Gulf war illness
Gulf war illnessDuring the Gulf War, Americans were entranced by the overwhelming military superiority exercised by the United States during Desert Storm. After long weeks of waiting to find out how high the casualty figures would climb during the opening round of the New World Order, relatives and friends breathed a sigh of relief when the Iraqi armies were stomped by a margin of about a thousand to one. The troops would come back alive.
They wouldn't come back healthy. In the years following, veterans have died or are dying from illnesses known commonly as Gulf War Illness (GWI). Researchers are still trying to pin down the exact causes of Mycoplasma Incognita (GWI), but they aren't getting very far, thanks to military and government denials that there is such a thing as Gulf War Illness.
Although the Persian Gulf conflict ended in 1991, some eighty thousand veterans of the war are still suffering from unexplained health problems including chronic fatigue, joint aches, memory loss, rashes, bleeding gums, tumors, and intestinal and respiratory illnesses. They attribute their suffering to wartime service in the Gulf, though past Pentagon investigations concluded that there was no evidence to link their ailments to wartime risks such as oil-well fire smoke, vaccines, or chemical agents. Originally, the cause of these various symptoms was assumed to be post-traumatic stress, but the persistent and varied nature of the symptoms resisted that label. Pressure from veterans has prompted the government to investigate further the possible causes of the illness: were the troops exposed to Iraqi chemical and biological weapons? Or were experimental drugs the cause? Or is the Vietnam Agent Orange and the Atomic fallout issue all over again? Is the government cooperating or covering up? The results so far are surprising and often conflicting.
So what is this mysterious illness? GWI is a infectious, moderately contagious and potentially lethal disease, resulting from a laboratory modified germ warfare agent called Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus). There was actually up to 15 such agents used in Desert Storm by Iraq, only three of which have been identified. GWI spreads far more easily than AIDS, by sex, by casual contact, through perspiration, or by being too close to someone who coughs. Your children can be infected at a playground or school it is that contagious. One of the more ominous aspects of GWI is that the microorganism is communicable between humans and dogs and cats (and presumably other animals). Veterans' pets are coming down with the GWI symptoms and dying.
GWI is the direct health consequence of prolonged exposure to low (non-lethal at the time of exposure) levels of chemical and biological agents released primarily by direct Iraqi attack via missiles, rockets, artillery, or aircraft munitions, and by fallout from allied bombings of Iraqi chemical warfare munitions facilities during the 38-day war.
Virtually all of the U.S. and allied troops were forced (on threat of court martial if they refused) to take a series of...
To view the complete essay, you be registered.