question: I think gathering government officials and of the time in a 3D simulated line-up and hosing them down with noxious chemicals then denying the effects would be pretty sweet.

    • 4 years ago
  • call1963
  • huntre
  • Raider65
    • 0
      Raider65  
    • huntre:

      Using something modified like the 9-11 victims compensation criteria would be a start. The comp (which is not comp at all but disability pay for being hurt while in the service) we get now is actually contractual requirement/obligation per the contract you sign going in, just like Police or Fire fighters get if hurt on the job. But what they did to us was experimentation plain and simple. What was done to us, sick Vets, was way beyond normal requirements. Some books on the Gulf War relate it to criminal neglect/criminal intent. In the book "Vaccine A the covert government experiment that's killing our soldiers and why GI's are only the first victims by Gary Matsumoto" saids that " In 1994 the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee recommended that the Feres Doctrine - a 1950 Supreme Court decision that ruled military personnel cannot sue the DoD for monetary damages over negligence - should not apply in the case of military personnel harmed by inappropriate medical experimentation when informed consent has not been obtained. Congress has never acted on that recommendation. There is now evidence that we are paying the price for this failure." Not quite yet but maybe shortly in the future. And I for one am tired of hearing "The nation owes you a huge debt" from the VA. I'm here to say "I'm here to collect on that debt for ruining my life and for your lying for 17 yrs about it just being in my head. And having my father who is a Vietnam Vet berate me because of the government's cover-up for all these years. He got a huge surprise when this report came out. A Gulf War (1) Marine.

    • 4 years ago
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