Bush Family War Crimes - 2 of 5 Gulf War vets on disability 209,000
make VA claims,
2 of 5 Gulf War vets on disability 209,000 make VA claims, 161,000
getting payments

Posted: January 25, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

http://tinyurl.com/3w58v



© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com



As the U.S. contemplates another war on Iraq in the coming weeks,
most Americans expect relatively few casualties among the U.S.
troops – just like the first Gulf War.

The Gulf War was remarkable, as U.S. conflicts go, for the
strikingly low number of U.S. dead and wounded – 148 killed and 467
wounded.

But the truth is nearly two of every five of the approximately
540,000 Gulf War vets are on disability as a result of illnesses
they believe they sustained during that conflict.

About 161,000 Gulf War veterans are receiving disability payments
from the U.S. government. About 209,000 have filed VA claims.

A report made public earlier this month details which chemical
weapons Iraq declared and the companies they claim supplied them.
The disclosure is providing ammo for vets who say they have Gulf War
Syndrome – a mysterious illness many believe is connected to the use
of chemical weapons by Iraq.

More than 5,000 veterans are plaintiffs in a lawsuit that accuses
companies of helping Iraqi President Saddam Hussein build his
chemical warfare arsenal. The plaintiffs are among the tens of
thousands who came down with Gulf War Syndrome, a debilitating
series of ailments that can include chronic fatigue, skin rashes,
muscle joint pain, memory loss and brain damage.

Now, plaintiffs' attorneys have acquired, for the first time, what
they believe is strong evidence of which companies supplied Iraq the
chemicals that might have been used to produce mustard gas, sarin
nerve gas and VX.

The supplier list is included in Iraq's 1998 weapons declaration to
the United Nations, parts of which were resubmitted to weapons
inspectors last month. The Iraqi list names 56 suppliers of
chemicals and equipment to process them. A majority are based in
Europe.

The lawsuit, originally filed by plaintiff attorney Gary Pitts in a
civil court in Brazoria County, Texas, in 1994, alleges that
companies knew "products and/or manufacturing facilities
supplied ... were to be used to produce chemical and biological
weapons."

The suit seeks at least $1 billion in damages for medical expenses,
lost wages, pain and suffering.

Germany is home to the top suppliers listed in Iraq's 1998 U.N.
declaration. The Netherlands and Switzerland each are home to three
companies on the list. France, Austria and the United States each
are home to two. The declaration says Singapore was the largest
exporter of chemical weapons precursors.

Neither American company listed – Alcolac International, based in
Baltimore, and Al-Haddad Trading, based in Nashville, are still in
business. Alcolac paid a fine in 1989 under U.S. law for one charge
of exporting thiodiglycol, a chemical that could be used to make
mustard gas, but that shipment was destined for another country.

If indeed that many U.S. soldiers were really sickened as a result
of exposure to chemical weapons in Iraq, U.S. casualties were nearly
as high as those claimed by Iraq.

Baghdad put its losses at 75,000 to 100,000 soldiers killed in
action and 35,000 to 45,000 civilians killed by allied bombing. U.S.
officials estimated 100,000 Iraqi soldiers killed and 300,000
wounded, and 2,500 to 3,000 Iraqi civilians killed by bombing.

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