E-mail this story to a friend Have comments? Send them to the editor. Printer Friendly Version Subscribe for Free! Other Columns by Cliff Kincaid Cliff Kincaid Bio

Page 2 of 3

Now that the major media are reporting that the U.N. has made it official that the figures are exaggerated, people are coming to the obvious and rightful conclusion―nothing that comes out of the world body can be trusted.

Consider that a reader of the Orlando Sentinel wrote a letter noting that the paper had run an editorial under the headline "Climate Alarm" on November 20 urging action based on the findings of "the world's foremost scientific experts" of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "The following day," the reader went on, "a Sentinel article ("Cases of HIV Drop Globally, UN Says") stated that the annual update on AIDS produced by UNAIDS was dramatically revised downward because of what it called past problems with the way it analyzes data." He concluded, "So are we to believe the U.N. in the case of its global-warming models and doubt its estimates of AIDS based on problems with that model. Perhaps a little skepticism about impending doom from global warming is in order when it's the U.N. putting out this data."

The conclusion is a valid one. And this is a big reason why the U.N.'s phony figures on AIDS have not become a scandal. The world body is holding another conference on climate change in December in Bali, Indonesia. Its authority in world affairs cannot be questioned at this delicate time. Our pro-U.N. media are caught in a contradiction that undermines their own credibility and that of the U.N.

Meanwhile, according to the Post, rock star Bono "has set up a lobbying shop, with 75 full-time employees here, welcomed into every corner of power within Washington. He's helped push forward the issues of debt forgiveness and economic development on the continent and a re-energized effort toward eliminating HIV and AIDS. Now, he's determined to poke his mug into the thick of the U.S. presidential campaign, meeting with candidates to push them to add global poverty reduction to their platforms."

The question that Bono wants presented to the candidates is why the U.S. and other nations are not spending even more money on AIDS and other global causes. The questions that need to be asked are why we spent so much, where the money has gone, and why the officials behind the phony figures have not been punished. Giving the U.N. the benefit of the doubt, the New York Times reports that U.N. AIDS agency officials are denying that they inflated estimates for years "in an alarmist effort to raise funds." They should be called before the U.S. Congress and put under oath.

President Bush, of course, adopted the cause as his own and even became a collaborator with Bono.

In a related matter, there seems to be a controversy developing over former White House speechwriter Michael Gerson's role in the development of Bush's AIDS initiative. Another Bush speechwriter, David Frum, contends that Gerson inflated his role.

>> Continued -- Page 1 2 3