US Congress to Hold Gulf War Hearing in London

Shaun Rusling of the National Gulf Veterans & Families Association has been invited to speak at an unprecedented hearing in London as CADU News goes to press. The US Congress has moved its hearing on Gulf War syndrome to Westminster to take evidence from British sufferers.

The congressional subcommittee on national security, veterans affairs, and international relations is to hold an all day hearing in parliament as part of a renewed investigation into undiagnosed illnesses which have affected many thousands of gulf veterans. It is said to be the first time a congressional committee has held a hearing in the UK parliament, and comes at a time when Bush has just given the CIA carte blanche to kill Saddam Hussein, in preparation for another assault on Iraq. Veterans hope that the hearing will put pressure on the Ministry of Defence to recognise the suffering of gulf vets, especially in view of the potential that British soldiers may once again be part of forces attacking Iraq. The MoD has commissioned research which will be reported on next year.

There will be two sessions in the hearings to discuss medical findings about the use of multiple vaccines, exposure to depleted uranium and organophosphates in pesticides, and epidemiological studies on gulf war illness. The hearing will be followed by an address to 150 peers and MPs by Ross Perot, former presidential candidate who has financed US gulf veterans medical treatment. The hearing was organised by Lord Morris of Manchester, who said that the committee was a “terrier for the truth”.