Report: Panel attacks Pentagon on Gulf illness study
October 26, 1997
Web posted at: 2:31 p.m. EST (1931 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A panel that led the main congressional
investigation into the illnesses of Gulf war veterans will
recommend stripping the Defense Department and the Department
of Veterans Affairs of their authority in the matter, The New
York Times reported Sunday.
The report by the House Committee on Government Reform and
Oversight said the two departments had "demonstrated
unwillingness and inability to overcome institutional biases
and constraints" in examining thousands of veterans' reports
of illness following their return from the Gulf.
The report, expected to be made public this week, also
concluded that "a variety of toxic agents in the Gulf war,"
including Iraqi chemical weapons and pesticides, probably
caused the health problems reported by veterans.
Since the departments handled the case so badly, the report
said, Congress should create or designate an independent
agency to coordinate research into the ailments' cause.
"Sadly, when it comes to diagnosis, treatment and research
for Gulf War veterans, we find the federal government too
often has a tin ear, a cold heart and a closed mind," Rep.
Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican, said in the
introduction to the report, a copy of which was obtained by
the Times.
Shays, the chair of the subcommittee that prepared the
report, went on to say that the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs
investigations were "irreparably flawed" and "plagued by
arrogant incuriosity and a pervasive myopia that sees a lack
of evidence as proof."
The House report was expected to receive bipartisan support
and be approved by the committee in a vote this week.
A White House panel report, expected to be made public some
days after the House report, is also likely to be critical of
the Defense Department.
A draft of the report from the Presidential Advisory
Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses found the Pentagon
had "an institutional culture and pervasive inclination" to
ignore evidence that American soldiers may have been exposed
to Iraqi chemical weapons, the newspaper said.
Lawmakers interviewed by the Times said they hope that the
combination of the reports will force President Clinton to
remove the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs department from
any further investigation of the veterans' complaints.
But if the White House fails to act, members of Congress
could offer legislation to meet the same goal, possibly
reassigning the investigations to the National Institutes of
Health or some other federal agency.
A spokesman for the Pentagon said the agency would withhold
comment on the congressional report until it received a copy.
Last month, Defense Secretary William Cohen acknowledged that
the Pentagon had done an inadequate job for several years in
studying the ailments. But in the last year, he said, the
military had mounted a far more aggressive inquiry.
"I believe the Pentagon is fully capable of conducting an
investigation," he said.
After more than five years of denials, the Defense Department
acknowledged last year that many American troops may have
been exposed to chemical weapons during or after the war.