DoD releases Final Case Narrative on
April 25, 2002 - WASHINGTON (DeploymentLINK) -- Today, we released two reports relating to the events at Khamisiyah during the Gulf War. The first report is a final version of the "U.S. Demolition Operations at Khamisiyah" case narrative. Since publishing the second interim report in December 2000, we received new information from veterans inquiring about their inclusion or exclusion from the possible hazard area. After reviewing each request, we notified the veteran (and any others affected) of the results of the review, including any change in their possible exposure status. Reflecting this new information, the final report updates the Department of Defense's estimate of the number of servicemembers possibly exposed to low-levels of chemical warfare agents. The second, "Modeling and Risk Characterization of U.S. Demolition Operations at the Khamisiyah Pit," is a technical report detailing the modeling and risk characterization of possible chemical warfare agent exposure in the Gulf War. It also details efforts to reconstruct the demolition of chemical-warfare-agent-filled munitions at Khamisiyah, Iraq, and identify the servicemembers who possibly may have been exposed in March 1991. Additionally, we released today the final case narrative, "Chemical
Warfare Agent Release at Muhammadiyat Ammunition Storage Site."
It focuses on the possibility that Coalition bombing of this ammunition
storage site exposed U.S. forces to chemical warfare agents. Since publishing
the interim report in March 2001, we received no new information that
changes our original assessment that U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia definitely
were not exposed to chemical warfare agents likely released in bombing
Muhammadiyat. For special operations personnel in Iraq during the Gulf
War on days when nerve agent might have been released, exposure is indeterminate
because their specific locations and the exact chemical warfare agent
release date(s) cannot be identified. |
