Gulf War Syndrome : The Public Policy Quagmire

Thousands of U.S. soldiers who served during the 1991 Persian Gulf War reported an assortment of debilitating symptoms after the war ended. Their health complaints included short-term memory loss, painful joints, organ failure, shortness of breath, and many of them died without knowing how or why they got sick. Members of Coalition forces from different countries also reported similar symptoms. Scientists, doctors and Congressional investigators who sought answers encountered unresponsive bureaucrats and political intrigues at the highest levels. Researchers who delved deeper were discredited or received death threats. Collectively, their work provided strong circumstantial evidence that men and women who served in the war were exposed to biological and chemical agents, as a result of fallout from exploding Iraqi munitions that contained dangerous substances, or from the investigational prophylactics that military officials administered to soldiers in preparation for Desert Storm.