A soldier wears protective gear during Gulf War

March 1, 1999
Web posted at: 4:12 a.m. EST (0912 GMT)

In this story: 'This is not stress' Antibiotics studied as possible remedy Soldiers encountered 'vapor cloud' In Arlington, praising 'moral fortitude' RELATED STORIES, SITES

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Scientists, doctors and politicians are gathering in Atlanta for a conference focusing on ailments suffered by as many as 100,000 veterans of the Persian Gulf war, illnesses which have gone unexplained since the war ended eight years ago.

The three-day conference, organized by the Centers for Disease Control, was called to develop a blueprint for researching Gulf War Syndrome, and to try to determine whether symptoms are linked to chemical weapons, biological agents, or to any particular disease.

As the conference opened Sunday, a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, attended by about 300 family members of U.S. soldiers who died of war-related injuries, marked the anniversary of the Gulf War's end.

Over the years, many veterans have complained that the U.S. government has not given their ailments serious consideration, and have criticized federal investigations which found no link to possible chemical agent use in the Gulf war.

Thousands of the 700,000 U.S. troops who served in the Gulf have complained of ills ranging from chronic fatigue to muscle and joint pain, memory loss and reproductive and gastrointestinal problems.

"A number of veterans have complained about Lou Gehrig's disease," said Rick Hirst, a training and quality control specialist with the Veterans of Foreign Wars. We feel there is sufficient information out there to warrant research."

The memorial service at Arlington National Cemetary on Sunday.

An ongoning Pentagon investigation found no evidence so far of possible exposure to Iraqi chemical or biological agents. And some military sources suggested that the problems are caused by stress, enraging many Gulf War veterans.

"This is real. This is not stress. This is real damage to the body," said Denise Nichols, vice-chair of the National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition.

A 1997 congressional investigation said likely causes of Gulf War Syndrome included exposure to pesticides, smoke from oil well fires and other toxins.

Dr. Andras Korenyi-Both, director of clinical laboratories for the U.S. Army National Guard, in research to be presented at the conference, suggests that sand particles in the air may have become contaminated with Iraqi chemical weapons or debris from demolished munition plants, creating a "dirty dust" that weakened the immune system while exacerbating the chemicals' effects.

Gulf War veterans may have been affected by smoke from oil well fires, pesticides, depleted uranium or exposure to solvents and corrosive liquids during repair and maintenance, said Marie Swanson, director of the Cancer Center at Michigan State University.

Swanson said during the opening session of the conference Sunday that researchers should also examine "inadequate nutrition" from soldiers' long-term use of food rations and vaccines administered against biological agents such as anthrax.

The government claims that a lack of solid diagnoses or evidence of clear causes have hampered the search for remedies.

A veteran in the hospital

The Veterans Administration is scheduled to begin its first treatment trials this year to research the Gulf War ailments.

One study will enroll 450 veterans who test positive for mycoplasma infection. They will be given the antibiotic doxycycline for 12 months.

Another study will enroll 1,356 veterans in a program of cognitive behavior therapy and exercise treatment.

But other approaches may be needed.

"There isn't a single cause. As long as we continue to try to find a single cause, nothing will be done," said Debbie Judd, president of the Northern California Association of Gulf War Veterans.

Rep. Bernard Sanders, an independent from Vermont, criticized the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration for failing to adequately investigate soldiers' complaints.

"By and large, eight years after the war, the U.S. government has done a rather poor job in responding to the needs of tens of thousands of veterans," Sanders said.

A presidential advisory panel on Gulf War syndrome said in November that the government should "renew its commitment to Gulf War veterans in order to begin erasing the perception of government inattention to them."

In June 1996, the Pentagon first acknowledged that U.S. troops unknowingly demolished chemical weapons in an open pit at Khamisiyah in the Gulf.

Officials later estimated that 98,000 soldiers probably encountered a vapor cloud created by the demolition, but apparently in amounts too small to have caused health problems.

In two other events -- a Scud missile launch and the unexplained illness of seven Navy Seabees -- analysts said there were no chemical or biological warfare agents involved.

In two other incidents, it is unlikely that such agents were present, the federal studies found.

Three of the events on which one investigation focused occurred in or near the port city of Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, during the war. The other incident involved a piece of a Scud missile that was fired near King Fahd Military City in Saudi Arabia around January 19, 1991, three days after the air war began.

One news account said the Air Force was warned by scientists three months before the Persian Gulf war started that bombing Iraq's chemical weapons facilities would release nerve agents that could endanger U.S. troops.

Former Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and Kuwait's ambassador to the United States placed the wreath at the ceremony in Arlington to honor the 147 Americans who died in action during the 43-day Desert Storm effort, which included a sustained bombing attack and a 100-hour ground campaign.

The ceremony also honored another 289 service members who died in accidents during the war and during the several-month Desert Shield buildup and the ongoing Provide Comfort operation under which U.S. forces patrol the skies over Iraq.

Kuwaiti Ambassador Mohammed Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah thanked the American troops for helping to regain his country's independence and called the United States the only country with the "moral fortitude" to confront Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Fighting back tears, Schwarzkopf said the troops he commanded were "truly the best thing America has to offer the world."

"They didn't want to go to war, they didn't want to leave their families, but when their country asked them to, they did, because they thought it was the right thing to do," Schwarzkopf said.

Correspondent Brian Cabell, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.