Chicago Tribune - February 20, 2002
Clarence Page

Our real world heard a sample in his recent remarks on condom use. Unfortunately, the secretary of state's remarks sparked an angry backlash from some who seem to be living in a dream world.

During an MTV teleconference with young people in seven countries, Daniela Sirtori, a 19-year-old Roman Catholic in Milan, Italy, asked Powell whether her church's opposition to condom use "condemns anyone who might be exposed" to the HIV virus that leads to AIDS.

"I respect the views of the Holy Father and the Catholic Church," Powell said, after a pause. "But, in my own judgment, condoms are a way to prevent infection. Therefore, I not only support their use, I encourage their use among people who are sexually active and need to protect themselves" from diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

Is that so wrong? Yes, said Ken Connor, president of the conservative Family Research Council, which promotes abstinence as the only acceptable sexual-disease-preventing advice for kids. He called Powell's remarks "reckless and irresponsible" and a "slap in the face" to President Bush's conservative base.

Yes, for all the talk we hear of "knee-jerk liberals," Connor, among other Powell critics, reminded us that there are reflexive conservatives, too.

Powell and his wife Alma happen to be strong supporters of Best Friends, an organization that promotes abstinence. Still, some commentators declared that the secretary should stick to foreign policy and leave social issues to Bush's domestic team.

Like whom? How about right-wing hero John Ashcroft? The attorney general's image team recently spent about $8,000 for a curtain to hide the semi-nude Lady Justice statue whose bared breast loomed behind Ashcroft's head at news briefings. (Wouldn't it have been cheaper to move the location of the briefings?)

There's no real need to polarize the politics around condom use, not in the real world. Sure, they aren't as reliable as abstinence. No one says they are. But many lives can be saved with these low-tech devices.

That's why Powell's advocating of condom use among the sexually active is a long-standing American policy abroad.

"There is, of course, a group of young people who are going to be sexually active no matter what anybody in the government, or anybody's family, says about abstinence," said White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. "The president's point is they both need to be highlighted."

Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), a conservative Catholic and a leading abortion foe, also defended Powell's remarks as appropriate for "addressing a limited audience--sexually active teenagers."

Another prominent conservative, the Rev. Franklin Graham, expressed appreciation that Powell was "willing to speak on this issue." So did Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a physician and leading Republican voice on health issues in the Senate.

"I'm proud of him," Frist said. "[Powell] spoke truthfully to the people he was talking to that day."

Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, and Frist came together for an international conference in Washington of people from 87 countries dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

"Unfortunately and shamefully, the church has been somewhat asleep on this issue and maybe it's because of the social stigma," Rev. Graham said.

AIDS has killed more than 24 million people globally in the past two decades. Another 40 million people are believed to be infected with the HIV virus worldwide, many without knowing it.

"We're not spending near as much money on HIV as we are on terrorism," Graham declared, "but which is the greater threat?"

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has asked for $7 billion to $10 billion annually to fight AIDS around the world. Unfortunately, only $528 million has been offered so far, including the $202 million that Bush's new budget offers, the same as last year's grant to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

If anything, Powell's condom advice makes up in a modest way for the administration's failures to come up with more dollars for the worldwide AIDS fight.

Powell said afterward that when he was getting ready to go on MTV, his daughter told him, "Don't try to snow those kids." That was good advice. The administration shouldn't try to snow the world, either.

The world is looking to America for leadership in the global fight against AIDS. Powell's words were right on target. More dollars would help, too.

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