This isn't to say that they never have health problems. One researcher who claims GWS is real said he had identified no fewer than 123 symptoms. These range from the utterly mundane, such as hair loss, graying hair, and weight gain, to the utterly preposterous, such as semen that burns flesh like napalm, vomit that glows in the dark, and claims by two vets that they are literally shrinking. Throw in an element of hysteria and it's easy to account for both the outlandish complaints and psychosomatic symptoms such as labored breathing, aching joints, and stomach pains. The list of alleged causes for GWS is almost as long as the list of symptoms.
New theories keep popping up because the old ones never pan out.
No one can find a cause for GWS or a conspiracy to cover it up any more than they can find a cause for George Bush's assassination and its subsequent cover-up, the reason being that Bush is alive and well. For politicians, this science stuff just won't do, because the news media and activist groups have convinced the American public that GWS is real. Every congressional committee that has considered the issue has stuck its finger in the wind and concluded either that GWS exists or that, at the very least, the Pentagon has failed to investigate it properly. The latter was the conclusion of the most recent inquisition, that of the House Subcommittee on Government Oversight, which held GWS hearings on eight occasions over the past two years. It was Shays's committee that invited Pfc.