Iraq,Kuwait, The Arabian Gulf's
GULF WAR
Kuwait-Iraq History The gulf war demonstrated the manner in which natural resources could be manipulated as weapons of war. The Arabian Gulf's shallow and highly productive waters and the surrounding region suffered an unprecedented environmental onslaught,triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Black slicks and toxic smoke from blazing oil wells combined to create one of the world's largest Ecological Catastrophes,severely affecting both people and wildlife. The war nearly pushed some spices to the very edge of extinction.
After the war Iraq-Kuwait,environmental experts and scientists came to Kuwait from all part of the world. Symposia were held and study groups were set up in the largest global research Centre in an attempt to examine and study the effects of this environmental disaster.
The daily burning of three million barrels of crude oil created half a ton air pollutans that filled the entire atmosphere. The heavy smoke even hid the sun.Evaporation of the spilled oil also added toxic chemicals in the atmosphere. The water cycle of Gulf was affected and the quantity of bacteria at the seashore level increased significantly causing great damage to availability of purified of drinking water.
The fires Iraq-Kuwait also deposited a layer of soot over the desert and its plans..In the places, everything was coated with an oil mist.. While in others there were extensive oil slicks with a thick layer of crude oil lying across the oil.
In addition,Iraq-Kuwait the movement of huge military tanks, the digging of trenches by Iraqi troop, the bombardment, and even the subsequent movement of fire fighting equipment into well areas, damages the soil layer and affected its ability ti sustain life in the desert. Plans and animals were crushed to death. Besides, the extensive use of sea water in combating the oil fires led ti increased salinity in areas close to wells which had been on fire.
The soil composition and porosity were also altered. Both by the oil soot,mist and sluge resulting from the blowout of the oil wells and by the earth movement. In the region, which has high incidences of dust storm, increased erosion had its own catastrophic consequences.
The war Iraq-Kuwait affected the desert in many ways, not all of them as immediately obvious as the towering infernos of the oil fires. Every form of life in the desert suffered. For instance thousands of birds especially migratory species such as Herons, swallow and cormorants,were trapped by the shiny surface of the oil lakes, as were mammals. The Kuwaiti desert still remains littered with hidden mines,which are being discovered even now. The oil lakes, created by flowing oil wells,have wreaked severe damage on soil, plans and underground reservoirs. The Gallons threatened the oceanic marine ecosystem.
Now Kuwait on secure and continue managing his country.
WAR SYNDROME
nineten years after the first Gulf War, a congressionally mandated panel released a report Nov. 18 that concluded an illness suffered by veterans exposed to certain toxins during the war is real. The government previously did not consider the illness a physical condition separate from shell shock or war stress,as ar syndrome.
"Gulf War illness is real," the report concludes. "Few veterans have recovered." Their last report in 2005 also concluded that GWS is not psychological but caused by organophosphates.
A panel of veterans and scientists, led by the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, has concluded the illness is real and it was caused by "exposure to toxic chemicals, including pesticides and a drug administered to protect troops against nerve gas.
From Reuters.com: A report released Monday concluded that "Gulf War Syndrome" is a legitimate condition suffered by more than 185,000 U.S. war veterans who were exposed to chemical toxins in the 1991-1992 Gulf War.
In 2005, a congressionally mandated panel set out to get to the bottom of conflicting reports about the veterans' health complaints. Its 550-page report concludes that Gulf War syndrome, memory loss, digestive and neurological problems, fatigue and pain is a real disease.
Exposure to toxic chemicals was identified as the cause of the syndrome. The report states that "scientific evidence leaves no question that Gulf War illness is a real condition with real causes and serious consequences for affected veterans.
It also notes that few veterans afflicted with Gulf War synrome have recovered over time.
According to the report, Gulf War Syndrome differs a great deal from stress-released syndromes found in veterans of other wars. Studies consistently indicate that Gulf War syndrome is not the result of combat or other stressors, and that Gulf War veterans have lower rates of post-traumatic stress disorder than veterans of other wars,?
Half a dozen other expert groups have also concluded previously that Gulf War syndrome does not exist as a distinct condition.
JiAMES BINNES: Well, the Gulf War had its own set of unique exposures. As Vietnam veterans were exposed to Agent Orange, so Gulf War veterans were exposed to a number of toxic and war syndrome exposures that were unique to that war.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Seventeen years after the Gulf War, a congressionally mandated committee has concluded that Gulf War syndrome is a legitimate condition that continues to affect one quarter of the nearly 800,000 US soldiers deployed in that war.
The 460-page report details the serious longstanding and sometimes permanent neurotoxic damage seen in veterans of the 1991 war with Iraq. It concludes that the condition was primarily caused by overexposure to pesticides and a drug given to troops to protect against nerve gas.
The war syndrome may also be potentially tied to higher rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) -- more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease -- among Gulf War veterans than veterans of other conflicts.
AMYH GEODMAN: Anthony Hardie is a veteran of the Gulf War, member of the Research Advisory Committee that authored the report. He is national secretary and legislative chair of Veterans of Modern Warfare and a former officer with the National Gulf War Resource Center, joining us from Madison, Wisconsin.
A recent Discovery Channel program (Conspiracy Test, I think) tested 10 US Gulf War veterans for genetic damage. All 5 had higher levels of chromosome damage than many cancer suffers. None were thought to have been exposed to nerve gas and DU was strongly suspected of causing the damage.
Kuwait-Iraq History The gulf war demonstrated the manner in which natural resources could be manipulated as weapons of war. The Arabian Gulf's shallow and highly productive waters and the surrounding region suffered an unprecedented environmental onslaught,triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Black slicks and toxic smoke from blazing oil wells combined to create one of the world's largest Ecological Catastrophes,severely affecting both people and wildlife. The war nearly pushed some spices to the very edge of extinction.
After the war Iraq-Kuwait,environmental experts and scientists came to Kuwait from all part of the world. Symposia were held and study groups were set up in the largest global research Centre in an attempt to examine and study the effects of this environmental disaster.
The daily burning of three million barrels of crude oil created half a ton air pollutans that filled the entire atmosphere. The heavy smoke even hid the sun.Evaporation of the spilled oil also added toxic chemicals in the atmosphere. The water cycle of Gulf was affected and the quantity of bacteria at the seashore level increased significantly causing great damage to availability of purified of drinking water.
The fires Iraq-Kuwait also deposited a layer of soot over the desert and its plans..In the places, everything was coated with an oil mist.. While in others there were extensive oil slicks with a thick layer of crude oil lying across the oil.
In addition,Iraq-Kuwait the movement of huge military tanks, the digging of trenches by Iraqi troop, the bombardment, and even the subsequent movement of fire fighting equipment into well areas, damages the soil layer and affected its ability ti sustain life in the desert. Plans and animals were crushed to death. Besides, the extensive use of sea water in combating the oil fires led ti increased salinity in areas close to wells which had been on fire.
The soil composition and porosity were also altered. Both by the oil soot,mist and sluge resulting from the blowout of the oil wells and by the earth movement. In the region, which has high incidences of dust storm, increased erosion had its own catastrophic consequences.
The war Iraq-Kuwait affected the desert in many ways, not all of them as immediately obvious as the towering infernos of the oil fires. Every form of life in the desert suffered. For instance thousands of birds especially migratory species such as Herons, swallow and cormorants,were trapped by the shiny surface of the oil lakes, as were mammals. The Kuwaiti desert still remains littered with hidden mines,which are being discovered even now. The oil lakes, created by flowing oil wells,have wreaked severe damage on soil, plans and underground reservoirs. The Gallons threatened the oceanic marine ecosystem.
Now Kuwait on secure and continue managing his country.
WAR SYNDROME
nineten years after the first Gulf War, a congressionally mandated panel released a report Nov. 18 that concluded an illness suffered by veterans exposed to certain toxins during the war is real. The government previously did not consider the illness a physical condition separate from shell shock or war stress,as ar syndrome.
"Gulf War illness is real," the report concludes. "Few veterans have recovered." Their last report in 2005 also concluded that GWS is not psychological but caused by organophosphates.
A panel of veterans and scientists, led by the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, has concluded the illness is real and it was caused by "exposure to toxic chemicals, including pesticides and a drug administered to protect troops against nerve gas.
From Reuters.com: A report released Monday concluded that "Gulf War Syndrome" is a legitimate condition suffered by more than 185,000 U.S. war veterans who were exposed to chemical toxins in the 1991-1992 Gulf War.
In 2005, a congressionally mandated panel set out to get to the bottom of conflicting reports about the veterans' health complaints. Its 550-page report concludes that Gulf War syndrome, memory loss, digestive and neurological problems, fatigue and pain is a real disease.
Exposure to toxic chemicals was identified as the cause of the syndrome. The report states that "scientific evidence leaves no question that Gulf War illness is a real condition with real causes and serious consequences for affected veterans.
It also notes that few veterans afflicted with Gulf War synrome have recovered over time.
According to the report, Gulf War Syndrome differs a great deal from stress-released syndromes found in veterans of other wars. Studies consistently indicate that Gulf War syndrome is not the result of combat or other stressors, and that Gulf War veterans have lower rates of post-traumatic stress disorder than veterans of other wars,?
Half a dozen other expert groups have also concluded previously that Gulf War syndrome does not exist as a distinct condition.
JiAMES BINNES: Well, the Gulf War had its own set of unique exposures. As Vietnam veterans were exposed to Agent Orange, so Gulf War veterans were exposed to a number of toxic and war syndrome exposures that were unique to that war.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Seventeen years after the Gulf War, a congressionally mandated committee has concluded that Gulf War syndrome is a legitimate condition that continues to affect one quarter of the nearly 800,000 US soldiers deployed in that war.
The 460-page report details the serious longstanding and sometimes permanent neurotoxic damage seen in veterans of the 1991 war with Iraq. It concludes that the condition was primarily caused by overexposure to pesticides and a drug given to troops to protect against nerve gas.
The war syndrome may also be potentially tied to higher rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) -- more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease -- among Gulf War veterans than veterans of other conflicts.
AMYH GEODMAN: Anthony Hardie is a veteran of the Gulf War, member of the Research Advisory Committee that authored the report. He is national secretary and legislative chair of Veterans of Modern Warfare and a former officer with the National Gulf War Resource Center, joining us from Madison, Wisconsin.
A recent Discovery Channel program (Conspiracy Test, I think) tested 10 US Gulf War veterans for genetic damage. All 5 had higher levels of chromosome damage than many cancer suffers. None were thought to have been exposed to nerve gas and DU was strongly suspected of causing the damage.
