Colin Powell's Stance on Condoms Draws Fire
Friday February 15 2:03 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Comments by Secretary of State
Colin Powell (news - web sites)
encouraging the use of condoms to
fight the spread of AIDS (news -
web sites) have drawn fire from
some conservative supporters of the
Bush administration who
suggested the remarks were at
odds with White House policy.
During a teleconference on the
music television network MTV on
Thursday, Powell told a global
audience he believed condoms
were part of the solution to the HIV
(news - web sites)/AIDS crisis and encouraged their
use by young people who were sexually active.
In my own judgement, condoms are the way to prevent
infection and, therefore, I not only support their use, I
encourage their use,'' he said in response to a
question from a young Italian.
Powell added, ``Forget about taboos, forget about
conservative ideas with respect to what you should tell
young people about it. It's the lives of young people
that are put at risk by unsafe sex, and therefore
protect yourself.''
The administration of Republican President Bush
(news - web sites) has not taken a stance against
condoms. But the White House strongly advocates
abstinence as the best option for preventing sexually
transmitted diseases and promotes ``abstinence-only''
programs to curb teen-age pregnancies.
Former Republican presidential candidate and
Christian activist Gary Bauer (news - web sites) said on
Thursday that condoms gave people a ''false sense of
security'' and told Powell to ``follow the lead of the
Bush administration which he serves.''
The conservative organizations Focus on the Family
and the Family Research Council said Powell's
comments directly contradicted the policy of his boss.
``Colin Powell is a career soldier. He knows what it
means to follow the commander in chief. We have to
assume he wouldn't contradict his boss without
approval,'' said Dr. James Dobson, president of Focus
on the Family. ``If that's not the case, the president
needs to publicly repudiate these statements
immediately.''
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web
sites) told The Washington Post that Powell's message
was consistent with White House policy. He said
Powell ``limited his answer to people who are sexually
active.''
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