The suspected culprit? A deadly syndrome called Gulf War Illness which, despite $150 million and years of studies, remains elusive. Potential causes could be the unproved vaccines and drugs that were forced on troops, oil-well fire pollution, radiation from allied-forces Depleted Uranium Munitions, or an especially horrific case of friendly fire, the exposure of more than 100,000 service members to chemical warfare agents when US forces conducted demolition operations at Khamisiyah.
Despite the debilitating physical and emotional consequences of Gulf War Illness, however, vets were denied treatment for many years and still face an uphill battle in getting proper support or compensation. The US Department for Veterans' Affairs has been accused of withholding death and disability statistics so as not to undermine the administration's case for another Gulf war, and only a few weeks ago, almost 12 years after the fact, was a study finally published stating that Gulf War Illness is not "just in the minds" of sufferers.
But factors such as veteran disability and suffering are not part of the administration's world-domination equation: an unlimited number of fresh young troops is necessary for an unlimited war and if the toxic dangers they will face are even greater than those before them (given the emphasis on ground warfare) then so be it. Simple message: service members are heroes when fighting, but when not in battle they are an expendable liability.
Despite the debilitating physical and emotional consequences of Gulf War Illness, however, vets were denied treatment for many years and still face an uphill battle in getting proper support or compensation. The US Department for Veterans' Affairs has been accused of withholding death and disability statistics so as not to undermine the administration's case for another Gulf war, and only a few weeks ago, almost 12 years after the fact, was a study finally published stating that Gulf War Illness is not "just in the minds" of sufferers.
But factors such as veteran disability and suffering are not part of the administration's world-domination equation: an unlimited number of fresh young troops is necessary for an unlimited war and if the toxic dangers they will face are even greater than those before them (given the emphasis on ground warfare) then so be it. Simple message: service members are heroes when fighting, but when not in battle they are an expendable liability.