Free Republic

WASHINGTON, July 27, 2005 – The Defense Department is again sending letters to thousands of Gulf War veterans exposed to low levels of chemical agents contained in munitions destroyed at a weapons depot in Khamisiyah, Iraq, in March 1991. A study released this week by the Institute of Medicine here concluded that veterans possibly exposed in that area appear to have a higher risk for brain cancer death than veterans who were not exposed. However, the study's authors said more research is needed to confirm their findings. This letter is the third DoD is sending to update Gulf War veterans...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Gulf War veterans exposed to chemical munitions at Khamisiyah, Iraq are nearly twice as likely as their unexposed peers from the same war to die from brain cancer, according to a report in the American Journal of Public Health. "We found an approximately twofold excess of brain cancer deaths, 12 to 13 excess deaths in a population of 100,000 veterans, associated with possible exposure to chemical warfare agents," Tim A. Bullman, from the Department of Veteran Affairs in Washington, DC, and colleagues report. In the new study, rates of death from specific causes for 100,487...

Toxic Tugs - Public Poisons by J.B. Stone - 04/17/02 What do Maryland, Utah, Alaska, Hawaii, Johnston Atoll, and the Marshall Islands have in common? BioChemical warfare tests were conducted in all of them behind a blinding haze of Cold War secrecy. And hardly a word of warning was ever issued, before during, or afterward the test conductors, subjects, or citizens living in surrounding areas. Marine jets and Army artillery sprayed "harmless simulants" and live biological and chemical agents on unsuspecting citizens for 15 years on land and sea during Operation Deseret. The randomly selected human test rats onboard ships...