THE SILENT TREATMENT

What's the truth about Persian Gulf War syndrome, and is the Pentagon guilty of a cover-up? In recent weeks, two of the war's heroes, generals Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf, have said they know of no evidence that U.S. troops were exposed to chemical weapons during the conflict that could have made them sick. But there are new indications that the generals, and even a Nobel prizewinning scientist hired by the Pentagon to look into the matter, were not told the full story. Since June 21 of this year, Defense officials have begun to suggest that the syndrome could be linked to troops' coming into contact with traces of sarin and other nerve agents. Here are the facts to date:

What is Gulf War syndrome?

It's a collection of symptoms, including chronic fatigue, rashes, headaches, joint pain, digestive problems and difficulty concentrating. Veterans have had babies born with twisted limbs, congestive heart failure and missing organs--problems they blame on their service in the gulf.

How many people have it?

About 70,000 U.S. troops among the 697,000 who served in the Middle East during the Gulf War have complained to either the Pentagon or the Department of Veterans Affairs that they are suffering from one or more of the symptoms. They exhibit such symptoms at a much higher rate than soldiers who didn't serve in the theater. Up until now, they do not appear to be dying at a higher rate.

Were they all in the same place during the Gulf War?

There is little correlation between ill soldiers and where they served during the war. While certain units have more ailing members than others, some investigators see that as evidence of the stress shared by members of those units--combat, being away from home and family, and poor living conditions. The main concentration seems to be among reservists, who account for nearly half of those reporting the problem but made up only 17% of the troops serving there. The Pentagon attributes this discrepancy to the reluctance of active-duty soldiers to complain for fear of losing their jobs in a shrinking military, on the reservists' greater age and on the fact that the war disrupted their lives more severely than those of active-duty troops.

Are residents of the region and soldiers from other nations reporting similar ills?

The Kuwaitis and Saudis insist they are not, but authoritarian states are unlikely to encourage such disclosures from their citizens. Most of the complaints come from American and British veterans, joined in smaller numbers by Canadians, Czechs and Slovaks. Last week Britain appointed an independent panel to study claims from about 1,000 veterans that they are suffering from the syndrome. In Washington, U.S. veterans testified again last week about their health problems before a congressional subcommittee.

What do the medical experts say is the most likely cause of Gulf War syndrome?

No single cause has been identified. It had long been Pentagon doctrine that if a soldier didn't immediately become sick from chemical weapons, he or she would never suffer any adverse effects from them. But recently the Pentagon has conceded there is little proof for that theory, and that low-level exposure, perhaps combined with other environmental or medical factors, may have played a key role in triggering the problem years after exposure.