America’s moral authority key to war on global terror

If there’s a clear success story in the Bush administration’s foreign policy, it is the initiative aimed at improving the lives of the less fortunate around the world.

President Bush does not exaggerate when he says that this country is leading the fight against global poverty, global hunger and killer diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria.

By demonstrating such moral authority, the United States has persuaded other nations to also do their part in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, educating the illiterate and curing the diseased.

It is, as Bush said Monday night during his final State of the Union address, “the calling of our conscience.”

Whether you agree or disagree with the war in Iraq, or the administration’s contention that al-Qaida and other enemies of the United States are on the run, there can be no disagreement that the money spent fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria, poverty and illiteracy is making a difference.

That is why the president’s call to Congress to double America’s initial commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS by approving an additional $30 billion over five years demands a quick response.

Demand for treatment

Currently, 1.4 million people are being treated, but the demand for treatment exceeds that by many millions. The United Nations has reported that 40 million people around the world are infected.

Congress’ approval of the funding would not only serve to inspire leaders of the seven other industrialized nations, but would bolster the efforts of individuals like Bill and Melinda Gates, rock star Bono and former President Bill Clinton.

Last year, they laid out in shocking detail the devastation caused by HIV/AIDS and other killer diseases.

Bush launched the five-year President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2003, and by last year 822,000 people in 12 African nations and Guyana, Haiti and Vietnam had received anti-retroviral treatment; 160,000 people in other developing countries had received drugs paid for by the U.S.; and 500,000 pregnant women got short courses of medicine, resulting in prevention of about 100,000 infections to newborns.

As for malaria, the president wants to cut the number of malaria-related deaths in 15 African nations.

“Protecting our nation from the dangers of a new century requires more than good intelligence and a strong military,” the president said Monday night. “It also requires changing the conditions that breed resentment and allow extremists to prey on despair. So America is using its influence to build a freer, more hopeful and more compassionate world. This is a reflection of our national interest; it is a calling of our conscience.”

Truer words were never spoken. Congress must listen.