GIs in Gulf War May Have Been Exposed to Toxins

Some American soldiers who served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War may have been exposed to toxic agents from Iraq’s chemical weapons arsenal, despite the Pentagon’s earlier assertion that no U.S. troops ever were exposed, the Defense Department said Friday.

Defense officials said the possible exposure occurred in March 1991, shortly after the war ended, when soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 38th Engineering Battalion destroyed an Iraqi ammunition bunker containing rockets that probably had been armed with chemical agents.

As many as 400 U.S. soldiers could have been exposed to the chemicals, which may have included sarin--the deadly nerve agent that was used in the 1995 Tokyo subway bombing--and World War I-style mustard gas, which causes blistering in those who come in contact with it.

Officials said they do not know whether there were any effects on the troops who blew up the bunker but they are searching the medical records of veterans and trying to locate those who took part.

Friday’s announcement, made at a news conference, came after five years of continual denials by Pentagon officials that any of the 700,000 U.S. troops who served in the Persian Gulf War might have been exposed to Iraq’s chemical weapons arsenal.

Veterans’ groups demanding action on the so-called Gulf War syndrome have insisted repeatedly that the medical problems suffered by some who served in Operation Desert Storm stemmed from exposure to chemical agents but officials have rejected those contentions.

Kenneth H. Bacon, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defense Department learned of the bunker incident in 1991 but insisted that the existence of the chemical agents was not formally confirmed until last month, when the site was examined by a special U.N. commission.

Bacon said U.S. Army chemical weapons experts had inspected the bunker before it was destroyed by the engineering battalion soldiers and had found no evidence of chemical agents. Special detectors used during the operation also failed to indicate their presence, he said.

Even with the latest discovery, he said, “the Department of Defense has found no evidence that Iraq [actually] used [chemical] weapons during the war and so far we have found no clinical evidence that U.S. troops were exposed to chemical weapons.”

But those arguments were not convincing to Richard H. Haines, president of Gulf War Veterans International, a group based in New Albany, Ind., that has been pressing the Pentagon to recognize that some U.S. servicemen and women may have been exposed to chemical agents in Iraq.

Haines said in a telephone interview that the incident underscores his group’s argument that the Pentagon should not be trusted to investigate the issue. He said Congress should take over and “entirely remove” the Defense Department from the inquiry.

Dr. Stephen Joseph, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said the U.N. panel did not find traces of the chemical agents, but had based its analysis on the fact that shell linings left from the blast were of the type typically used in chemical weapons.

Defense officials said the blast occurred at the Kamisiyah ammunition storage depot a few miles northwest of Basra, a major city in southern Iraq. The 38th Engineering Battalion, assigned to support the 82nd Airborne Division, is based at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

There were some indications that the initial report of the incident, received in 1991, may have been classified--possibly by the Central Intelligence Agency--and that defense officials did not decide to make the incident public until the report by the U.N. panel in May.

As part of a political initiative by President Clinton, the Pentagon established a special Persian Gulf Investigation Team to review all information and data relating to Gulf War illnesses.

Previous Pentagon studies have shown no clear link to any set of symptoms.

The Pentagon said it has set up a special toll-free telephone line for veterans who may have been involved in the operation. The number is 800-472-6719.