letter to the editor (Mining Journal) written by Gail Griffith. ---- GULF WAR ILLNESSES January 10, 2003 Of the nearly 700,000 United States troops deployed in Iraq during the 1990-91 Gulf War, the official casualty count was 148 killed and 467 wounded. Since that time, of the over 500,000 veterans eligible for benefits through the Veterans Administration, 36% have filed claims for service-related medical disabilities. These people (more than 200,00), report a spectrum of medical problems: memory loss, fatigue, chronic pain, gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory illness, infertility, and severe rashes, among others. Not everyone has the same array or severity of complaints, but all are ill. Over 9,600 of them have died. What happened to them? They were not hit by bullets, bombs or missiles, but by things more subtle; low level nerve agents, depleted uranium dust, and soot and oily rain from oil well fires. Add to these toxic burdens the effects of experimental drugs such as PB, a preventative pill for nerve agent attack, and vaccines designed to prevent injury, that may have caused injury instead. All in all, a deadly mixture. Although the Department of Defense had denied that U.S. troops were exposed to nerve agents in Iraq, in 1997 it reported that approximately 100,000 troops were exposed to low levels of the nerve agent sarin as a result of our demolition of Iraqi weapons bunkers on March 10, 1991, at Khamisyah in southern Iraq. We were assured that this low level exposure "does not result in long-term neurophysiological and neuropsychological health effects." Translation: not to worry. More recently, in December, 2002, studies by the Army's chemical defense institute showed that exposure to sarin in amounts too low to result in immediate symptoms caused permanent brain damage in laboratory animals. The brain damage in the animals was similar to brain damage that has been found in Gulf War veterans. Not to worry? Depleted uranium is what is left over after extracting fissionable material for nuclear bombs and nuclear power generation. It is about 30% as radioactive as natural uranium, and its radiation is relatively weak. It is almost twice as dense as lead ( a uranium baseball would weigh 8.5 pounds). and shares lead's toxicity. It was used in anti-tank rounds and aircraft-fired bullets in Iraq. These munitions penetrate tank armor like butter, and explode on impact into a very fine dust that can be inhaled. Up to 400,000 U.S. troops in southern Iraq and Kuwait were in areas contaminated by 315 tons of depleted uranium. Unlike nerve agents that degrade in the environment, depleted uranium has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. It will still be there long after the human race is extinct. Saddam's army set over 700 Kuwaiti oil wells on fire as a farewell gesture. These fires created oil-laden smoke, soot and rain. Hundreds of thousands of our troops lived outdoors near these burning wells; breathed soot and oil droplets, ate oily food, washed in oily water. Burning crude oil produces a wide variety of pollutants, including some recognized cancer agents. Untangling the causes of Gulf War illnesses is an almost impossible task. It is more important to acknowledge and treat them, and to try to do better next time. We need to say thank you to the veterans who suffer these war wounds. We can expect to encounter similar casualties in Gulf War II. The scenario is unchanged. A study by the Army Audit Agency last November found that 62% of gas masks and 90% of chemical agent monitors are defective. Will the Department of Defense be more candid about the real extent of harm to our troops in the new war? There can no longer be a claim of ignorance. Will more or fewer than 36% of the 250,000 troops we send back to Iraq return with service-related injuries? Are we ready for Gulf War II?