EDITORIAL
Where's the AIDS money?
Last month when Bush was trying to sell his war on Iraq
together with a budget of giveaways to the rich in his State of
Union speech, he surprised everyone by including a humanitarian
gesture. He pledged $10 billion in new funds to fight AIDS in
Africa. That was a first for the Bush administration and was
supposed to make everything else okay.
You'll pardon us if we weren't convinced at the time. The
guy who says that bombing Iraq will save it--military experts
now say that at least a million Iraqi children are sure to be
killed by any U.S. bombing campaign--is going to help fight
AIDS in Africa.
Of course, $10 billion and much more should be pledged to
fight AIDS in Africa.
But, as they say, show us the money. When Bush's real budget
was presented to Congress, it had only $550 million in new
funds to fight AIDS, and that is offset by his proposed cuts in
international health-care programs for children. Add to that
the move this week by the Bush administration to block
inexpensive drugs for people in developing countries. At World
Trade Organization talks in Geneva the U.S. blocked efforts to
reduce the costs for drugs, including AIDS medications.
If asked about this, Bush's answer would probably be
something along the line of "let them eat cake."
Reprinted from the Feb. 27, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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