The Gulf Gas Mystery

Evidence suggests that troops were indeed exposed to chemical agents, but were the Iraqis responsible?

Larry Kay will never forget the night of the white cloud. On Jan. 20, 1991, three days after the Gulf War had started, Kay was dozing in an armchair at his construction battalion's camp in Saudi Arabia, more than 100 miles from the Kuwaiti border. At 3 a.m. an exploding Scud missile jolted him awake. Before Kay had time to clamp on his gas mask, the acrid smell of ammonia assaulted his lungs, and he watched a whitish gray cloud drift over the camp. Says he: "Right after that, people started getting sick."

Members of the battalion developed large red blotches...

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