Government: Gulf War Illness Doesn't Exist

[Tbird]

There is no such thing as Gulf War syndrome, even though U.S. and foreign veterans of the war report more symptoms of illness than do soldiers who didn't serve there, a federally funded study concludes.

Full story here http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,213483,00.html

[Berta]

Thanks for the link TBird- I heard this last night on Fox and couldn't believe what I heard!

Who are they kidding?

Watchdog LArry is right on this- here is the IOM report- and like Larry says- sameo to Agent Orange----

http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20newsflashe...9-13-2006-1.htm

The newly released Air Force study is there too re Agent Orange.

Edited September 13, 2006 by Berta

[Done wit this]

This one really hits home with me. I served in Saudi Arabia in 1991. I left the states 28 years old a very physically fit soilder ,well above average. I had been lifting weights and doing sports since age 14 boxing football, track and feild, and swimming. I ate bootcamp up like a stake dinner. I had all the drill instructers respect.

I volenteered for Desert Storm because I was Single and thought if I went some man with a family wouldn't have to go.That was my thoughts.

I never beleaved any of the war sicknesses existed and beleaved it was just soilders trying to get money.What comes around goes around .I now know for a fact that I as a young man did not know what the hell I was talking about. I am now one of them Veterans that came home different physically then when I was before the duty and it is unexplainable.

When we left the states we were vaccenated with air guns . We walked down a line of a least 12 vaccenations.Take a step get one one the right then another step get one on the left so on till at end of line ,at the end of line soilders laying passed out. This could be the sickness they the Vaccenation's were not ever given in a group with all the others combined together.

When we arrived in country .we got off the plane and the whole country stunk of sewage. because of the lack of good systems there in Saudi Arabia This could have something to do with it, it made you sick!!Then most all soilders iether drunk the water or at least brushed there teeth with the water.That made you sick for at least a week or two.there water system was as good as there sewage systems. That made you sick.

Then you had to deal with the Sand ,Flys and Sand fleas. This also Made you sick .If you ate at the chow hall then You shared it with the flys.They were everywhere.Again this made you sick. and the food was old fruits and vegatables that already had the flys eating it before the soilders received it. and the bug repellent we used made our skin burn and breathing the fumes from it made you feel like you were dieing.

Now after dealing with this your going to go to work 12 hours a day in 100 to 135 degrees all day every day.

The goverment is protecting you tough so your going to be fine . They are shooting them scuds down when in flight to your position. Wait .. does the scuds have biological crap in them ? The Goverment shoots them down and the crap inside them rains on the desert floor won't kill ya but I bet it would have some kind of effect on the soilders and anyone that walked in that area for years. This could be the gulf war sickness?

While your working you are now dealing with the oil fires the smoke is everyplace its like fog .especally in the morning when its only around 100 Degrees it lays on the desert floor like a big carpet you just sucked in enough of this crap to run a Tank. This could be it the Gulf war Sickness.

Or just maybe this Crap all combined has some combined effect on just some of the soilders with certain physical make ups certain nationalitys ,or blood types.

The 28 year old soilder is now one of the veterans that he thought was just trying to get money because he could, and now he has two screwed up shoulders and a bad right hip all of his major joints are swollen and hurt. The soilders Left eye Pupil is about half gone ? reading with noise in the background makes him angry ,he has problems concentrating if there is any kind of distraction. The duty the soilder did Changed his life The soilder does not know how or why but he now lives with the facts everyday all day. Now the Stupid young soilder has aged and knows how and why the past veterans, could have needed the VA,s help. And now the Goverment say's nothing could have made the soilders sick. It's like the VA and the Goverment are One. They are done with this soilder.His usable days are gone. Just junk that peice of hardware and get a new one. No sence in spending money on it its outdated and used up. Thats the cold hard facts. Now the older wiser soilder has to fight a war to get what he has already earned , The Care and Respect of his Country. What a god darn reward this is for being a Patriot !!! As a kid this is all I ever really wanted to be . No theres no such thing as Gulf War Illness. Its cheeper that way.Welcome to the VA!!

Macool

Edited September 13, 2006 by macool

[timetowinarace]

I find allot of problems with these studies.

A personal example.

There are actually few GW Vets that have a SC rating for undiagnosed illness. I was one of the few, but like all others, lost that rating when I became diagnosed. VA low balled me at 20% for years for undiagnosed condition even though I could barely function as told by me and everyone that knows me. Now I'm rated at 100% because I was hospitalized with a cuncusion during the war.

While many of my symtoms do fit with brain injury, many cannot be explained, and the ones that can are ALSO a common complaint of GWI vets.

Memory problems-My rating is for dementia-found in brain injury AND a high rate of GW vets

Severe headache-common to both

Severe fatigue-#1 complaint of GWI and a product of head injury-my original rating was for undiagnosed fatigue

Joint pain-not a product of head injury but I have it.

Multiple lipomas (fatty tumors)-single lipomas are common, multiple lipomas are somewhat rare, except in GW vets who have a high rate of them. I have 23 or so. I'm lumpy from tumors. NOT A PRODUCT OF HEAD INJURY

Anxiaty and depression-found in both.

Legs ache at night, body cannot get in shape no matter how hard I try, shortness of breath-Not a symptom of head injury.

I can go on but the point is made.

Nobody has been able address most of my problems. Yet I'm no longer considered as a sick GW veteran.

Time

[Done wit this]

SORRY GUYS I HAD TO VENT A LITTLE

Macool

[Patrick428]

I just wonder if any veterans from the Persian Gulf War are suprised at this finding? My son was a Navy Corpsman with a Marine unit in the Gulf War. He has filed claim after claim for problems related to that war and has been denied on every claim.

The VA did the same thing with we Vietnam veterans and it will take a strong organization of PGW vets to lobby Congress to get an independent study to confirm the existence of this syndrome. I remember the days that the mere mention of Agent Orange in the hallways of a VA facility was met with flat out, "there is no such thing as Agent Orange." Well it took many years and a lot of lobbying and study, but eventually the evidence showed a direct link to 12 disorders associated with Agent Orange.

I suspect the current veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan will fall to the same fate as the PGW vets when they begin to complain about many mysterious medical issues once they return. Albeit we as Vietnam vets learned and prevailed in our quest for justice. So too, has the VA learned, but learned how to skirt the issue more effectively than had been in the past.

Patrick

[Guest terrysturgis]

MY OBSERVATION. When my daughter graduated from basic traning at Fort Leonard Wood two years ago part of the ceremony was having previous war veterans stand up to be recognized. WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, Gulf war Desert Storm and Iraq. When the Gulf war veterans stood up they looked to me as if they were twenty years older than us Viet Nam vets that stood up. It hit me then and there that they obviously have health concerns. I pray that the system recognizes the problems and does the right thing to rectify the situation. The denial of any problem is not the answer. These Veterans need help and they need it NOW. Terry Sturgis