"There's a good reason why our government tends to deny claims that our troops were exposed to chemical attack in the Gulf War -- because they were!"
In the March issue of The American Legion Magazine, editor Joe Stuteville records the unsettling accusations made by a husband-and-wife team of former CIA analysts regarding the exposure of American troops to chemical agents during the Gulf War, and the subsequent efforts of our own government to cover up that exposure. Stuteville reports that Patrick and Robin Eddington are "convinced our troops were not only exposed to the residual effects of chemicals from the destruction of Iraqi ammo bunkers, but also sustained direct chemical attacks. The Eddingtons," he continues, "also allege that the Department of Defense and [the CIA] have pursued a policy of 'deceit and disinformation' in debunking claims that thousands of ailing Desert Storm veterans are casualties of secret chemical warfare."
The afflictions of the Gulf War veterans cannot be denied, however. "Many today continue to suffer from unexplained chronic fatigue and flu-like symptoms, digestive and respiratory problems, hair loss, and aching joints," says Stuteville. "Research into what could be causing many of their ills is ongoing, with more than 70 independent studies investigating all potential causes, including chemical agent exposures, anti-nerve agent inoculations U.S. troops were given when they were deployed to the Gulf region, and exposure to fallout from burning oil wells and other toxic wastes."
The question remains, Why would the U.S. government want to cover up injuries to its own military forces? According to Stuteville, Patrick Eddington offers "two grim and compelling reasons why the government would stonewall on the chemical exposure issue." The first revolves around the origin of the chemical agents. Pursuing an investigation on their own initiative, Eddington and his wife discovered "U.S. military documents revealing that some of the Iraqi chemical weapons found bore the markings of having been produced by U.S. firms -- agents and components that might have been sold to Iraq during its war with Iran." The American officials responsible for that ill-advised transfer of toxins would undoubtedly prefer to remain unknown.
Eddington's second supposition of a cause for cover-up concerns "military resolve on the battlefield," says Stuteville. "When Hussein threatened to let loose with a barrage of chemical weapons on the eve of the war, the United States and its allies said the response would render Iraq a battered wasteland." If Hussein did indeed make good on his threat without incurring the promised retaliation, rogue nations such as Iran, North Korea, and Syria have undoubtedly drawn some provocative conclusions about American diffidence. The American officials responsible for this invitation to terror may also covet anonymity.
Why is Patrick Eddington championing the cause of Gulf War veterans? "I'm a veteran," he explains, "and it hurts me to think that these are my fellow veterans who are suffering from a variety of illnesses related to their service. It's criminal," Eddington concludes, "if our government is following a deliberate path of turning its back on them."
