Customer Reviews

Gassed in the Gulf: The Inside Story of the Pentagon-CIA Cover-up of Gulf War Syndrome

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I have just finished reading the book Gassed in the Gulf and it is the only one that I have found that telles like it happened. I do not know where the person from Ohio was but I was in the Gulf 90-91. Even the DOD said that it was not a sonic boom over our camp at Al Jubyl. Not when within 20 seconds of the explosion your face goes numb (Page 73 of book that was me, Fred Willoughby The book is right on what happened. It is well told andd the CIA and DOD are still doing all they can to keep this from becoming a big seller. It should be mandatory reading for everyone thinking about going into the service. Really enjoyed the book. Thank you Pat Eddington for trying to help us Vets.

Dear Readers,

I urge you to read this book if you are truly concerned about this issue and then get the Senate Committee book indicated at the end of this review. I grew up in Ohio as well as the other reviewer and I can tell you and especially him that he is wrong. I spent 17 months hospitalized after being "gassed in the gulf" and medevacced out unconscious to Germany following a total body seizure and over 6 hours of loss of consciousness. The 12 eyewitness written accounts of what had happened to me were gathered by my Brigade Commander and he included a personal statement that accompanied my medevac file. That portion of the file was sealed and CLASSIFIED was written over its outer jacket. I personally saw over 300 seriously wounded long term nerve gas related patients come in and out of the research ward of one of the military's largest hospitals for over one year. I didn't even recognize my own wife at 2 months after the medevac and could barely speak. Mr. Clueless from Columbus may believe whatever bull Schwarzkopf or any General wants to feed him, but it will never dispute the true eyewitness facts of that war that have rarely been told. In fact many of us now retired army and marine disabled veterans from the Gulf question whether he even received the reports of chemical contamination or whether he wanted greater confirmation due to the relatively low number of serious nerve agent injuries. Columbus should know how the military works and how reporting up the chain of command sometimes gets turned around right on top of you because most careerists are too worried about their ratings to report anything negative to, for example, a Brigade level commander. YOU MUST REMEMBER, the Media was under complete military control during the Gulf War. Had they been with the Saudi unit I was with they would have seen a number of serious injuries in verified areas of chemical detection--that were verified by the Select Senate Committee in eyewitness testimony from Americans and Foriegn Coalition NCO's and Officers--just like the book indicates. If Mr. Columbus wants to keep on believing his own version due to his prior service visits to the local N.B.C. chemical training chamber he can do so without remorse and continue on with his merry life. If Mr. Columbus cares about the truth and wants the real facts and not just from this book, he should write his Senator and get the following factual 160 page testimony and then he can repeal his bogus words and review:

U.S. Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and Their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Persian Gulf War. A report of Chairman Donald Riegle, and Ranking Member Alfonse D'Amato, United States Senate, May 25, 1994.

In fact, please send me another copy for one of my disabled friends so that I can give it to him for his pending lawsuit.

By the way, if any of you are concerned, the Veteran's Administration and their hospitals have done a lot of really excellent work with sick veterans and does not believe the released Army and CIA reports from the war. Go see them if you need any help and don't take no for an answer.

By the way Mr. Columbus, the Army is paying me one hell of a lot of money for the rest of my life for what happened. Unfortunately that is the only Admission they will ever make of what really happened over there and YOU end up paying for it.

I'm a longtime reader of intelligence-related books. I have a serious interest in how the most secret parts of our government work or don't work.

Patrick Eddington has written a book that makes me feel like I'm on the inside, walking the halls of Langley, meeting disappointments and frustrations, denials and evasions at every turn. This is not a dry expose of government misdeeds. This book presents, in active, personal narrative, the journey from discovery to action to reaction to confrontation to breaking past the wall of CIA and DOD denials of the chemical exposure of our Gulf War veterans. You watch Patrick and his wife experience career blockages when they try to pursue the truth.

You might think a book like this would be depressing. But it's rather energizing. Full of first-hand knowledge as well as documents (some printed in full at the back of the book,) this is one of those rare books that inspires and empowers. For as frustrating as it is to see high level people in the government making the worse choice at every fork, there is also the beauty of seeing Patrick and his wife braving the storm in the hopes of helping those who would have given their lives to protect the rest of us. I don't mean to play down the hard data he presents to make his argument, but what makes the book a fasinating read is the narrative of the personal events along the way. It's a story of fierce compassion, gritty integrity and an honest-to-goodness commitment to doing the right thing. How refreshing!<P

Having watched DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs take us through the Agent Orange coverup step by step for financial reasons, I am neither surprised nor amused at our governments finesse as they attempt to deal a similar (albeit more deadly) hand to the Persian Gulf Veterans. Eddington and his wife have exhibited courage in their work. This book is a must for anyone who would try to understand how adept our government has become in stonewalling the truth and rewriting history to suit their needs

In this book, the Eddington's give inside information on the subject of the government,'s coverup.For those who have been touched by this issue, who have been outraged by the government's brazen attempts to explain serious health issues as "post traumatic stress", and who have known for years that the explanations have been lies, this book is a must read.

Gassed in the Gulf is thoroughly researched and factually written. In addition to providing an explanation for the causes of Gulf War Syndrome, it provides information with which the American public can begin to hold our representatives accountable. Read it. Ask. Act.

Our troops needed our support during our nation's war. They need it even more now, during their own, less public, wars. This book will provide information with which we can begin to ask the right questions, and demand truthful answers

This is one of the most important books about the Gulf War.

Pat Eddington tells the story in this book of his and his wife's odyssey within the CIA, working to adjust official policy to reflect the actual facts on the ground. Unfortunately, truth was one of the first casualties of the Gulf War.

Interviewing veterans, including key source documents and detailing the shameful way the government dealt with returning veterans of the Gulf War, Eddington reveals a different side of Washington -- a Washington that waves flags in time of war but hides behind accountants when the warriors secure peace.

Let us hope those deployed in the future are treated better. As a long-time activist on behalf of veterans and the author of an upcoming novel on the Gulf War (Prayer at Rumayla: A Novel of the Gulf War) I offer thanks to Pat and Robin Eddington for their dedication on behalf of our country and its defenders.

"Gassed In The Gulf" is one of the most important books I have read in recent memory. As an independent journalist who's written on the subject of Gulf War Syndrome, I found Mr. Eddington's book to be enormously insightful. Most of my research and writing on this topic revolved around the exposure of our troops to depleted uranium, and how that is directly connected to GWS; however, my knowledge of the release of chemical/biological agents during the war was, as this book has shown me, sadly lacking.

The notion that depleted uranium and chemical/biological weapons both interacted, lowering the immuno response of the troops and thus making them much more susceptible to the effects of one another, as well as creating symptoms that might not match simply one type of exposure, is highly likely. This would, of course, explain why often there are examples of symptoms not directly linked to simply chemical/biological exposure of just depleted uranium. The result is no doubt the cause of much of the confusion about the true nature of GWS.

Mr. Eddington's book serves to provide what, for me, is the "missing link" in all of this. He and his wife are to be commended for their courage and dedication to this issue, especially in light of the enormous burden and subsequent personal risk they have endured to make this information available to the veterans of the war and to all Americans in general. I offer my thanks, as well as my sympathies for their struggles in dealing with the after-effects of their revelations.

Anyone serious about understanding the degree to which political considerations and a complete lack of humanitarian considerations propel U.S. policy decisions must read "Gassed in the Gulf". We owe it not only to ourselves, and to the many Gulf War veterans and their families, but to the very promises of liberty and truth which we all hold so dear.

Andrew Poe
Washington, DC

Interesting read, fair editing, but I wouldn't put too much stock in this story. Mr. Eddington sounds almost amateurish in his insistence that nerve agents are responsible for the illnesses that many of us veterans face everyday, and hysterical in his insistence that this was "the case" which got him the boot from the CIA. This is even more interesting since he has changed his tune to fit the "cause du jour" - signing onto the anti-DU lobby, the anti-anthrax vaccine groups, and whatever else will keep him around and on the op-ed page. This book makes some grand assumptions and leaps of logic from two underlying facts - yes, there was a Gulf War, and yes, some folks are sick. I suspect if what he says is true, the symptoms us vets face would be plain and simple. But they are not, despite how some shrill voices (see other reviews) wish them otherwise. Bottom line - take this book more as fiction adventure thriller, and you'll be getting just that. Read at the beach, if you must.

Gassed in the Gulf was a good read. I would recommend it to anyone. It had a great ending and storyline.

I read this book in disbelief. I know chemical weapons and their effects. If what the author said really happened, they'd still be bringing home the body bags! I am a vet and have served my time in various hot spots. His ignorance of the military is evident throughout the book. He makes the CIA to be incomptent, which it is not. Ditto for the DIA. If you really want to know what happened over there, read General Schwarzkopf's book. He is the true hero, an honorable man who tells it like it is. Don't waste your money on this book.