07-13-2004, 12:22 AM
<b>Security Threat </b><i>AIDS Not Just Health Crisis, Experts Fear</i>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Military, Police Forces Fall to AIDS
It may seem to stretch logic to begin with a public health crisis and end with a global security threat. But experts say anything is possible with this unprecedented pandemic.
Perhaps most directly, <b><span style='color:black'>AIDS eats away at a nation's ability to defend itself by killing the forces dedicated to national security. When soldiers, police officers and international peacekeepers become infected in such large numbers that their capabilities are threatened, security is undermined</b>. </span>
Already, this phenomenon is taking place in Africa. Consider these damning statistics:
In Kenya, AIDS accounts for about three-quarters of the deaths among police.
Defense ministers in some African countries report HIV prevalence averages of 20 percent to 40 percent in their militaries. In Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the rates are as high as 50 percent to 60 percent.
So far in Africa, military forces suffer infection rates several times that of the general population. If this pattern continues, Russia, China, and<b> India could find themselves with diminished military capacity</b>. The Russian military already is gravely concerned about the rising rates of HIV infection among its troops.
Soldiers facing death sentences of AIDS can act recklessly, some say, potentially sparking conflicts. "There's nothing more dangerous than a soldier with a gun who already thinks he is going to die," said De Lay.
AIDS likely contributed in this fashion to the genocide in Rwanda during the 1990s, De Lay added. Although ethnic tensions were also blamed, the prevalence of HIV infection likely fueled the violence. Some Rwandan women reported being raped and told by the soldiers: "I just gave you the AIDS virus," according to De Lay.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Military, Police Forces Fall to AIDS
It may seem to stretch logic to begin with a public health crisis and end with a global security threat. But experts say anything is possible with this unprecedented pandemic.
Perhaps most directly, <b><span style='color:black'>AIDS eats away at a nation's ability to defend itself by killing the forces dedicated to national security. When soldiers, police officers and international peacekeepers become infected in such large numbers that their capabilities are threatened, security is undermined</b>. </span>
Already, this phenomenon is taking place in Africa. Consider these damning statistics:
In Kenya, AIDS accounts for about three-quarters of the deaths among police.
Defense ministers in some African countries report HIV prevalence averages of 20 percent to 40 percent in their militaries. In Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the rates are as high as 50 percent to 60 percent.
So far in Africa, military forces suffer infection rates several times that of the general population. If this pattern continues, Russia, China, and<b> India could find themselves with diminished military capacity</b>. The Russian military already is gravely concerned about the rising rates of HIV infection among its troops.
Soldiers facing death sentences of AIDS can act recklessly, some say, potentially sparking conflicts. "There's nothing more dangerous than a soldier with a gun who already thinks he is going to die," said De Lay.
AIDS likely contributed in this fashion to the genocide in Rwanda during the 1990s, De Lay added. Although ethnic tensions were also blamed, the prevalence of HIV infection likely fueled the violence. Some Rwandan women reported being raped and told by the soldiers: "I just gave you the AIDS virus," according to De Lay.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->