Probe Says Military Erred Investigating Gulf War Illness

WASHINGTON (October 25, 1997 8:10 p.m. EDT http://www.nando.net) - The U.S. military should be stripped of its authority to investigate Gulf War illnesses, according to a congressional inquiry into the matter, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

"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," the paper quoted the chairman of a congressional committee that reviewed the issue, Republican Christopher Shays.

The 20-month congressional inquiry concluded that the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans' Affairs should no longer have authority over the illnesses, and that "a variety of toxic agents" were present in the Gulf War.

The report urged an independent agency be set up because of the government's mishandling of the issue.

The Times said a White House review of the matter would be released soon and would be similarly critical.

Nearly 100,000 U.S. troops are believed to have been exposed to trace amounts of nerve gas during demolitions of rockets at a munitions dump in southern Iraq in March, 1991.

U.S. veterans say the government has tried to cover up the exposures and explain away their resulting illnesses.