Something has made thousands of veterans of the war in the Persian Gulf sick. The veterans believe they were exposed to chemical and biological agents. Pentagon officials can't find conclusive proof the veterans were gassed or poisoned by Iraq or anyone else, because some of the reported symptoms are inconsistent with past accounts of exposure to chemical warfare agents. All the more puzzling, veterans from the same units suffer from different symptoms.
The government has assembled a panel of medical experts to see what it can learn about the illness being termed "Gulf War Syndrome." Among the questions that need to be answered are these:- Could Saddam Hussein have developed a new chemical agent that lies dormant for weeks or months before the victim develops any symptoms?
- Were troops stationed near a Saudi fertilizer plant exposed to such "everyday" chemicals as ammonia and chlorine that may have interacted with other chemicals present on base?
- Did clouds of chemicals from destroyed Iraqi weapons plants drift over Saudi bases and affect the troops?
- Did smoke from burning Kuwaiti oil wells cause untold damage to lungs and respiratory systems?
- Did "friendly allied troops" have their own chemical agents in the field that might have affected some Americans?
The answers to these and other questions may not be forthcoming for months - if at all. Nearly three years have passed since some of the incidents.
At Utah's Dugway Proving Ground, some chemical warfare suits used in the Persian Gulf are awaiting tests. Officials at Dugway are not allowed to say if the testing is part of the overall search for leads into Gulf War Syndrome. They will say that the suits were not field-tested for chemicals while in the gulf.
To the Pentagon's credit, it hasn't dismissed the veterans' ailments outright. Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange waited some 20 years for the government to acknowledge the defoliant could be the cause of some of their medical problems.
The Gulf War veterans and their families are faring a little better, though some may be impatient at the slowness of the investigation. The Pentagon's new panel of experts will cover much the same ground. Even if the source of the illness remains a mystery for some time, health experts can continue to treat the veterans as if they were exposed to deadly chemicals. That's far different from the roadblock the government put in front of Agent Orange victims.
The Pentagon needs to quickly conclude its tests - at Dugway and elsewhere - and provide the health-care professionals with the information they need to treat Gulf War Syndrome. Let's not prolong the suffering - or the uncertainty - of either the veterans or their loved ones.