THE GULF WAR POISONS SEEP OUT

By Mark Thompson/Washington

For five long years, the Pentagon steadfastly insisted there was no evidence that U.S. soldiers were exposed to poison gas during the Gulf War. Assurances began to evaporate recently, and by last week the Pentagon's own count of G.I.s who may have been tainted by deadly fumes had risen so fast it reached potentially 1 out of every 100 Americans who served in the gulf.

First the Pentagon conceded last June that perhaps 350 soldiers from the Army's 37th Engineer Battalion could have been exposed to traces of chemical weapons when they blew up ammunition at the Kamisiyah weapons depot in southern Iraq on March 4, 1991. It was one day after Iraq's surrender, ending the Gulf War, and the unit was destroying Bunker 73, which contained rockets brimming with the virulent gas sarin. Three weeks ago, a presidential commission tripled--to 1,100--its estimate of the number of G.I.s exposed to the poison during that incident. Then last Wednesday the Pentagon said it was alerting 5,000 American troops who may have been exposed on March 10, 1991, when members of the 37th Engineers destroyed an unknown number of crates containing chemical rockets in a pit several miles south of Bunker 73.

The Pentagon has been hammered for its evasive handling of the growing problem. Last week's announcement, for example, came late in the evening in a single-page press release, adding fuel to cover-up charges from both vets and Capitol Hill. "Why this took five years to get released is a question I keep asking," said Republican Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan. "How many veterans could have been treated in the last five years if we knew all the facts we know now?"

Many vets believe chemical exposure is contributing to the debilitating collection of ills known as Gulf War syndrome, which includes chronic fatigue, joint ailments, rashes and memory loss. But the Pentagon says it has no proof of a link and adds that there is no sickness pattern among those who were at Kamisiyah. Critics argue that the lack of a pattern is not conclusive. Some researchers suggest that chemical agents may cause illness through a specific sequence of events that can affect everyone differently. They fear that a combination of nerve-gas exposure, prewar vaccinations against such toxins and environmental hazards like smoky oil fires may all trigger variations of the syndrome in different victims. Scientists have begun to explore the effect of minuscule doses of such gases. In the past it was thought that only amounts of nerve agents sufficient to cause near immediate harm were dangerous. But studies are under way to determine if momentary exposure to mere molecules of such poisons is equally deadly.

The Pentagon is asking Gulf War vets who were near Kamisiyah in March 1991 to register for a health exam by calling 1-800-796-9699 or 1-800-749-8387. "There are charges we have not listened to in the past," Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon concedes. "We are trying to listen now." Even more people may be listening soon. The Pentagon announced that the 5,000 notifications--due in the mail as early as this week--may not be the last. It seems that some of the 24,000 troops in the Army's 24th Infantry Division were in the neighborhood when the chemical weapons were blown up. "As we learn more about Kamisiyah in these next few weeks," the Pentagon's statement warns, "we expect to identify more troops who might have been exposed."

--By Mark Thompson/Washington