GULF WAR ILLNESSES: DOD’s Conclusions about U.S. Troops

6,68

MB

Exposure Cannot Be Adequately Supported

116

stron

3806

ID

United States Government Accountability Office

2004

rok

Contents

Letter 1

Scope and Methodology 3

Results in Brief 4

Background 7

Modeling the Environmental and Health Effects of Fallout from CW Agents 10

DOD’s Conclusion about U.S. Troops’ Exposure to CW Agents Cannot Be Adequately Supported 12

Major Unresolved Issues Concerning Modeling 19

DOD’s Modeling Efforts Were Flawed 30

The MOD Relied on U.S. Plume Modeling to Determine Its Troops’

Exposure 47

to CW Agents 47

Total U.S. Plume-Modeling Costs 47

DOD’s and VA’s Epidemiological Conclusions on CW Exposure and Hospitalization and Mortality

Rates Cannot Be Adequately Supported 49

Conclusions 61

Recommendations for Executive Action 62

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 62

Appendix I DOD’s Chronology of Khamisiyah Modeling Events 64

Appendix II Power-Law Formula 66

Appendix III DOD’s Model Divergences 67

Appendix IV Divergence and Wind Field Models 69

Appendix V Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs 73

Appendix VI Comments from the Department of Defense 74

GAO Comments 92