This editorial appeared in The Anchorage Daily News.
The official U.S. government response to claims of Gulf War illness has run from skepticism to outright denial.
This week's report by the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illness should put an end to doubt. Contrary to government claims, debilitating symptoms are not likely from battlefield stress and other psychological factors. The council, made up of scientists and veterans and working on marching orders from Congress, lays the blame on exposure to pesticides and the PB (pyridostigmine bromide) pills taken to thwart the effects of nerve gas.
With one in four of the 697,000 Gulf War vets reporting some level of the same symptoms, the lights should have gone on a long time ago in the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
One in four – and yet these 172,000 veterans have had to deal with a government that simply didn't believe them.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Anchorage Daily News.