Gulf War Vets Open Class Action Suit Against 11 Companies, 33 Banks

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Veterans Target ProfiteersBY HEATHER WOKUSCHPOLITICS | 9.4.2003http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/article.asp?id=277A lawsuit on behalf of over 100,000 Gulf War veterans has the Bushadministration on edge and businesses running for cover.The class action suit names 11 companies and 33 banks alleged to have helpedIraq with its chemical weapons program in the 1980's, despite knowledgeSaddam Hussein was actively using WMD against both Iranians and his ownpeople.At the time, Reagan's Middle East envoy was one Donald Rumsfeld, hard atwork opening doors for Hussein's regime to purchase millions in aircraft,hardware and other potential weaponry.But after the invasion of Kuwait bumped Hussein from Pentagon friend to the"Most Wanted" list, coalition forces got stuck with the nasty task ofdealing with the same chemical weapons that businesses had profited byhelping Iraq amass.Unfortunately, most Gulf War troops didn't realize that in destroyingHussein's WMD, they would also be endangering their own lives.In the 1991 air war against Iraq, coalition forces bombed weapons productionfacilities and ammunition dumps, subjecting themselves to widespread andunexpected fallout; in one disastrous case, over 100,000 service memberswere exposed to sarin nerve gas when the US military improperly blew upchemical weapons sites in Khamisiyah.Today, it is estimated that up to half of the 697,000 Gulf War veterans aresick, many suffering from a variety of symptoms collectively known as GulfWar Illness. The US Department of Defense (DOD) has been repeatedlycriticized for mishandling the veterans' health complaints, often citinglack of diagnosis as justification for withholding treatment andcompensation.However, recent medical research has established causal links betweenexposure to chemical warfare agents, Gulf War Illness and birth defectsamong veterans' children.It's those links attorneys Gary Pitts and Kenneth McCallion will address.Maintaining "companies and banks have not yet had any negative consequencesfor helping Saddam Hussein build his chemical weapons of mass destruction,"Pitts and McCallion claim the lawsuit is not only "to seek just compensationfor the poisoned veterans and their birth-defected children, it is to detercompanies from engaging in this kind of behavior in the future."And in light of today's conflict in Iraq, the lawsuit's implications areboth broad-reaching and ominous. At least 100 Gulf War II troops havealready contracted a "mystery" pneumonia-like illness the US Department ofDefense can't properly diagnose, and the families of soldiers based in Iraqare demanding answers.Michael Neusche describes how his 20-year-old son Josh, a former track starfrom Missouri, wrote home from active duty in Iraq on June 26 saying hewould be doing a secretive "hauling" mission. By July 1 Josh had fallen intoa coma; the military promptly reclassified Josh as "medically retired," thusstripping him and his family of entitlements, and on July 12th Josh diedfrom what the Pentagon called "other causes."In a similar case, Zeferino E. Colungo, a 20-year-old from Texas, died afterbattling an unexplained pneumonia-like illness. In a recent letter toSecretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the Colungo family says, "We deserveto know why a healthy young man who was supposedly screened and determinedfit for deployment would suddenly die. It is our right to receive honestanswers."It's clear the DOD has some explaining to do; GW II troops must not beforced to receive the same medical run-around suffered by theirpredecessors.The lawsuit on behalf of Gulf War veterans, however, ups the anteconsiderably--this time not only the DOD is under fire. By targetingcompanies and banks for compensation, veterans are sending the weaponsindustry a clear warning: it's getting dangerous to profit by helpingdubious governments produce WMD.********If this email is cut short, changingplanet/messagesYou can help us make a difference. Click here for details:http://changingplanet.supremalex.org/help.htmChanging Planet News - Where Ethics, Science and Spirituality Blend