THE mysteries surrounding the GaVf War Syndrome (Down To Earth, Vol 3, No 15) may finally be laid to rest. The Pentagon has confirmed that the symptoms associated with the syndrome, like birth defects, memory loss and joint pain, may have been caused by the precautionary medicines given to allied troops, The real culprits could be cocktails of anti-nerve gas pills, insecticides and pest . repellents that were routinely given to us troops - and not chemical or biological weapons allegedly used by Iraq.

The clinching evidence turned out to be tests on hens and rats conducted by Pentagon researchers and toxicology experts at Duke University USA. The animals revealed the same "textbooksymptoms" when they were exposed the cocktail chemicals as those reported by over 50,000 war veterans.