inkbluesky

time doesn’t heal all wounds larger.

There has been some debate over the number of allied, Iraqi and Afghanistan casualties. In the case of U.S. troops is the administration counting wounded that later dies in on a hospital ship or a hospital in Germany. How many have been actually wounded and of those how many are debilitating wounds that will keep the soldier or Marine from leading a full life. We’re just now, twelve years after the fact finding out about the real causalities and wounded of the first Gulf War Toxic Jihad: Our Hidden Bombs

While 147 US troops were killed in action in the Gulf War, almost 7,800 have since died and close to 200,000 (or a whopping 28%) have filed claims for medical and compensation benefits. The UK figures are proportionately similar, and shockingly, of the 537 UK vets that have died since the Gulf War ended, a full 70% killed themselves.

The suspected culprit? A deadly syndrome called Gulf War Illness which, despite $150 million and years of studies, remains elusive. Potential causes could be the unproved vaccines and drugs that were forced on troops, oil-well fire pollution, radiation from allied-forces Depleted Uranium Munitions, or an especially horrific case of friendly fire, the exposure of more than 100,000 service members to chemical warfare agents when US forces conducted demolition operations at Khamisiyah.

Despite the debilitating physical and emotional consequences of Gulf War Illness, however, vets were denied treatment for many years and still face an uphill battle in getting proper support or compensation. The US Department for Veterans’ Affairs has been accused of withholding death and disability statistics so as not to undermine the administration’s case for another Gulf war, and only a few weeks ago, almost 12 years after the fact, was a study finally published stating that Gulf War Illness is not “just in the minds” of sufferers.

Wetland Bird Rediscovered in Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand – A wetland bird that eluded scientists for nearly 130 years has been rediscovered at a wastewater treatment plant in Thailand, Birdlife International announced Wednesday.

Little is known about the large-billed reed-warbler because it had not been seen since its discovery in 1867 in the Sutlej Valley of India.