Effects Of The Gulf War

Gulf War syndrome describes a variety of diseases and symptoms reported by U.S. and allied service members who served in the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991. Despite numerous studies, there is still much over the origin, diagnosis and complications of Gulf War syndrome. Veterans have experienced symptoms such as fatigue, difficulty breathing, headaches, insomnia, memory loss and concentration problems. Similar experiences among Gulf War veterans from Britain and Canada have been reported. Until Gulf War syndrome is clearly defined, the diagnosis is essentially a categorization of Gulf War veterans who display symptoms that have been associated with the syndrome up until this point. Both the U.S. Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration are continuing their efforts to understand the illnesses that have been reported by veterans. Both the DOD's Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program and the VA's Persian Gulf Registry administer free, ongoing comprehensive medical evaluations to Gulf War veterans.

After the war, many who served began to complain about a variety of health issues with a frequency and volume that could not be ignored. The problems were varied, inconsistent and initially did not appear to have any connection. Variances among branches of the military and location served plus a wide range of illnesses and combination of illnesses began to show a defined pattern - large numbers of those who served in the war had higher rates of numerous health issues than the general population. It is characterized by ongoing problems with memory and concentration, continuous pain and headaches, birth defects, gastrointestinal problems, terminal tumors, etc. Most victims of have multiple health issues and after thorough research, it is clear that all health issues identified are indicative of neurotoxicity which is poisoning of the central nervous system, mainly the brain. This war is complex to understand because of the sequence of events that were included in the war. Iraq attacked Kuwait and United States removed the Iraqis from Kuwait. Like every other war, the Persian Gulf War had the same repercussions like loss of life and wealth, common facilities, degradation of life and socio economic circumstances.

Even today this has not much changed. Iraq, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are the major oil exporters. Iraq was already under a huge economic debt because of the Iran-Iraq war. This was one of the reasons why Iraq invaded Kuwait. This war for invasion lasted eight years, from 1980 to 1988. Iraq had the intention of selling oil from Kuwait after invasion to pay of the debts. At that time Kuwait was overproducing oil. In case that happened then the oil supply to the world will freeze and Iraq will have a monopoly in the oil business. The United States also believed that Iraq held chemical weapons. To prevent a situation where Iraq dominated the region, the United States eliminated the Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The operation was called Desert Storm. There was tremendous damage to the marine life. Due to the constant bombing the atmosphere was polluted and the air was practically un-breathable. However, it was the people of Iraq who faced the maximum ill-effects of the war. Poverty became widespread and there was lack of healthcare.