UK Veterans Battle Gulf War Syndrome

Charity Urges Action Over Gulf War Syndrome 
SKY News UK
January 17, 2016

Suggested causes have included depleted uranium used in weapons, sarin gas, smoke from burning oil wells, vaccinations and combat stress.

Little is known about the causes of the syndrome but Gulf veterans report symptoms up to three times the rate of other veterans.

The Royal British Legion is calling for more help for veterans suffering from Gulf War Syndrome amid concerns that up to 33,000 could be affected.

The charity wants the Government to carry out more research into illnesses linked the 1991 Gulf War, in which 53,462 Britons served.

"We still do not know how to effectively treat Gulf War Illnesses," said the charity, which was speaking as the 25th anniversary of the start of the war is marked this weekend.

Acute and chronic fatigue, muscle pain, cognitive problems, rashes and diarrhoea are some of the symptoms of the syndrome.

The charity points to research that shows Gulf War veterans report such symptoms at two to three times the rate of other veterans, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Troops exposed to chemical warfare toxins in Iraq

Pentagon shrugged off troops' chemical exposure in Iraq
Defense officials are reaching out now to offer medical help
UPI News
By Mary Papenfuss
Nov. 6, 2014

The information about the large number of potential exposures emerged following an internal review of Pentagon records ordered by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel after an investigation by the New York Times initially found that 17 service members were injured by sarin or a sulfur mustard agent.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Some 629 U.S. troops reported suspicions that they had been exposed to chemical warfare toxins in Iraq, yet the Pentagon failed to adequately treat them or track possible exposures, defense officials have revealed.

Contact with the toxins occurred beginning in 2003 when troops found degraded chemical weapons from the 1980s hidden in underground caches or in makeshift bombs.
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Congress to CIA: Review Gulf War illness info

Congress to CIA: Review Gulf War illness info

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 23, 2009 18:44:44 EDT

After a former CIA employee told a team created to investigate Gulf War illness that 1.5 million documents exist detailing poisonous gas exposures during Operation Desert Storm, Congress is asking the CIA to review the secret classifications of those documents.

“Ill Desert Storm veterans have been waiting for years for our government to make public any information in its possession about the kinds of toxic agents they may have been exposed to during and immediately after the 1991 war,” Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., said in a prepared statement. “This is a long-overdue stop toward meeting that goal.”

The intelligence authorization bill now includes language that would require the CIA to review the classification of those documents, with the intent of declassifying them.

Studies have shown that veterans exposed to sarin — which the military accidentally doused troops with when the 82nd Airborne Division destroyed an Iraqi chemical weapons dump in Khamisiyah in 1991 — are more likely to suffer from symptoms of Gulf War illness.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/military_gulfwar_cia_062309w/