projects.is.asu.edu/pipermail/hpn/2000-August/001119.html
However advocates that worked with Vietnam veterans will all too clearly see paralels to precursors of their work. It is also some more facts for why a Bush--Cheney ticket may have yet more stuff to answer for than it wants to. In early 1991, Agent Orange Vietnam veterans finally got recognized by Congress in a long needed compensation bill. Cheney dragged his and his administration's heels on Agent Orange vet recognition for their 2 years in power up to then. It was also during Cheney's DOD watch that Persian Gulf War veterans (within 30 days of the start) began presenting with the serious symptoms later named Gulf War Syndrome. Cheney dragged his heels on the needs of the sick vets from this combat, too. Without adequate research or fact collecting, Cheney's DOD publically began connecting Gulf War Syndrome vets' debilitating symptoms to: old football injuries, rashs like civilians have, poor dental care, male pattern baldness and plain ole depression. In that same year, 1991, the DOD buried early reporting by Czech troops that troops were exposed to chemical agents. The DOD did not admit to seeing this report in 1991 until the next administration. VA physicians were prohibited from exploring the possibility of chemical and biological agent exposure due to DOD denial that they were used. The doctors did not feel safe enough in their positions to publicize that until the change in administrations. Anthony Principi, #2 in the Veteran's Affairs Department and a Vietnam vet himself, wanted to open a registry for Gulf War vets similar to the Agent Orange vet registry to track future health problems. He was told no and even chastised for puting the idea in a trackable memo. The VA's reasoning was that the DOD could not afford the number of Gulf vets who might register their medical needs. The VA/DOD argument over what diagnostic code might apply to sick Gulf vets began then behind closed doors. In 1992, under Cheney, The DOD reported to Congress on the conduct of the Pers ian Gulf War. They reported that "In the beginning of the deployment, the services were not adequately prepared to deal with the full range of CW (chemical warfare)/BW (biological warfare). It was also when many Americans learned, for the first time, that the Bush administration had secretly and illegally supplied many of the chemical and biological agents in Iraq's weapons arsenal before our war with them. That revelation meant that, as a country, we may have contributed to the death and disability of thousands of our own troops. Many political pundits share the belief that the fact of our own contribution may have been at the heart of the Bush administration's snail-slow recognition of Gulf War Syndrome. All are considered "Gulf War Conflict" veterans by the VA. Of the remaining 312,978 (575,978 less 263,000), 183,629 (32%) filed claims for service-related medical disabilities. Bush Republican team have to answer for: An estimated 9,600 veterans have died of their symptoms since their Persian Gulf War service. Peterburg, Florida 33713 727-527-9764 or 7221 YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET!
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