The First Gulf War

Lemming notes: On this day in 1991, President George H.W. Bush informed Iraq that they must pull out of Kuwait within twenty-four hours, or the United States would invade.

In the 15 years that have passed since Gulf War I, there have been over 11,620 deaths of soldiers who served in that war, which is a higher death rate than soldiers who served in VietNam. In these fifteen years, nearly 200,000 soldiers who served have complained about effects similar to Gulf War syndrome. Gulf War Syndrome veterans have battled the government for recognition with mixed results. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligence brain cancer deaths, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease) and fibromyalgia now are recognized by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments as potentially connected to service during the Persian Gulf War.

On the other hand, the government has not fully recognized many of these claims. The main theories for the cause of GWS are: Depleted Uranium in artillery shells(still used by the USA), accelerated anthrax vaccines given to the troops, and that 125,000 and 9,000 troops were exposed to chemical weapons after the US bombed an Iraqi weapons depot.