Gulf War Veterans Demand Iraq War Hearings

9/12/2002

From: Steve Robinson of the National Gulf War Resource Center, 301-996-8450 Web site: http://www.ngwrc.org

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 -- The National Gulf War Resource Center (NGWRC) calls on the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to hold public hearings before deploying U.S. troops to re-invade Iraq.

"We must give the President the pre-approval He needs to lead our Nation, but at the same time we need insure our troops are better protected before deploying. We cannot stand by and allow another group of veterans return to a chemically dirty battlefield just to be neglected and ignored by the same government they have sworn to protect," said Mike Woods, President of the NGWRC, the nation's leading Gulf War veteran advocacy organization.

"As part of the pre-approval process, critical force protection issues and lessons learned from the Gulf War must be discussed before the U.S. re-invades Iraq. If Iraq uses chemical weapons, our soldiers have a right to know if the gas masks, chemical protection suits, and chemical alarms will protect our front-line warriors," Woods added.

The NGWRC wants Congress to make sure our military has the required training to avoid or reduce exposure to depleted uranium, a by-product of the nuclear enrichment process now linked with cancer in medical research studies on rats.

The NGWRC wants the President to provide legislators with assurances our soldiers will receive the best healthcare while deployed, and when they return home.

The NGWRC wants to implement a lesson from the 1991 Gulf War and avoid a repeat of Pentagon lies to soldiers about widespread chemical exposures, radioactive depleted uranium exposures, experimental vaccines, and other health hazards. The NGWRC wants to be sure the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) learns from the 1991 Gulf War and has enough funds and staff to provide healthcare for wounded veterans.

The NGWRC once again demanded the VA release disability statistics about veterans who served in the 1991 Gulf War. The VA refuses to release these numbers, a violation of Public Law 102-585.