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CounterPunch
November
1, 2002
Johnny Gulf
War Syndrome?
Chemical Weapons and Homicidal Mania
by WILLIAM HUGHES
On Oct. 28, 2002, Robert Flores Jr., flunking
out at the U. of Arizona Nursing School, shot and killed three
of his professors, then killed himself. He had also threatened
to blow up a school building. He had no prior criminal record.
His fellow students had described him as acting "very rude
and obnoxious." He was a Gulf War veteran.
During a two week period in October,
2002, John Allen Williams, a/k/a John Allen Muhammad, allegedly
went on a wild killing spree that left ten innocent victims dead,
while terrorizing the nation's capital and its environs. A former
intimate friend, who had known him in the 90s back in Washington
state, said "John, to me, was a regular guy." Before
leaving that state for the East coast, associates had noticed,
however, a sharp change for the worse in his personality. He
had become more "belligerent." Like Flores, he had
no prior criminal record. Muhammad, too, had served honorably
in the Gulf War theater. Timothy McVeigh admitted setting the
bomb in the Oklahoma federal building, that killed 168, including
19
children, and injured 500 others, on April 19, 1995. He was executed
for that mad, cowardly crime. Like Flores and Muhammad, he had
a clean criminal record before going off the proverbial deep
end. In fact, he had been described as a "very shy guy,
who liked to drive old beat up cars." He was a registered
Republican, too. McVeigh had also served his country in the Gulf
War. In fact, he'd held the rank of sergeant and had received
the Bronze Star decoration.
When McVeigh was executed, on June 11,
2001, President George W. Bush Jr. said, " [He] met the
fate that he chose for himself six years ago." Really? Did
McVeigh, alone, willingly choose his fate, or did someone else,
more powerful and knowledgeable of the perils that he faced,
and, in breach of the public trust, help influence his choices
by exposing him to harmful chemicals?
It was George W. Bush Sr., who, in 1991,
sent McVeigh, Flores and Muhammad into harm's way in the first
Gulf War. This was a war from which "an estimated 50,000
to 60,000" U.S. troops returned home suffering from the
harmful physical and psychological effects of the "Gulf
War Syndrome" (Sources, 'Chemical Reaction;" "Depleted
Uranium: Education Projection;" and "Gulf Link"
Web Sites).
Soldiers in that conflict, like the cited
three, were potentially exposed to enormous levels of toxicity,
biological agents, and poisons that included, among other harmful
ingredients, "oil smoke, nerve gas, vaccines, depleted uranium,
fuel, insecticides, and anti-nerve-gas medicines" (CR site).
Verified adverse health effects from
depleted uranium (DU) exposure alone include a medical condition
known as "neuro-pyschological disorders," according
to a study by Dr. Doug Rokke, presented to the British House
of Commons on Dec. 16, 1999. Some of the possible hazards of
the use of DU were known to the administration of Bush Sr., prior
to the Gulf War, according to a published U.S. Defense Nuclear
Agency memo (DU:EP site). DU is an extremely dense material that
makes a shell that can easily penetrate steel. The problem, according
to the medical experts, is that people can inhale the tiny particles
of burning DU and that this heavy metal is both poisonous and
radioactive. Now, Bush Jr. is hell bent on placing yet another
generation of idealistic American warriors into that same kind
of deadly environment, along with thousands of innocent Iraqis.
Based on the record that we now have
before us, could Flores, Muhammad and McVeigh, have been suffering
from a "neuro-psychological disorder," or some debilitating
medical condition like it, still unnamed, at the time they went
on their criminal rampages? What other rational explanation is
there to show how these three men (and probably many more like
them) abruptly went from being model patriots, to accused raving
homicidal maniacs? During the Gulf War alone, the U.S. left 600,000
pounds of radioactive waste containing DU from its use of these
"dirty bombs." The same kind of weapon is being used
as a "bunker bomb" in the conflict in Afghanistan,
and was used, too, in the Balkan War. Iraqi children exposed
to DU have experienced a "12 fold increase in leukemia and
lymphoma." European veterans of the 1995 Yugoslavian conflict,
from nine NATO member countries, have also suffered from DU's
effects. Serious medical complaints are presently pouring in
to authorities from soldiers, and civilians, too, who served
there and/or who were residents of the impacted areas (DU:EP
site).
Israel, too, is suspected of using DU
weapons against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza (See,
John Catalinotto and Sara Flounders' investigatory report, International
Action Center, Nov. 27, 2000). The authors believe that Israel
is "DU-armed and capable and that shielding on Israeli tanks
is DU-enforced" (DU:EP site).
Closer to home, there is another shocking
development, which is causing the War Party to shake in its collective
boots. A month ago, Marylanders supported Bush's proposal to
take military action in Iraq by a 44 percent to 37 percent margin.
A poll, dated October 30, reveals that, despite all the warmongering
from the likes of: Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX),
Sen. Trent Lott (R-MI), and the insufferably pompous Sen. Joseph
Lieberman (D-CT), "only 37 percent now support military
action, while 44 percent are opposed" (Baltimore Sun, 10/30/02.)
What kind of support would the Bush-Cheney
Gang have, if the American people also knew what chemically toxic
dangers its sons and daughters in the military would be facing
in Gulf War No. 2? And, even more importantly, if they knew,
too, that the chicken hawk politicians, who would be recklessly
ordering them into that arena of death, would be doing so, knowing
beforehand, of those documented dangers?
William Hughes
is the author of "Baltimore Iconoclast" (Writer's Showcase),
which is available online. He can be reached at liamhughes@mindspring.com.
© William Hughes 2002
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