Posted on 10/25/2002 7:42:39 AM PDT by Deadeye Division
Sniper suspect served near chemicals tied to Gulf War malady
10/25/02
David Wood
Newhouse News Service
Washington - The Washington sniper suspect, John Allen Muhammad, may have been exposed to chemical weapons that have been linked to Gulf War Syndrome, an illness which experts said can result in unexplained bouts of intense violence.
Muhammad, arrested early yesterday as a prime suspect in the Washington area shootings, served with the Army's 84th Engineer Company during the Persian Gulf War, military officers said.
That unit, attached to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, helped inspect, catalog and destroy extensive stockpiles of Iraqi chemical weapons at a depot near Khamisiyah, Iraq, in March 1991 after the cease-fire March 3, Pentagon records show.
According to Defense Department and CIA documents, the 84th Engineers handled the Iraqi chemical weapons stored in bunkers at the Tall al Lahm Storage Depot South and Tall al Lahm Ammo Storage Facility near Khamisiyah.
The 84th Engineers also helped demolish Iraqi rockets filled with the deadly nerve agent Sarin during March 10-13, 1991, Pentagon documents show. The process of blowing up the rockets may have vaporized dangerous amounts of the nerve agent, Pentagon investigators later concluded.
According to a final Pentagon report on the issue, "U.S. troops may have been exposed to chemical agents that are a suspected cause of Gulf War Syndrome."
Gulf War Syndrome is the name now applied to a variety of complaints that can range from mild headaches and dizziness to illnesses such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Out of the roughly 540,000 American troops who served in Desert Storm, some 175,000 are thought to have some form of the neurological and neuro-immune illnesses that have been documented so far.
"Once it came out that he had a military background, I said this must be a Gulf War veteran," said Dr. William E. Baumzweiger, a Los Angeles neurologist and psychiatrist who specializes in treating Gulf War Syndrome patients.
"There is no doubt that a small but significant number of Gulf War veterans become homicidal" because of Gulf War Syndrome, said Baumzweiger, a leading expert on the syndrome.
He said in such cases "there was always a bizarre strangeness about the violence in that it seemed to come out of nowhere. There were no personal problems or longstanding history" to explain it. The violence, he said, "appears to just come out of thin air."
Experts on Gulf War Syndrome said Muhammad's behavior fits precisely the patterns exhibited by some other Gulf War veterans.
"This kind of bizarre story, where he is on the one hand killing people and on the other hand writing notes to the government basically pleading for help, that's a typical story you see in Gulf War veterans," Baumzweiger said.
Muhammad earned the standard medals and ribbons given to soldiers "if you haven't gotten in trouble," said one officer familiar with his records. These include the Army Service Ribbon and the National Defense Service Medal.
But as troops came home from the war in 1991, they began to report unexplained medical symptoms. It can take as long as five years for Gulf War Syndrome symptoms to appear.
It was not immediately clear yesterday whether Muhammad ever exhibited any symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome or sought help from veterans agencies.
Let's use that factoid to show why we need a regime change in Iraq.
Nor his aim.
Whoop! There it is!
This was so predictable ... and of course will be what his lawyers use in his defense.
LOL and they deny a lot of other things as well. Obviously this guy snapped...lost it...went crazy...whatever you want to call it. Interesting enough GWS has been connected to just this type of thing. I wouldn't dismiss it as being part of the problem with this guy. Whether it is an excuse or not...well that is another subject matter.
Personally, I am too. In most cases. But not this one.
I may be wrong, but I don't think many, conservative or liberal, will by this crap. Sure, a "dream team" of lawyers might try to get a jury to believe it, but it just ain't gonna work in this case.
I am too, but I might be able to make an exception on this one. As far as the death penalty goes, I would like to see life in prison be WAY worse than being killed--make 'em spend the rest of their life WISHING we would kill them.
First, Muhammad is black. Everyone knows that as a black man, he has been repressed and rejected by his country. His whole life has been a struggle because of his skin color. He had no country, no home, no life, because of the evil white man.
The government trained Muhammad to be a killer. He was trained to shoot a gun, and actually was commended for his shooting prowess by the government. He was told to go to war and kill.
While at the war the government forced him to go to, he was exposed to various chemicals, some from our government and some from Iraq. Again, he didn't want to be there, but was forced by the government.
He returned home, and because of the problems that were caused by forced exposure to dangerous chemicals, the government kicked Muhammad out of the military.
That after he was kicked out of the military, and was rejected by the government, he was unable to care for his family, who thusly rejected him also, and left him.
He was now homeless, and because of the policies of the Bush administration, and the economic distress caused by the Bush administration economic policies, Muhammad was left homeless, penniless, and without food.
After the incidents of 9/11, and the anti muslim fervor that was rampent in the government, and the US, Muhammad now felt totally rejected by not only the government, but the people of America.
That because of all of the above, Muhammad felt that he had no way to get help or get his distressful position noticed other than to go to extreme measures.
In other words, it is the fault of the US, the Government, and the people of the country. It is not his fault. He has severe mental problems. We need to treat his problems
I can just see this coming.
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