-Caveat Lector- Panel finds Pentagon 'diligent' on Gulf War illness issue By PAULINE JELINEK The Associated Press 12/20/00 6:49 PM WASHINGTON (AP) -- A presidential panel says the Pentagon has worked "diligently" and did not cover anything up in investigating Gulf War illness, a series of veterans' ailments still unexplained 10 years after the war. The head of one veterans' advocacy group called the conclusion "a whitewash." A 90-page report released Wednesday details 30 months of work by the board President Clinton ordered to oversee Pentagon investigations of illnesses reported by thousands of vets from the war. The board concluded that the Defense Department has "worked diligently to fulfill the president's directive to 'leave no stone unturned' in investigating possible causes" for illnesses, which include memory loss, nervous system disorders, headaches, joint pains and chronic fatigue. It also found the department "made no effort to deliberately withhold information," an allegation among critics who believe the Pentagon is hiding data about Iraqi chemical warfare agents or other toxins veterans may have been exposed while serving. "On the contrary, DoD has made an extraordinary effort to publicize its findings through the publication of reports and newsletters, public outreach meetings, briefings to veterans," a website and so on, said the Presidential Special Oversight Board for Department of Defense Investigations of Gulf War Chemical and Biological Incidents. The board repeated the main theme of all Pentagon findings so far -- one that has frustrated veteran groups and contributed to suspicions of a cover-up: "To date, research has not validated any specific cause of these illnesses." It said research must continue. An estimated $300 million has been spent and scores of studies have looked into such possible culprits as Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, service members' vaccinations, oil well fires, anti-nerve agent tablets taken by troops, desert sand and stress. One of the board's seven members, immunologist Dr. Vinh Cam, dissented with the report in a three-page letter. An immunologist, Cam charged that the board -- largely retired military brass -- lacked independence from the Pentagon office it was overseeing, the Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses (OSAGWI). She also said it had no authority to suggest that stress be studied further as a possible cause. "At times (the board) acted more like an extension of OSAGWI," Cam wrote in her dissenting letter. "It's a whitewash -- exactly the kind of whitewash we were expecting," said Pat Eddington of the advocacy group National Gulf War Resource Center, criticizing what he called the board's "cozy relationship with the Pentagon." In a 1997 lawsuit still pending in federal court, Eddington is seeking thousands of pages of Pentagon and CIA documents he says could contain information on Iraqi chemical and biological weapons and other information relating to troop health. Wednesday's report is the final one by the oversight board, which goes out of business this month. Steve Smithson of the American Legion said veterans' organizations will continue to push for better medical treatment and compensation for the sick. "I'm not going to say there was a cover-up, but there have been problems," Smithson said. "Ten years later we still don't know anymore, and in the meantime people out there are sick." He noted that it was several years before the Pentagon acknowledged troops had been exposed to nerve gas when they blew up an Iraqi weapons stockpile in March 1991 at Khamisiyah. Wednesday's report said that Khamisiyah remains "the only known potential exposure" of troops to chemical warfare agents. Officials have said about 100,000 troops were likely exposed to sarin and cyclosarin nerve gases but that the exposure was too low to cause health problems. Officials have said that of the 700,000 troops who served in the Persian Gulf War some 100,000 have registered with the Pentagon or Veterans Affairs Department for free exams to look into unexplained illnesses. The two agencies have said about 20,000 of those were found to be ill. Smithson said his group will work this year for changes in the VA system. So far, only 3,000 veterans have been compensated. ------ On the Net: Oversight board: http://www.oversight.ncr.gov Copyright 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. 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