United States Department of Defense

Bernard Rostker, Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses, to Provide Press Update, July 17

Bernard Rostker, special assistant for Gulf War illnesses, will provide another Gulf War illnesses update following the regularly scheduled Pentagon press briefing Thursday, July 17, 1997. Rostker will release the Institute for Defense Analyses' report that reviewed modeling considerations for Khamisiyah, a weapons storage facility in southern Iraq which was destroyed by U.S. forces after the Gulf War. Rostker will be joined by Bob Walpole, the Central Intelligence Agency's special assistant for Gulf War illnesses, and Dr. Susan H. Mather, assistant chief medical director, Public Health and Environmental Hazards Office, Veterans' Health Administration, Department of Veterans' Affairs. Walpole will explain modeling methods and procedures being used to determine the area of potential chemical exposure from the demolitions at Khamisiyah. Mather will describe health care benefits available to Gulf War veterans and ongoing research programs.

This update will not cover the actual plume analysis for Khamisiyah. The plume analysis and estimate of the number of troops potentially exposed will be released at a later date.