In the over six years since the end of the war a great deal of research and investigation has been devoted to this question.  At this point, we can offer some general possibilities and answers.  Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) is probably not a single, new illness or disorder.  Rather,  GWS is most likely a collection of different illnesses with similar or overlapping symptoms.  This has caused confusion and has made it difficult for researchers to come up with a case definition.  Often, in order to define an illness, it is necessary to look first at known exposures, which  include: chemical and biological weapons, depleted uranium, experimental drugs and vaccines, environmental toxins, and endemic infectious diseases.

There is probably no single cause of  Gulf War Syndrome, but instead multiple exposures and overlapping illnesses with similar symptoms.

The medical definition of a syndrome is a combination signs or symptoms that form a distinct clinical picture indicative of a particular disorder.  In the medical sense, GWS may be a misnomer.  However, the NGWRC has adopted the GWS moniker because it is an accurate and distinctive social description.  Veterans do have a core set of symptoms.  In one study, over 80% show a constellation of 11 signs or symptoms.  GWS also is descriptive of the time and place that most people became ill.  The war, and the adverse exposures it brought, is the precipitating factor and this is highlighted by the GWS name.  Finally, ill veterans and civilians are experiencing a similar lack of adequate clinical examination, treatment, compensation, and compassion.  This highlights the prevalent social "syndrome" that exists. 
     
As of March 1996 approximately 80,000 veterans had officially registered as ill subsequent to the war and many spouses, children, and civilians are ill as well.  The Departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) claim that they have been doing all they can to help those that are ill.  However, it has not been our experience that they have been very effective in educating, diagnosing, treating, or compensating those who are ill.  Thus, the purpose of this Guide is to collect and present information we believe may be helpful.  It is our intent  to provide the information and tools necessary so that those who are ill can effectively educate and advocate for better medical care, comprehensive research and appropriate compensation for themselves and their families.

Chemical And Biological Weapons

It was within days of the end of the fighting that the Department of Defense reported, on March 7, 1991, that Iraq's forces had failed to get chemical weapons to the front, and that no chemical weapons were used or found in the Kuwait Theater of Operations.  Within a year, this became the categorical stance by the DoD, who attempted to discredit any reports to the contrary.

Many knowledgeable sources question this assumption.  Numerous veterans, including NBC team members, have testified before congressional and presidential committees over the last several years that their chemical alarms repeatedly went off, often at the same time these units were subjected to SCUD missile attacks.  The DoD has explained these incidents by stating that the alarms were set off in error by smoke and diesel fumes.  However, the alarms did not go off before the start of the air war on 17 Jan 91, despite the ongoing presence of smoke and diesel fumes.  Further, the Senate Banking Committee released a report in 1994 which documented the fact that the alarms will only go off when chemical concentrations reach levels over one thousand times the amount needed to harm human beings.

Far more evidence has come to light over the last several years that prove chemical weapons were present, detected and confirmed in the Persian Gulf theater of war by various  coalition governments, including the United States.  These documents also prove the U.S. government had knowledge that some people in the Gulf had either acute or long-term, low level exposures to chemical and biological weapons agents.  In one instance, former Senator Reigle (D-Michigan) sent  equipment brought back from the Persian Gulf by veterans to Lawrence Livermore Laboratories.  This equipment was tested for possible chemical and biological agent contamination.  Positive findings were reported.  Many more such incidents may come to light in the coming months and years -  making questionable previous DoD statements on the matter of chemical and biological exposures.

The National Gulf War Resource Center, Inc., and our member groups, have uncovered scores of documented chemical casualties and incidents.  In April 1996 additional evidence showing chemical incidents and exposures were obtained by NGWRC based on our research using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  The DoD was subsequently forced to admit, in June 1996, that hundreds of troops were exposed to sarin and mustard agents during the demolition of an Iraqi

(Continued on page 5)

Second Edition - Fall 1997          Page 4