The British government should acknowledge that 6000 British veterans of the 1990 Gulf war were physically disabled due to their wartime service, an independent inquiry concluded on Wednesday. It also said the government should pay the veterans more compensation.
The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) acknowledges that twice as many Gulf veterans are ill compared to other soldiers, with a range of symptoms including depression, pain, arthritis and dizziness. But it has always refused to acknowledge the existence of a 鈥淕ulf war syndrome鈥.
It pays 6000 Gulf veterans disability pensions because it cannot prove their disability did not result from military service.
Advertisement
鈥淲hat the veterans now want above all else is a clear recognition by the MoD that they are ill because they served in the Gulf,鈥 said Lord Lloyd of Berwick, a retired judge of England鈥檚 high court, who led the inquiry. 鈥淚t is not acceptable for the MoD to say, 鈥榊es, you are ill; but since we do not know which of the possible causes has caused your particular illness we are not going to admit that your illness is due to your service鈥.鈥
Post-traumatic stress
The inquiry, which heard evidence from 60 people, including veterans and many of the British and US scientists who have investigated Gulf war illnesses, was funded by an anonymous donor. The British government refused to take part.
Responding to Lord Lloyd today, an MoD spokesperson said the ministry accepts 鈥渢hat some veterans had become ill with illnesses which were related to their experiences, such as post-traumatic stress disorder鈥.
But both British and US scientists told the inquiry that, while a few per cent of Gulf veterans have post-traumatic stress disorder, this cannot account for the great majority of illness.
Lord Lloyd said his conclusions, with one small technical exception, 鈥渁re in complete agreement鈥 with the Research Advisory Committee of the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
Nerve gas attack
The committee published a detailed report on 15 November, reviewing for the first time a large body of new research, including 22 animal studies, which concluded that many Gulf war veterans could be ill due to exposure to neurotoxins that inhibit the neural enzyme acetylcholinesterase. These toxins include organophosphate insecticides, the nerve gas sarin and drugs given to protect troops from nerve gas attack.
Lord Lloyd concluded that all these were possible causes of Gulf war illnesses, as well as the multiple vaccinations troops received, and possibly exposure to depleted uranium dust.
鈥淩esearch [into the causes] must go on if we are going to find the correct treatment,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut continuing research is not a reason for not admitting now that the veterans are ill because they served in the Gulf.鈥
He says the MoD should also call the illnesses Gulf war syndrome, something it has always refused to do.