From the Hartford Courant, an editorial response
Gulf War veterans deserve the truth about illnesses
by Charles Regulbuto

That there is not any Gulf War syndrome coverup was alleged by syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer in his article published in the Hartford Courant on Dec. 22, 1996. His column contains a case built exclusively upon veterans' potential exposure to poison gas only, without consideration to other chemical exposures, including those from our own government, or of biological agents.

While Krauthammer's article is merely a personal opinion, it contains misleading and incomplete statements. This is an affront and disservice to the Gulf veterans and a perpetuation of the coverup he joins in denying while using his column in the attempt to delude us into assuming him unbiased and informed.

Moreover, in that column he decries the American vet for demanding public and media attention and "coming as victims." That is not only insulting and outrageous, it is heartless. Of course they are victims, and of course they demand public attention; it is the only way they can get response and results against the elitist, selfish, career-saving military and government establishment.

It is the Vietnam Agent Orange and the atomic fallout issue all over again. The victims were guilty until they proved themselves innocent - when admissions of guilt and causes of diseases were 35 years late. Our Gulf vets don't deserve that, and they don't deserve Krauthammer's tunnel vision.
He has apparently succumbed to the Washingtonian disease of gullibility and half-truths contracted by the Pentagon, the Defense Department, the Veterans Administration, and the Washington insiders over the past five years. He conveniently limits his case to the oft-quoted syndrome of "muscle pains, fatigue, memory loss, mood changes, intestinal disorders, and rashes." While admittedly those symptoms are serious and concerning in and of themselves, and possible predecessors of more debilitating and disabling diseases, he omits the many cases of cancer, ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, and other life-threatening illnesses among the Gulf vets.

Further, he conveniently avoids any reference to the potential causes of these diseases other than the direct exposure to poison gas, and thus presumes that if there was not direct exposure then there are not any Gulf War-caused illnesses, despite the several other types and extent of direct and indirect exposures.
To the point, he ignores the fact that many thousands of troops in the Gulf were given the chemical Pyridostigmine in pills or injections, untested and not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, to protect them from organophosphate chemicals like the nerve gas Sarin. Then he assumes that there could not be a coverup since even minute exposure to Sarin is instantly deadly. But obviously exposure to organophosphates through chemical ingestion can and has caused nerve damage among vets over time.

In fact, Pyridostigmene has been determined to actually trigger and cause the identical, long-lasting, central nervous system illnesses and disabilities it was supposed to prevent, such as loss of the use of arms and legs. He makes no mention either of the Israeli report which released the data and disclosed that the United States and its allies used Pyridostigmene, and disclosed that under stress that chemical enters the brain and causes damage to the central nervous system. Such damage then can mimic or trigger serious diseases and disabilities.

He also conveniently avoids the fact that over the past five years the military has continuously exposed our troops and their families to pesticides at both Gulf and U.S. bases. This exposure by itself, let alone compounded with Pyridostigmene, can likely cause serious and long-lasting illnesses.

And we learn from a former CIA analyst that Iraq developed biological agents specifically designed to affect troops exposed to it with diseases four to five years later. That timeframe certainly rings a bell, but apparently not to Krauthammer. That analyst and many other witnesses contend that 400,000 troops were given Pyridostigmene, and that likely 100,000 to 250,000 have an illness, disease, or disability. It is well-documented, too, that U.S. companies with government approval sold the chemical and biological agents used by Iraq in its arsenal.

The tragic irony of it all now is that the Pentagon, Defense Department, VA, and the government continue to stonewall the truth by ignoring, refusing, and avoiding disclosure of just how many cases of cancers, ALS, etc. have been diagnosed among Gulf vets. It is inconceivable that the massive military and governmental machine does not have that data. Yet the families of afflicted vets have been unable to find out how many among the returning troops have been stricken with each illness.

All that the afflicted veterans and their families want is disclosure of the truth and the facts so that they can get treatments for the causes. They are not trying to fix the blame, but to fix the problem. Those in our government liable for this wounding of our troops and for the coverup must live with it in their consciences for all time. But they must not be allowed to further deter disclosure of the truth. Medicine, not money, is the issue.

And now we learn that an experimental drug, Myotrophin, which may help diseases of the nervous system, was quietly given by lottery on a recent weekend to only 100 of 1,000 Gulf vets since more had not been made by the drug company. Outrageous. Each of the vets who have those diseases and who want the drug should get it.

Meanwhile, the president has announced a national program to treat and cure AIDS and provided millions in funding. But despite his rhetoric as to "leaving no stone unturned to help the Gulf War vets," he's done nothing. Of the president on down, the American public must demand the end to incompetence, subterfuge, and irresponsibility in this issue. The facts and data as to all exposures and all potential causes must be disclosed and thus a crash program for determining and developing treatment for the Gulf War illnesses must be expedited - now, not in five more years. I'm sure all the Gulf vets wish Charles Krauthammer the same for the new year as he's wished them.