Facing up to Gulf War's silent killer
KEN McCLURE
Thu 20 Apr 2006
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=596792006
What are your thoughts on Gulf War Syndrome? Does it exist? Tell us.
SOME 250,000 of the returning allied forces from the first Gulf War in 1991
(15 per cent) went down with illness that they insist was related to their
service in that war. Of these, 10,000 are already dead.
Successive governments over the years have refused to recognise the existence of
a single condition called Gulf War Syndrome and so the impasse continues.
Veterans remain adamant that their illness is a direct result from their service
in the Gulf, while officialdom maintains that the sheer breadth and range of
symptoms and illness reported by the veterans rules out the possibility of any
one single syndrome being responsible.
If one discounts the myriad minor suggestions - which may be perfectly valid on
an individual or small group basis - we are left with three major propositions
for the cause of veterans' illness.
Firstly, Saddam's forces used chemical and biological weapons against the allied
troops during the first Gulf War. Secondly, the allied forces were repeatedly
exposed to radiation and toxic effects from depleted uranium used in heavy
munitions. Thirdly, the protective vaccines given to the troops prior to their
leaving for the Gulf caused their illness.
Although we now know that biological and chemical weapons were used against the
allied forces, the scale was limited and in no way could account for such large
numbers falling ill. Exposure to depleted uranium can also be ruled out on
numerical grounds.
The first hurdle to overcome in considering the third suggestion - that the
vaccines were to blame for Gulf War Syndrome - is a natural scepticism. We think
of vaccines as good things, substances that afford protection rather than
threat, but, on purely numerical grounds (all British and American troops were
vaccinated) they demand further investigation.
Carrying out such an investigation however, is easier said than done. The MoD
remains resolutely unforthcoming about what vaccines the troops were given and
over what period of time and 70 per cent of the relevant medical records have
been "lost".
Such a situation breeds suspicion and prompts a re-examination of the official
government position that there are too many varied symptoms and conditions to be
ascribed to one syndrome. This thinking could well be flawed.
Any agent that damaged the human immune system would automatically render its
victims susceptible to a wide range of diseases and conditions and give rise to
exactly what is seen among Gulf War veterans.
A direct analogy can be made with Aids. The HIV virus destroys its victim's
immune system and renders him or her susceptible to and totally defenceless
against the entire microbial world. Aids sufferers succumb to a wide range of
"Aids-related' diseases.
Could Gulf War Syndrome be the result of damage to the immune system of the
troops? If so, the vaccines must be a prime suspect. We know that the UK's
chemical and biological weapons research establishment at Porton Down was
involved in Gulf War vaccine formulation and that experimental vaccines against
the threat of biological weapons were incorporated into the schedule
The alternative to making technical inquiries is to ask one very simple but
still scientifically valid question. Was there any group of people -
statistically significant in number - who went to the first Gulf War without
first receiving the vaccines? In scientific terms, a control group. The answer
is yes.
The French forces who served in the Gulf were not vaccinated. Their commander in
chief did not think the vaccines were safe. The question is did 15 per cent of
the French troops come down with Gulf War Syndrome on their return like the
other allied forces? The answer is, no, they did not.
This makes a strong case for Gulf War vaccines being the cause of Gulf War
Syndrome but not in the Government's view. It takes the position that if Gulf
War Syndrome does not actually exist in the United Kingdom, why should it come
as a surprise to anyone that it doesn't exist in France either?
Just over a year ago an independent inquiry was held into the problem. The
findings of that inquiry, headed by Lord Lloyd of Berwick, were that there is a
condition that can and should be referred to as Gulf War Syndrome and that its
victims should be compensated by the Government.
But the Government still maintains that there is no such thing as Gulf War
Syndrome and is determined to adhere to this view until anyone can demonstrate
the scientific detail. Shame on them. Science cannot demonstrate the exact link
between smoking and lung cancer but only a fool would maintain that there wasn't
one.
• Ken McClure's new novel, Past Lives, is published by Allison & Busby, priced
£18.99. The Gulf Conspiracy is a fictional thriller which centres on the theory
that vaccinations were responsible for Gulf War Syndrome.