The fears of the Gulf war veterans from the 1991 conflict come on the back of figures released in the US about the health of forces who were involved at that time. These show that 8,000 of those who served have subsequently died, 125,000 are registered disabled and another 253,000 are on medical care. We are talking here about young, fit and well-trained men. The figures represent 31% of those who served.
Forty three per cent of those who actually went into Iraq are dead or ill, of those who stayed in Iraq it is 31% and even of those who stayed aboard a ship in the Gulf the figures are 20%.
Here in Britain it is not possible to make comparisons with figures amongst British Troops as the Ministry of Defence [MOD] and the Government have not collected the figures. Professor Malcolm Hooper, the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Gulf Veterans Association, has called this "criminal negligence" and has been brave enough to argue that British Troops should "not go and fight in the Gulf War, because [they] ..are not going to be looked after when they get home." Hooper is a Professor of Medical Chemistry.
Larry Cammock, chairman of the Gulf Veterans Association, also feels that it is "a bit stupid to send troops there again [to Iraq] as they haven't yet solved the causes of original illnesses from 13 years ago."
If and when they do solve the causes it will have little or nothing to do with the MOD or the Government, Labour had promised before it was elected in 1997 to aid the Gulf War veterans in their fight to have recognised that they had specific illnesses resulting from having fought in the Gulf.
Cammock and others from the association actually met with Dr John Reid two days before the General Election in 1997 and only five days after Blair's victory, by which time Reid was a cabinet minister.
Cammock reports that at the latter meeting "he [Reid] seemed to be a little depressed that he wouldn't be able to get to the bottom of it [Gulf War syndrome]" as "he couldn't get access to the information he required." At a meeting on July 14th 1997 Reid was told by a senior civil servant that he was only "here for five years.. [whilst civil servants] …are here for ever." Reid's view that he "was in charge at the MOD" was politely ignored.
In Britain the MOD is continuing to cling to view that Gulf War Veterans are suffering from 'psychological dysfunctions." This view is now outdated and discredited as a result of research, largely undertaken in America, and from where the figures in the first couple of paragraphs are drawn from. There are now 140 research projects in the USA looking at Gulf War syndrome, one of which has even been funded to the tune of $2 million by Ross Perot.
Recently 'The Big Issue' [March 3rd - 9th] was told by the Medical Assessment Programme, funded by the Government, at St Thomas's Hospital that 'figures show that 19% of Gulf war veterans have now been diagnosed with psychiatric problems' - 10,157 out of 53,462 who served. These are fantastic figures, especially as less than 40,000 actually entered the conflict zones and the actual battle was over in about 100 hours.
Compare this to the figures from the Department of Veterans Affairs in America, which has an annual budget of $350 million allocated by Congress. They have reported after studies involving hundreds of thousands that post-traumatic stress disorder accounts for less then 5% of the diagnoses of illnesses made in veterans they have examined.
In fact, Gulf War veterans from the last conflict are suffering a lot more than psychiatric problems, and that is not to demean anyone suffering such problems which are real and serious for the person[s] concerned. Cammock, who served as a reservist in the Gulf, said that in just 3 units covering 1,680 troops who were in Iraq they now knew that "245 now have heart conditions"
He reports that of the "ten Gulf War veterans who have met Bruce George [chair of the Defence Select Committee] since 1995 only 3 are still alive." Paul Carr was 32 when died, of unusual brain tumours, and the eldest was only 52 years when he died. Cammock himself recently had a heart attack but is determined to "see justice for those who are still alive." These include children born to gulf war veterans with no eyes, arms and ears. Veterans children have also have had to undergo heart transplants, have suffered from kidney damage and some have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.
It is true to say that at this moment there is some uncertainty about exactly what has caused so many fit, young men and women to become ill after they were in the Gulf in 1991. Hooper, reporting the work of Robert Haley in America, has speculated that it was the release of sarin and nerve gas after the massive bombing raids undertaken by allied forces. Cammock meanwhile can't wait until 2071, when a secret report by the C.I.A will be released which he feels will prove that the scud missiles which were launched nightly by the Iraqi's contained chemical and biological agents.
In 1991 the Czechoslovakian army, who were acknowledged then as the worlds chemical experts, a role they had been trained for whilst under Soviet control, were adamant according to Cammock that "in some cases they had come across traces of biological and chemical traces in shells left behind by scud missiles."
For the moment, however, Cammock is more concerned about what is going to happen to British Troops being sent to the Gulf now. He confirmed what Malcolm Hooper had reported that British Troops have been receiving 'multiple inoculations' and said that he had received "a number of calls from people concerned about this." He confirmed that he had been told about Troops who had become ill as result of the injections. American Troops have not been forced to undergo the same procedures as they have been inoculated over a much longer time period.
Anthrax and other biological vaccines are still being used with little regard to the protocols for vaccine administration. The experimental use of pyridostigmine bromide tablets as a protection against the nerve agent soman in 1990-91 is associated with gulf war syndrome. [GWS] Yet it has been issued to troops going out today. The toxic organophosphates, again linked to GWS, will also be used.
Depleted uranium munitions will continue to be used despite the evidence of long term contamination of some British troops and the massive increases in childhood leukaemias and cancers in Iraq. It seems no lessons have been learned from the 1990 - 91 conflict. The judgement that the MOD had demonstrated "a tin ear, cold heart and closed mind" is amply borne out by this information.
Nothing has been learned from the suffering of the Gulf war veterans. It is almost certain that a repeat of another conflict will lead to more casualties with gulf war syndrome/illness.
Cammock is convinced that Hussein still "has the chemicals" which have caused veterans from the previous conflict so much pain and suffering since. This is because "both the Americans and the British supplied them during the Iran-Iraq War" and even if some have been used Hussein possesses "the information and facilities to manufacture them now." It may be that for Blair and Bush all of this is academic, as their own lives are not on the line, but if true then this is bad news for Troops being sent out to the Gulf now. Because although they may survive the actual conflict many of them are going to be ill afterwards and a good number are going to die at relatively early ages.
Mark Metcalf - March 13th 2003