AMY GOODMAN: Dennis, there is a lot to talk about here, but we also wanted to do something else with you that you’ve been doing over the last few years. And that is talk about the militarization of the Arizona-Mexico border and then touch on Al D’Amato, the kingmaker in New York and around this country, who you’ve been doing a lot of work on, just came out with a piece published here in San Francisco. And we only have a few minutes to do all of that in. But before we go to all that, in a related story, something you’ve been investigating for a while, is the results of the Gulf War in terms of Persian Gulf War syndrome and what the soldiers, the U.S. soldiers, suffered there. Can you just give us a thumbnail sketch of where that stands today? And because this is an election show and President Clinton is a presidential candidate, where he fits into that picture?

DENNIS BERNSTEIN: Well, this is a story of the exportation of nuclear, chemical and biological warfare agents, real intense chemistry used in warfare. Bill Clinton has been perhaps the most active in exporting this kind of technology. What happened during the Gulf War, it may have been the most toxic war in American history, where thousands, tens of thousands, of soldiers, Allied soldiers, Iraqi soldiers and many people living in the region were exposed to chemical and biological warfare agents. This is a story that has been suppressed substantially in this country by the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency, who was usually — who used to be at the Pentagon.

AMY GOODMAN: John Deutch.

DENNIS BERNSTEIN: John Deutch. And this is a story about how the U.S. government continues to use this dangerous depleted uranium technology chemistry in Bosnia. The very kinds of equipment that were used in Kuwait and Iraq that are making many U.S. soldiers and people around the world sick is now being deployed in Bosnia, and nothing is being said about the dangers of this equipment and this chemistry.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, President Clinton, maybe at one point, we’re going to get to ask him some questions on the campaign trail. I don’t believe there’s much in the papers today about what is happening in Kuwait and the true aftermath of the war with Iraq when it comes to U.S. soldiers.

DENNIS BERNSTEIN: You know, 60,000 U.S. veterans have signed on to a federal registry complaining of serious sickness from being exposed to this weaponry, and they are being ignored.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Dennis Bernstein. Dennis is an associate reporter and editor at Pacific News Service, that’s based here in San Francisco. It’s a national news wire. And he’s also co-host of Flashpoints, which is an hour news magazine at KPFA here in Berkeley, Pacifica’s radio station, the founding radio station out here in Berkeley.