The Department of Defense has consciously denied that any of its service

members were ever exposed to chemical weapons during the Gulf War. From the

start, the Pentagon viewed the primary cause of Gulf War syndrome to be stress

related, or all in the veterans' heads. This hard line comes partly from the fact that

the military is performance oriented and unexplained sickness opens the door for

malingering or cowardice behavior. Stephen Joseph, assistant secretary of the

defense for health affairs, said when a large number of young people are sent to a

stressful environment, a portion of that population of that population will return

home with a variety of illnesses (Waldman, 1996).

In 1994, the Department of Defense even commissioned a task force, The

Defense Science Board, to study Gulf War syndrome. The board concluded that

there was no evidence of chemical weapons on the battlefield and that no troops

had been exposed to chemical weapons during the Gulf War. Even up until five

years after the Gulf War, the Department of Defense maintained that service

members had not been exposed to chemical weapons. At the same time, tens of

thousands of Gulf War veterans were reporting health problems (Waldman, 1996).

Gulf War veteran Paul Sullivan, founder of the National Gulf War Research

Center, said that "the Departement of Defense is engaged in one of the most

serious cover-ups in the history of military affairs." Jay Rockefeller, senator

from Virginia who has repeatedly confronted the Pentagon on Gulf War

syndrome, said that regardless of whether the cause of the aliments are stress or

physiological, we owe the veterans "a hell of an obligation" (Waldman, 1996).

Joseph said it would be an understatement to say that Khamisiyah destroyed any

credibility the Department of Defense had and threw everything into further

uncertainty for the department (Palfreman, 1998).

There is little room for controversy about the chemical exposure that the

Gulf War veterans encountered during the war. Preventative measures taken

by the U.S. military ensured that all service members were inoculated with anthrax

for biological attacks and took Pyridostigmine Bromide (PB) pills for chemical

attacks. U.S. troops were exposed to petrochemical hazards from oil well fires,

pesticides were heavily used by the military to destroy sand fleas, insect repellants

were commonly used by service members to get rid of fleas and insects, diesel

fuel were sprayed around camps to reduce wind blown sand, depleted uranium

tank rounds werre exposed across the battlefield, and there was possible exposure

to nerve agents and mustard gas as the result of exploding Iraqi depots such as

in Khamisiyah. One or more, or a combination of these items could

be a reason for the veterans' illness (Walden, 1996).

Since 1992, Gulf War veterans have long maintained that the Department

of Defense has known more than they were saying about the chemical exposure

during the Gulf War. After the Pentagon refused to hear the veterans' claims, the

veterans began a campaign to be recognized and get proper treatment. They did

this by using a grass-roots approach involving their local newspapers,

congressmen, and the internet to expose their problems to the public. However,

the veterans' cries for help only received regional exposure and never gained

national attention until the Pentagon admitted to the chemical exposure in 1996

(Waldman, 1996).

Dave Parks of the Birmingham News started reporting on veterans who

seemed to have a mysterious illness in 1992. The veterans from a U.S. Navy

construction unit "Sea Bees" described an apparent chemical attack at their camp

near the Part of Jubayl in Saudi Arabia. After the attack, the veterans experienced

a variey of symptoms ranging from burning sensations on their skin to numb

lips to their breathing passages being clogged up. After the Gulf War, the Sea Bees

said they had respiratory problems, blackouts, rashes and fatigue. CNN, which

gave the Gulf War syndrome more air time than the three major networks, was the

only network to follow-up on Park's interview with the Sea Bees (McKenna, 1997).

A few veterans became investigative reporters themselves in the absence

of national media interest. The most important aspect of their investigations

was filing for Freedom of Information Act requests for key military

documents. They also showed wartime military logs that contained reports of

mustard and nerve gas to media and congress. The veterans then prompted several

investigations by congress on the subject of the Gulf War syndrome. The first

public forum on Gulf War illness was the Senate Banking Committee's hearings

(McKenna, 1997).

The Senate Banking Committee's hearings first questioned the possible

cause of Gulf War syndrome as having been from a low-level chemical exposure.

The committee looked at whether the chemical attack near the Port of Jubayl

caused the sick Sea Bees as stated in the Birmingham News. The senators also

examined the nerve-agent pill (PB) given to service members during the war to see

if the pills may have been the cause of neurological problems. Additionally, the

senators heard testimonies from spouses who were showing their own symptoms

and expressing their concerns over birth defects connected to the illness. (McKenna,

1997).

By the end of 1994, the veteran's investigation had ended inconclusively

and their efforts turned them to the media for help. The Gulf War veterans

continued their uphill battle for recognition of health problems. The major news-

papers published a few stories on the syndrome by running Associated Press

stories on the Health Organizations report or Pentagon press releases. The Los

Angeles Times relied largely on Senate investigations and Department of

Defense reports. Both news organizations did little or no follow-up on their stories.

The Washington Post's David Brown wrote a series attempting to discredit the

veterans' claims and reflecting the Department of Defense's view. There was no

atttempt by the national media to aggressively cover the unexplained illness

(McKenna, 1997).

In 1995, the major U.S. news organizations did not provide much help

to the veterans, but three major events did. First, late night television "Nightline"

drew the attention of Hillary Rodham Clinton by focusing on children born with

birth defects of Gulf War veterans. The first lady's concern led to the Presidential

Advisory Committee which was formed to investigate the the Gulf War illness.

(Waldman, 1996). Second, there was a declassification by the Central Intelligence

Agency (CIA) of thousands of wartime documents and logs. The Pentagon also

created a website called Gulflink, allowing veterans access to wartime documents

and information concerning Gulf War illness to the public (EXDIR, Centra

Intelligence Agency, 1996). Finally, Ed Bradley of "60 minutes" did a show in March

1995 showing the veterans' predicament (Plafreman, 1998).