Army and Wars Related Directory

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) was founded by Iraq war veterans in July 2004 at the annual convention of Veterans for Peace (VFP) in Boston to give a voice to the large number of active duty service people and veterans who are against this war, but are under various pressures to remain silent.

From its inception, IVAW has called for:

• Immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq;
• Reparations for the human and structural damages Iraq has suffered, and stopping the corporate pillaging of Iraq so that their people can control their own lives and future; and
• Full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women.

Our membership includes recent veterans and active duty servicemen and women from all branches of military service, National Guard members, and reservists who have served in the United States military since September 11, 2001.

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Posted by admin in Gulf War, War Veterans • Comments (1)

The National Gulf War Resource Center (NGWRC) is here to help veterans of recent and current wars and operations. We are an international coalition of advocates and organizations providing information, support and referrals for all those affected by the complexities of current and recent combat operations (1990 to current). We are focused on providing information about the following:

• Gulf War Illness

• Other toxin-induced illnesses

• Traumatic Brain Injury

• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

If we may assist you or your organization, please browse our resources here or contact us.

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During the 1991 Gulf War, Canada deployed sea, land, and air forces to the Persian-Gulf region as part of the Coalition forces against Saddam Hussein. About 4,500 Canadians served in the theatre, and no one reported any serious casualties at the time.

However, since then, there has been a series of complaints by some Gulf-War veterans about their overall health. Gulf-War veterans from several other Coalition nations (most notably the United States and the United Kingdom) have also reported that they were experiencing symptoms and illnesses that they believed were caused by, or aggravated by, their service in the war.

In 1992, the medical services in the various countries began to realize that the Gulf-War veterans seemed to be displaying some common symptoms, and the issue gained a higher profile. The first studies of the alleged Gulf-War Syndrome began at about that time.

In September 1992, the Canadian Forces Medical Service (CFMS) advised Canadian Forces medical personnel to exercise vigilance and to notify Headquarters if any Canadian cases appeared. Specialists at the National Defence Medical Centre (NDMC) in Ottawa soon began treating a small number of symptomatic Gulf-War veterans. Centre staff readily diagnosed some specific problems, but some individuals complained of a variety of ailments which, although easily identified as illnesses, were not clearly connected with the Gulf War. In fact, they occur among other Canadian Forces members who did not serve in the Persian Gulf, and also among members of the general Canadian population.

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Posted by admin in Canada Wars, Gulf War • Comments (1)

Before the Gulf War, it was known that Iraq possessed both chemical and biological weapons, but DoD and the British Ministry of Defense have reported that Iraqi forces against coalition forces intentionally used neither chemical nor biological weapons during the Gulf War. The DoD has reported that one U.S. soldier may have received a burn in his arm from mustard agent, caused by accidental exposure while exploring a captured bunker in southern Iraq.

Just after the cease-fire was declared in Iraq, some Gulf War veterans may have been exposed to low or trace levels of chemical warfare agents. In March 1991, after the end of the Gulf War, U.S. service members used explosives to destroy a large ammunition depot at Khamisiyah in southern Iraq. It was later discovered that this site contained the nerve agents sarin and cyclosarin. During the demolition some of these agents were released into the atmosphere. Based upon the research carried out by the CIA, in 1997 DoD notified nearly 100,000 Gulf War veterans who had been in the vicinity of Khamisiyah at the time of the demolition that they could have been exposed to low-levels of these chemical agents.

The DoD has stated that no cases of acute (that is, obvious poisoning effects that occur within minutes after exposure) poisoning symptoms, which would have resulted from high-level exposure to nerve agents, were reported during the Gulf War. Nevertheless, some U.S. service members may have experienced low-level exposures from inhalation of airborne nerve agents in the Gulf War region following the 1991 cease-fire.
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The American Gulf War Veterans Association (AGWVA) was established with one goal in mind: To obtain treatment for those service members and their families who experience symptoms collectively known as the “Gulf War Illness”. However, there is more to this issue than meets the eye. As this investigation into causation has now progressed into the arena of possible exposure to chemical and/or biological agents, radiation poisoning due to the use of depleted uranium and most disturbingly, the use of our fighting men and women as “Guinea Pigs” in medical experimentation, the AGWVA has now added a second goal: To obtain justice and compensation for all those affected by these illnesses.

Our troops returned home after serving their country with an illness that appears to be spreading into the general population, treatment is being denied and to date there are no safeguards of our blood supply. Those responsible have passed the burden of proof onto those that are suffering and least able to fight the enormous bureaucracy of governmental agencies that are more concerned with avoiding admission.

For over three years the AGWVA has been embarking on this search for the truth and the documentation that we have compiled is voluminous. The Pentagon, DOD, Veterans Administration, Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Congressional Investigation into Gulf War Illness, the Presidential Advisory Committee and the Government Accounting Office have collectively spent over $100,000,000 “researching” the Gulf War Illness.

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