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"The Gulf War Was The Most Toxic Battle In Western Military History"

Malcolm Hooper, Chief scientific advisor to the British Gulf war veterans. Emeritus professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Sunderland.

The Gulf war was the most toxic battle in western military history. We exposed our own troops to major toxins. When I became chief scientific advisor to the British Gulf war veterans, I naively expected their health problems to be handled with integrity by the authorities. Instead I came up against corrupt politics, bad medicine and science prostituted in the service of the military.

My involvement with the veterans' fight for medical help from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) began in 1997. I became their representative on the supposedly independent panel for the assessment of government research on the possible interaction between the vaccines and Naps [anti-nerve gas tablets].

Veterans regard the combination of vaccines and Naps tablets as the major causes of their illnesses. Some needed immediate hospital treatment as a result of adverse reactions.

Many report having jabs for smallpox, botulism plague, which never appeared on their notes. Medical records have been "misplaced". But there is enough information to show that large numbers of vaccines were given together and in breach of safety guidelines.

The anthrax vaccine administered only protected troops against six of the 22 strains which might have been used by Saddam. They had no warning of exposure to other biological and chemical agents liberated when Iraqi ammunition dumps were blown up in March 1991 because vital monitoring equipment was switched off.

Exposure to these agents, thought to include Sarin and VX nerve gas, can be linked directly to the chronic illnesses suffered by veterans are experiencing, including multiple organ damage.

US and UK forces also fired 630,000lbs of depleted uranium-tipped armour-piercing shells at Iraqi targets. Depleted uranium (DU) is an extremely toxic heavy metal and the allied bombing distributed at least 300 tonnes of DU dust over much of the battlefield.

Inhalation of these fine particles damages the kidneys, the immune system and the nervous system. There is also an increased risk of lymphatic cancer as it collects in the bone. Pentagon documents reveal that the US military was aware of these risks decades ago. But the MoD continues to disregard this evidence.

Government sanctioned tests for DU poisoning have been crude at best. British veterans have had to travel to the US and Canada for reliable tests, which have found DU in their bones. Some have more than 100 times the safe level of radiation in their bodies.

Despite all this evidence, MoD-sponsored research has focused on establishing Gulf war syndrome as another form of post-traumatic stress disorder. Its aim has been to play down the physical harm suffered by the veterans, because compensation for psychiatric injury is considerably less costly. This has both demeaned their sacrifice and left many of them in poverty.

The scientific advisory panel I sit on is only allowed to examine government research. I have pleaded for it to be allowed to initiate research and consider independent findings, but to no avail.

In contrast the US has accepted the existence of Gulf war syndrome and a Congressional committee has considered the findings of the independent experts ignored by the MoD.

In the UK one veteran has died every week since the end of the Gulf war. Thousands more are suffering from debilitating illnesses directly linked to their service. It is outrageous when British troops are set to fight in another war against Iraq that the MoD will not even admit the likelihood of Gulf war syndrome.

Reports from troops and their families suggest that jabs are still not being safely administered. And DU weapons will be deployed once again.

The military should accept that it is impossible to win wars using weapons that indiscriminately damage friend and foe, soldier and civilian, and the environment for many years ahead. You end up harming your own side as much as the enemy.

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