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CNN Live Today

Chemical Mystery

Aired April 08, 2003 - 10:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. forces conducting further testing today on some chemicals found in 13 metal drums in the central part of Iraq, some of the troops who came in contact with those drums experienced dizziness, nausea. Military officials insist the soldiers probably experienced heat exhaustion. The reports sound a lot familiar, though, to Keith Schafer, a former U.S. Marine served in first Persian Gulf War 12 years ago. He says he is suffering from ailments he attributes to exposure to sarin gas.
At the end of war, U.S. soldiers unwittingly blew up an ammunition dump with sarin gas in it. The government, though, acknowledged this may have some sort of connection and some sort of exposure. Keith Schafer is live today from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to talk more about it.

Good to have you on with us here. I know you brought some pictures, perhaps of 12 years ago. Briefly, if you could, what happened early on in 1991?

KEITH SCHAFER, FMR. U.S. MARINE: After the ground war, we were asked to pull back and to occupy the country of Kuwait. While we were there, the Army had actually come across a storage facility in Kanesia (ph). Not realizing what was inside there, they opted to blow that up, and unfortunately, the winds that day were traveling from north to sought and carried a chemical cloud all across Kuwait and into Saudi Arabia.

HEMMER: Keith, what are your symptoms? What have they been over the past 12 years, or currently?

SCHAFER: Well, I've suffered -- a portion of my brain has actually died, which has led to a seizure disorder. I break out in rashes. I break out in welts. It's just an all-around bad deal.

HEMMER: What do you think 12 years later, as you watch your Marines and the soldiers from the U.S. Army go back into Iraq, how much better-equipped and trained are they this time around?

SCHAFER: I think they're 100 percent better equipped, and I think they're 100 percent better trained given the lessons we learned during Operation Desert Storm.

HEMMER: Well, listen, when you talk about this explosion that occurred toward the end of the war last time, how much concern do you have about these ammunition dumps that are essentially blown up, what appears to be on a daily basis, do you have a concern possibly that there might be an agent in there that may expose soldiers and Marines today, or do they have system in place now to ensure that does not happen?

SCHAFER: Well, from I understand, the -- all of the forces that are on the ground that are coming across these bunkers are in MOPP level 3 or MOPP level 4, which is full chemical suits, the booties, the gloves and the mask and the hoods, where the only chemical agent that we may have a problem with is the VX gas.

HEMMER: Why do you believe that?

SCHAFER: Well, the VX gas, I'm not too familiar with, because it wasn't around during Operation Desert Storm. We dealt more with the nerve agents, the blood agents and the blister agents.

HEMMER: And listen, Keith, as this war increasingly looks like it is winding down right now, do you have any doubt in your mind right now that weapons of mass destruction are still being held by what is soon to be the former Iraqi regime?

SCHAFER: They may still be held. It's just going to be a matter of time before our troops actually come across them, find them and dispose of them. There is no telling how much of this stuff Saddam Hussein actually had, and what he's actually done with it. I mean, it could be in the basement of a school, it could be buried out in the middle of the desert.

HEMMER: And therein lies the ultimate question. Thanks for sharing your story. Best of luck to you, and your health, Keith, OK?

SCHAFER: Thank you very much.

HEMMER: Keith Schafer, former U.S. Marine there at Ft. Lauderdale. You got it.

Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired April 8, 2003 - 10:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. forces conducting further testing today on some chemicals found in 13 metal drums in the central part of Iraq, some of the troops who came in contact with those drums experienced dizziness, nausea. Military officials insist the soldiers probably experienced heat exhaustion. The reports sound a lot familiar, though, to Keith Schafer, a former U.S. Marine served in first Persian Gulf War 12 years ago. He says he is suffering from ailments he attributes to exposure to sarin gas.
At the end of war, U.S. soldiers unwittingly blew up an ammunition dump with sarin gas in it. The government, though, acknowledged this may have some sort of connection and some sort of exposure. Keith Schafer is live today from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to talk more about it.

Good to have you on with us here. I know you brought some pictures, perhaps of 12 years ago. Briefly, if you could, what happened early on in 1991?

KEITH SCHAFER, FMR. U.S. MARINE: After the ground war, we were asked to pull back and to occupy the country of Kuwait. While we were there, the Army had actually come across a storage facility in Kanesia (ph). Not realizing what was inside there, they opted to blow that up, and unfortunately, the winds that day were traveling from north to sought and carried a chemical cloud all across Kuwait and into Saudi Arabia.

HEMMER: Keith, what are your symptoms? What have they been over the past 12 years, or currently?

SCHAFER: Well, I've suffered -- a portion of my brain has actually died, which has led to a seizure disorder. I break out in rashes. I break out in welts. It's just an all-around bad deal.

HEMMER: What do you think 12 years later, as you watch your Marines and the soldiers from the U.S. Army go back into Iraq, how much better-equipped and trained are they this time around?

SCHAFER: I think they're 100 percent better equipped, and I think they're 100 percent better trained given the lessons we learned during Operation Desert Storm.

HEMMER: Well, listen, when you talk about this explosion that occurred toward the end of the war last time, how much concern do you have about these ammunition dumps that are essentially blown up, what appears to be on a daily basis, do you have a concern possibly that there might be an agent in there that may expose soldiers and Marines today, or do they have system in place now to ensure that does not happen?

SCHAFER: Well, from I understand, the -- all of the forces that are on the ground that are coming across these bunkers are in MOPP level 3 or MOPP level 4, which is full chemical suits, the booties, the gloves and the mask and the hoods, where the only chemical agent that we may have a problem with is the VX gas.

HEMMER: Why do you believe that?

SCHAFER: Well, the VX gas, I'm not too familiar with, because it wasn't around during Operation Desert Storm. We dealt more with the nerve agents, the blood agents and the blister agents.

HEMMER: And listen, Keith, as this war increasingly looks like it is winding down right now, do you have any doubt in your mind right now that weapons of mass destruction are still being held by what is soon to be the former Iraqi regime?

SCHAFER: They may still be held. It's just going to be a matter of time before our troops actually come across them, find them and dispose of them. There is no telling how much of this stuff Saddam Hussein actually had, and what he's actually done with it. I mean, it could be in the basement of a school, it could be buried out in the middle of the desert.

HEMMER: And therein lies the ultimate question. Thanks for sharing your story. Best of luck to you, and your health, Keith, OK?

SCHAFER: Thank you very much.

HEMMER: Keith Schafer, former U.S. Marine there at Ft. Lauderdale. You got it.

Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com