- As the U.S. contemplates another war on Iraq in the coming
weeks, most Americans expect relatively few casualties among the U.S. troops
ñ just like the first Gulf War.
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- The Gulf War was remarkable, as U.S. conflicts go, for
the strikingly low number of U.S. dead and wounded ñ 148 killed
and 467 wounded.
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- But the truth is nearly two of every five of the approximately
540,000 Gulf War vets are on disability as a result of illnesses they believe
they sustained during that conflict.
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- About 161,000 Gulf War veterans are receiving disability
payments from the U.S. government. About 209,000 have filed VA claims.
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- A report made public earlier this month details which
chemical weapons Iraq declared and the companies they claim supplied them.
The disclosure is providing ammo for vets who say they have Gulf War Syndrome
ñ a mysterious illness many believe is connected to the use of chemical
weapons by Iraq.
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- More than 5,000 veterans are plaintiffs in a lawsuit
that accuses companies of helping Iraqi President Saddam Hussein build
his chemical warfare arsenal. The plaintiffs are among the tens of thousands
who came down with Gulf War Syndrome, a debilitating series of ailments
that can include chronic fatigue, skin rashes, muscle joint pain, memory
loss and brain damage.
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- Now, plaintiffs' attorneys have acquired, for the first
time, what they believe is strong evidence of which companies supplied
Iraq the chemicals that might have been used to produce mustard gas, sarin
nerve gas and VX.
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- The supplier list is included in Iraq's 1998 weapons
declaration to the United Nations, parts of which were resubmitted to weapons
inspectors last month. The Iraqi list names 56 suppliers of chemicals and
equipment to process them. A majority are based in Europe.
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- The lawsuit, originally filed by plaintiff attorney Gary
Pitts in a civil court in Brazoria County, Texas, in 1994, alleges that
companies knew "products and/or manufacturing facilities supplied
... were to be used to produce chemical and biological weapons."
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- The suit seeks at least $1 billion in damages for medical
expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering.
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- Germany is home to the top suppliers listed in Iraq's
1998 U.N. declaration. The Netherlands and Switzerland each are home to
three companies on the list. France, Austria and the United States each
are home to two. The declaration says Singapore was the largest exporter
of chemical weapons precursors.
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- Neither American company listed ñ Alcolac International,
based in Baltimore, and Al-Haddad Trading, based in Nashville, are still
in business. Alcolac paid a fine in 1989 under U.S. law for one charge
of exporting thiodiglycol, a chemical that could be used to make mustard
gas, but that shipment was destined for another country.
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- If indeed that many U.S. soldiers were really sickened
as a result of exposure to chemical weapons in Iraq, U.S. casualties were
nearly as high as those claimed by Iraq.
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- Baghdad put its losses at 75,000 to 100,000 soldiers
killed in action and 35,000 to 45,000 civilians killed by allied bombing.
U.S. officials estimated 100,000 Iraqi soldiers killed and 300,000 wounded,
and 2,500 to 3,000 Iraqi civilians killed by bombing.
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