Toxins blamed in Gulf illness - New committee refutes idea that stress is cause
Subject: "Some" people are like Moses in de Nile................
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 14:06:14 -0500
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read a 01/26/02 article from the Birmingham News entitled: Toxins blamed in Gulf illness - New committee refutes idea that stress is cause by DAVE PARKS - News staff writer.
The chairman of a new research committee on Gulf War illnesses said Friday, exposures to toxins such as chemical warfare agents, pesticides and smoke from oil well fires are likely causing many of the mysterious health problems reported by Desert Storm veterans.
``I believe the answer is somewhere in that mix of exposures," James H. Binns Jr. said in a telephone interview. ``It may be different causes for different people."
Binns, a businessman from Arizona, discounted the Pentagon's contention that stress caused the illnesses. ``I don't think that makes any sense at all," he said.
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi this week appointed Binns chairman of a 12-member panel that will make recommendations on research into Gulf War illnesses. Creating the committee was viewed as a move by the Bush administration to resolve painful issues surrounding Desert Storm diseases.
The committee includes veteran advocates and private-sector researchers who have been studying the illnesses for years and reaching conclusions contrary to official positions.
``There is reason to believe the tide is changing," Binns said. ``We do have the support from Secretary Principi to look at areas that have been off limits."
About 100,000 troops returned from the 1991 Persian Gulf War reporting a myriad of difficult-to-diagnose ailments, including memory loss, aching joints and fatigue. The illnesses were collectively called Gulf War syndrome, and many veterans feared they were linked to toxic exposures. Suspicions focused on smoke from oil well fires, low levels of chemical warfare agents released by destruction of Iraqi munitions and pesticides, along with shots, pills and vaccines administered by the military.
The Pentagon blamed stress.
The issue has festered amid turmoil over health care and disability benefits for veterans.
Stephen L. Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resources Center, an advocacy organization for veterans, is a member of the new committee and believes there are still obstacles to resolving problems.
There are ``entrenched bureaucratic researchers and scientists" at the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense who are reluctant to seriously consider the possibility of toxic exposures during the war, he said. They may have an impact on the committee's work, he said.
``If we make a recommendation and it's not adhered to, we're going to have a problem," he said. ``It's of concern to us."
Nonetheless, he said creation of the committee was among recent developments indicating a shift in momentum toward veterans. He cited a VA study showing that Gulf War veterans carried almost twice the normal risk of developing a rare and deadly nerve illness, Lou Gehrig's disease.
``For the last 10 years we've been told, `It's all in your heads,'" Robinson said. ``And now, science is proving us right."
Another committee member, Dr. Robert Haley, chief of epidemiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said the Bush administration has made a ``major turn" in resolving the Gulf War dilemma. It is time to define Gulf War illnesses and their causes, develop diagnostic tests, find treatments and create strategies for prevention, he said.
Haley, who has extensively studied Gulf War veterans from Alabama, said the new committee is a result of a campaign promise by President Bush to deal with the issue. He said it was a key reason Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot, who initially financed Haley's research, supported Bush in the election.
``The Clinton administration was very happy to cover this up with PR," Haley said. ``The Bush administration is going to take this on. They've brought in some guys with some real guts."
Principi along with VA Deputy Secretary Leo Mackay Jr. are up against significant opposition within the VA and Pentagon, he said.
``It's a courageous move," Haley said. ``This is going to be very unpopular with the holdovers from the previous administration who are still in powerful positions."
Source url: http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/1012040104244852.xml
Well Mr. Helliker, It is interesting "they" are blaming the cover-up on the previous Clinton administration when it was Bush Sr.'s war. Hide in de Nile all you want, more and more people now know that your "registered" POISONS KILL/INJURE! When will safe and far more effective (unregistered) alternatives be "legal" in your opinion? Come out of de NIle!
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
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