The Gulf War Syndrome Plot, Part 2: The US Government's Conspiracy of Silence and Obstruction Against Gulf War Veterans

Since the first Gulf War, DU has been used in the Balkans and Kosovo, and, more recently in the the United States' Middle East invasions. It has been suspected as the culprit in lung and kidney illnesses because it is soluble in water and can be ingested as a fine dust through inhalation. Soldiers in Kosovo have complained of an illness that causes extreme lethargy. Since federal officials have not recognized an official illness caused by DU exposure, the government concludes that DU radiation in the areas that were bombed does not exceed background radiation. Despite suspicions for a relationship between DU and debilitating disease, until 2001 no extensive health research had been completed to determine the long-term effects from repeated DU exposure.(29)

Dr. Doug Rokke, a retired major who served as the director of the US Army Depleted Uranium Project in the mid-90s, and a specialist in uranium clean-up efforts, has been an advisor for DU science and health to the Centers for Disease Control, US Institute of Medicine, Congress, and the DOD. Rokke has been at the forefront in efforts to alert health and military officials about DU's enormous health risks. After Operation Desert Storm, he was the officer in charge of cleaning up the mess and assessing environmental risks due to the invasion. During the course of his mission, Rokke said he received an order, the Los Alamos Memorandum, "which was a direct order to lie in all the reports about the health and environmental effects from uranium munitions in order to sustain their use and avoid all liability." Throughout his months in Saudi Arabia in cleanup efforts, Rokke and his team received "numerous orders to provide medical care and numerous orders to ignore them and numerous orders to lie, cheat, steal and do whatever you have to do."(30)

Rokke is now convinced that the DOD's own reports stating that almost 20% of active-duty personnel in the current military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq are non-deployable because of severe illness, are the direct result from prolonged exposure to the toxic swamp that has become the Middle East. He has also observed that with respect to the causes of death among OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom) and OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) personnel for medical reasons, there is a surprising proportionality with the medical causes of death among veterans from the first Gulf War. What GIs from both campaigns share is their high exposure to chemical toxicity, multiple toxic vaccines, and in particular DU.(31)

***

Though the Gulf War concluded 25 years ago this month, the devastating toll it has taken on the lives and health of thousands of Americans is still felt today. The systemic deception, denial and corruption on the part of the US government has contributed immensely to the ongoing hardships faced by America's bravest. A critical reexamination of how we care for those serving in the armed forces is long overdue. It's time for us to demand an end to the unjust policies and politics that have kept our service men and women suffering and dying in silence and begin to institute comprehensive reform that places the health and wellbeing of our soldiers first.

Endnotes

1. 2015 AHAR: Part 1 - PIT Estimates of Homelessness in the U.S. HUD Exchange click here

2. Riegle DW, D'Amato AM. U.S. Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Gulf War. US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. May 25, 1994. Available at: www.gulfweb.org/bigdoc/report/riegle1.html.

3. click here

4. Ibid

5. Null GM. The Gulf War syndrome: causes and the cover-up. Penthouse. September 1994. Reprinted with permission of the author

6. Bronstein, S., & Griffiin, D. (2014, April 23). A fatal wait: Veterans languish and die on a VA hospital's secret list. Retrieved February 24, 2016, from click here

7. Ibid

8. Greenblat, Mark. Monk, Daniel and Kessler, Aaron. "Exclusive: Whistleblowers say Veterans Choice used to slash budget deficit and care" click here

9. Ibid

10. Ibid

11. Griffin, Drew et al. "Veterans Still Facing Major Medical Delays at VA Hospitals." CNN. Cable News Network, 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.

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