Powell, "Safe Sex," and Condoms. (Insider Report).

"Forget about taboos," Secretary of State Colin Powell told a worldwide MTV audience while endorsing condoms as a good "safe sex" strategy. Immediately drawing fire from conservative and pro-family activists, Powell's statement came during a February 14th teleconference hosted by the music television network, MTV. Responding to a question about using condoms to protect against sexual diseases, Powell stated: "In my own judgement, condoms are the way to prevent infection and, therefore, I not only support their use, I encourage their use." He 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."

Apparently Secretary Powell is unaware that last July the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a report pointing out that there is no scientific evidence that condoms prevent the transmission of most sexually transmitted diseases. Developed by a scientific panel cosponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the report completely contradicts the condom propaganda dispensed by the CDC for many years. "For nearly a year the CDC has been fighting the release of the report," Congressman Dave Weldon, a physician from Florida, announced in a July 20, 2001 statement. "The report concludes that there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that condoms provide universal protection against gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, chancroid, trichomoniasis, and genital herpes. Clearly the CDC and the proponents of 'safe sex' have overplayed the effectiveness of condoms and tens of millions of Americans are living with the consequences of decisions they made based on faulty information, much of it paid for with their tax dollars."