I can’t say I’m surprised. I’m mainly wondering why it took 17 years….

From the BBC:

There is evidence linking chronic health problems suffered by Gulf War veterans to exposure to pesticides and nerve agents, US research has found. …

These were an anti-nerve gas agent given to troops, pesticides used to control sand-flies, and the nerve-gas sarin that troops may have been exposed to during the demolition of a weapons depot.

“Convergent evidence now strongly links a class of chemicals – acetyl cholinesterase inhibitors – to illness in Gulf War veterans,” Dr [Beatrice] Golomb [the committee’s chief scientist] told Reuters. [Published in my favorite journal: PNAS, but no link yet.]

The real kicker is, of course, “unlike the most recent conflict in Iraq, the ground conflict during the 1991 Gulf War lasted only a few days, she added.” And in those few days, one third, one third, of the soldiers acquired lifelong conditions.

George’s Folly has lasted how long now?

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