Is The Gulf War Syndrome Real Essays - Military Personnel

Is The Gulf War Syndrome Real? Is the Gulf War Syndrome Real? On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. The United States government acted very quickly. Ships were dispatched to the Persian Gulf, and oil prices shot up as and oil embargo was placed against Iraq. The U.S. government told us that Saddam Hussein was poised to invade the neighboring countries, including Saudi Arabia, and the worlds oil supply was threatened. George Bush launched operation Desert Shield in which a coalition of many nation's armies gathered in the deserts of Saudi Arabia bordering Iraq and Kuwait. As the war began, the coalition of national armies assembled in Saudi Arabia took a few SCUD missile shots fired from Iraq. When the troops started moving in, Sadam's army turned and tried to get out of Kuwait. The Iraqi Republican Guard stayed safely back, far from the fighting. Several hundred U.S. troops died in the brief battle, and ten's of thousands of Iraqis died. Many, if not most, of the U.S. deaths were the result of friendly fire. At this point, George Bush decided to bring the troops home. UN weapons inspectors converged on Iraq and the coalition armies dispersed. Perhaps the most hyped war in history was now over. It was almost certainly the war most orchestrated for the media. All the troops had been drilled for months in preparation for a tremendous battle and possibly chemical and biological weapons. Suddenly it was over. They were sent home and returned to their normal everyday lives. Memories of the threat of chemical and biological weapons remained. Years pass before rumors begin to surface, a veteran suddenly died for no known cause there was a veteran who developed an enormous tumor and there was a veteran who's new child is severely malformed. The threat of chemical and biological weapons returns to everyone's memory. People start thinking that perhaps this is the cause of all these illnesses. The threat seemed very real. If it could be demonstrated that Gulf War veterans are suffering from the effects of chemical or biological weapons, they might have grounds for some restitution from the United States government, or perhaps the Iraqi government. Organizations began to form in response to rising concern over the plight of Gulf War veterans. Official Pentagon numbers show a total of 697,000 U.S. citizens took part in the Gulf War, but they may not include non-military members. About 6 percent of Gulf War veterans have reported an ailment they believe is linked to their service. The Pentagon found that 85 percent had ailments or diseases with known causes not linked to the Gulf War. Further Defense Department research is focusing on the slightly less than 1 percent of all Gulf War veterans, whose ailments could not be diagnosed. Their problems included headache and memory loss, fatigue, sleep disorders, and intestinal and respiratory ailments. These have come to be known as the symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome. The Gulf War Syndrome is nothing more than a hearsay. It is a disease in which all of the science involving it is replaced by rumor. The opinions or real medical experts are replaced by the opinion of veterans who believe they are now medical experts. There have been accounts of symptoms such as: aching muscles, aching joints, abdominal pain, facial pain, chest pain, blood clots, flushing, night sweats, blurry vision, photosensitivity, jaundice, bruising, shaking, vomiting, fevers, sinus growths, irritability, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, weight gain, loss of appetite, heartburn, nausea, bad breath, hair loss, graying hair, rashes, sore throat, heart disease, diverticulitis and other intestinal disorders, kidney stones, a growth in the eye, tingling and itching sensations, sore gums, cough, cancer, diarrhea with and without bleeding, constipation, testicular pain, epididymitis, unspecified swelling, memory loss, dizziness, inability to concentrate, choking sensation, depression, lightheadedness, hot and cold flashes, labored breathing, sneezing, sensitive teeth and other dental problems, neurological disorders, nasal congestion, bronchitis, leg cramps, twitching, hemorrhoids, thyroid problems, welts, rectal and vaginal bleeding, colon polyps, increased urination, a bulging disk in the neck, hypertension, blood in urine, insomnia, headaches, and a foot fungus that will not go away. There have been more believable examples such as in the case of Michael Adcock. Adcock died in 1992 from lymphoma, which is cancer of the lymph glands, which then spread to the rest of his body. He thoroughly believed that he had contracted the lymphoma by being exposed by something in the war. His story was very believable, and the media attentively reported the story.