FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 19, 2003

  For the past six years, the American Gulf War Veterans Association have received numerous reports from veterans stating that US forces were responsible for the setting of the oil well fires at the end of the Gulf War.  These testimonies are now being taken very seriously in light of recent revelations of the events that occurred during the first Gulf War.

 

 Joyce Riley, spokesperson for The American Gulf War Veterans Association is quoted as saying: “There was intentional misinformation given to the American people to generate support for Desert Storm often created by advertising agencies such as Hill and Knowlton.”

 

* Revelations regarding the “Incubator story,” in which Republican Guard were reported to have thrown babies out of their incubators onto the cold floor turned out to be false and a “fraud on the American People.” (S.R. 103-900). 

 

* The St. Petersburg Times disproved the report of satellite photos showing a thousand Iraqi tanks amassing on the Saudi border.

 

* April Glaspie, US Ambassador, gave tacit approval to Saddam Hussein to invade Iraq by saying, “We have no opinion on…your border dispute with Kuwait.” 

 

* John Shalikashvilli, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and William Perry, Secretary of Defense wrote in a memo (obtained by the AGWVA) on May 25, 1994, “There is no information, classified or unclassified that indicates that chemical or biological weapons were used in the Persian Gulf.” General Norman Schwartzkopf’s NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) logs (also obtained by the AGWVA) dated Feb. 27, 1991, and March 3, 1991, clearly disprove the above statement.

 

One veteran has now stepped forward and given a detailed account of how he and others in special teams, moved forward of the front, (behind enemy lines ahead of US forces) and then set charges on the well heads. “We were mustered into the briefing tent at which point a gentleman whom I first had thought to be an American began to brief us on the operation. I was concerned because he was not wearing a US uniform and insignias.”

 

The information provided over a series of meetings with this veteran corroborates reports from other veterans who are totally unconnected with this individual. This testimony brings into serious question the integrity of the US government, as it provided information to the American public and military during the last Gulf War.

 

The American Gulf War Veterans Association is presently dissenting on the war and has been joined by The British Gulf War Veterans and Families Association.  Riley states that: “Not only is it our opinion that the Department of Defense has not been forthcoming about the severity of our military’s illnesses, significant concern is now being raised over the causation as well.”