
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 18, 1993                   TAG: 9311180030
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

CHEMICAL USE CLAIM REJECTED

The Pentagon rejected congressional testimony that a Marine detected chemical agents on a Persian Gulf War battlefield, and reiterated there is no evidence that American troops were exposed to chemical weapons during the conflict.

Undersecretary of Defense John Deutch, in a letter to Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, D-Mass., dated Tuesday and released Wednesday, said a Marine chemical warfare specialist used faulty data in claiming that he had detected the blister agent Lewisite.

Chief Warrant Officer Joseph Cottrell, at a Senate hearing Tuesday, said his detection vehicle on two occasions picked up low levels of Lewisite vapors during military advances against Iraq.

Cottrell said he passed on the findings to his superiors but the computer tape recording the detections subsequently disappeared.

Deutch said records found after the war indicate that Lewisite was not part of Iraq's chemical warfare inventory. He added that false positive alarms for chemical agents can result when there is a high concentration of petroleum-based hydrocarbons in the area.

The "Fox" reconnaissance vehicle that Cottrell was operating analyzes liquid agents on the ground.

Deutch said claims that benzyl bromide, a tear-producing skin irritant, were detected also may be the result of the detection system's confusing the chemical agent with a common pesticide. He said the identification occurred in an orchard where the pesticide might commonly be found.

The Pentagon official said that "while we believe that the reports we have examined so far do not indicate that U.S. service members were exposed to chemical warfare agents, we are continuing to examine every aspect of these accounts."

Members of Congress and veterans' groups have criticized the Pentagon for not doing enough to find causes for the so-called Persian Gulf Syndrome, debilitating physical and psychological symptoms that have affected thousands of Gulf War veterans.

Deutch said the Pentagon continues to investigate the broader question of both chemical and biological weapons use during the war.

by CNB