Gulf War

Mulf was F general THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON 21 February 1995 MEMORANDUM TO LEON PANETTA ERSKINE BOWLES CC: KITTY HIGGINS JENNIFER O'CONNER JOHN ANGELL FROM: Harold Ickes SUBJECT: Possible "commission" on Gulf War Veterans' illnesses On 18 February, I spoke with Sandy Berger who has been meeting with the First Lady, as well as representatives from Defense, HHS and Veteran's Affairs about the possibilities of appointing a "blue ribbon" commission to further study and make recommendations regarding Gulf War Veterans' illnesses. As you know, there's been an ongoing controversy about the situation with many veterans of the Gulf War complaining about a variety of medical problems which they claim result from possible use of chemicals during that war. These symptoms include such ailments as: headaches, fatigue, joint aches, and nausea. The Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services and Veteran's Affairs have formed a coordinating team to deal with this problem. They have at least 30 research projects underway to find out what caused the symptoms. In addition, between them they have at least three panels of non-governmental science experts to review their work. Where the panels have supported work to date, such as in the case of DOD's "Lederberg" reports, veterans' groups and the press have attacked the panels as non- independent because they were government-funded. Where the panels have critized the departments, veterans' groups and the press have highlighted the criticism. Although I'm not fully familiar with all of the arguments, those favoring a commission say that there is great mistrust about what has been done to date, especially the independent reviews sponsored by the Pentagon and, therefore, the only way to deal with this mistrust is to appoint a "blue ribbon" commission to fully look into all aspects of the illnesses and make recommendations. They also think a commission will demonstrate a