Posted on 10/25/2002 7:42:39 AM PDT by Deadeye Division
Sniper suspect served near chemicals tied to Gulf War malady
10/25/02
David Wood
Newhouse News Service
Washington - The Washington sniper suspect, John Allen Muhammad, may have been exposed to chemical weapons that have been linked to Gulf War Syndrome, an illness which experts said can result in unexplained bouts of intense violence.
Muhammad, arrested early yesterday as a prime suspect in the Washington area shootings, served with the Army's 84th Engineer Company during the Persian Gulf War, military officers said.
That unit, attached to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, helped inspect, catalog and destroy extensive stockpiles of Iraqi chemical weapons at a depot near Khamisiyah, Iraq, in March 1991 after the cease-fire March 3, Pentagon records show.
According to Defense Department and CIA documents, the 84th Engineers handled the Iraqi chemical weapons stored in bunkers at the Tall al Lahm Storage Depot South and Tall al Lahm Ammo Storage Facility near Khamisiyah.
The 84th Engineers also helped demolish Iraqi rockets filled with the deadly nerve agent Sarin during March 10-13, 1991, Pentagon documents show. The process of blowing up the rockets may have vaporized dangerous amounts of the nerve agent, Pentagon investigators later concluded.
According to a final Pentagon report on the issue, "U.S. troops may have been exposed to chemical agents that are a suspected cause of Gulf War Syndrome."
Gulf War Syndrome is the name now applied to a variety of complaints that can range from mild headaches and dizziness to illnesses such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Out of the roughly 540,000 American troops who served in Desert Storm, some 175,000 are thought to have some form of the neurological and neuro-immune illnesses that have been documented so far.
"Once it came out that he had a military background, I said this must be a Gulf War veteran," said Dr. William E. Baumzweiger, a Los Angeles neurologist and psychiatrist who specializes in treating Gulf War Syndrome patients.
"There is no doubt that a small but significant number of Gulf War veterans become homicidal" because of Gulf War Syndrome, said Baumzweiger, a leading expert on the syndrome.
He said in such cases "there was always a bizarre strangeness about the violence in that it seemed to come out of nowhere. There were no personal problems or longstanding history" to explain it. The violence, he said, "appears to just come out of thin air."
Experts on Gulf War Syndrome said Muhammad's behavior fits precisely the patterns exhibited by some other Gulf War veterans.
"This kind of bizarre story, where he is on the one hand killing people and on the other hand writing notes to the government basically pleading for help, that's a typical story you see in Gulf War veterans," Baumzweiger said.
Muhammad earned the standard medals and ribbons given to soldiers "if you haven't gotten in trouble," said one officer familiar with his records. These include the Army Service Ribbon and the National Defense Service Medal.
But as troops came home from the war in 1991, they began to report unexplained medical symptoms. It can take as long as five years for Gulf War Syndrome symptoms to appear.
It was not immediately clear yesterday whether Muhammad ever exhibited any symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome or sought help from veterans agencies.
In other words, this entire article is crap-o-la.
Give me a BREAK...
It's not his fault because..........
And the second subject?
Oopps! I forgot.
He's not responsible as he's just a child.
They are in the minority now.
"Victim Alert"
It's about blaming it on the Republican's, and formerPresident Bush.
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