World's young people query Powell about issues

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Taking a step beyond the Bush administration, Secretary of State Colin Powell boldly encouraged the use of condoms by the sexually active during an interview with young MTV watchers from across the globe.

Powell was put on the spot by Daniela Sirtori, 19, a Roman Catholic in Milan, Italy. She wanted Powell to describe his thoughts about her church's stance on condom use. He grinned widely before answering.

"I certainly respect the views of the Holy Father and the Catholic Church," said Powell, who answered questions Thursday through a satellite link. "In my own judgment, condoms are a way to prevent infection, and therefore, I not only support their use, I encourage their use among people who are sexually active."

In making the comment, Powell waded into waters that the Bush administration has avoided. Bush health officials have advocated abstinence education along with other sexual education, but Bush has not spoken directly in favor of condom use.

At the State Department, deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said Powell and his wife have been very strong supporters of an organization called "Best Friends," which encourages abstinence in young people.

"Abstinence is an important part of health education for young people," Reeker said. "Secretary Powell believes that, the president believes that, the American government believes that. That's an important part of our policy.

"For those that are sexually active however, and there are those who are sexually active, as the secretary said, our dialogue encourages use of condoms as part of the solution to the HIV/AIDS crisis, which is a serious crisis affecting, and potentially affecting, millions of people all over the globe," Reeker said.

Powell said during the teleconference: "It is important that the whole international community come together, speak candidly about it, forget about taboos, forget about conservative ideas with respect to what you should tell young people about," Powell said.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the president does not object to what Powell said about condoms. "There's, of course, a group of people who are going to be sexually active no matter what anybody in the government, or anybody's family, says about abstinence. The president's point is they both need to be highlighted," Fleischer said.

As for Powell's remarks about taboos and conservative ideas, Fleischer said the secretary was speaking in a theological, rather than political, context.

The remarks brought instant criticism from some conservative groups.

"Colin Powell is the secretary of state, not the secretary of health," said James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family. "He is talking about a subject he doesn't understand. He clearly doesn't understand the science regarding condom efficacy."

Powell also fielded other questions about his personal views and was asked why he once said, "I ain't that black."

After a pause, Powell noted his relatively light complexion, but said he's black enough to have been thrown out of whites-only establishments while growing up in America, pre-civil rights.

"I consider myself an African-American, a black man," Powell said during the teleconference. "As I go about my job, what I say to people is, 'I'm the American secretary of state.' I don't say 'I'm the black secretary of state,' because it implies, 'Gee, is there a white one somewhere?"'

Race was one of the easier questions Powell fielded from 260 young people seated in studios in Washington; London; Moscow; Cairo, Egypt; New Delhi, India; Milan, Italy; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Tougher ones were about AIDS, Iraq, the Middle East and the war on terror.

Ida Norheim-Hagtun, a 19-year-old Norwegian who was in the London studio, minced no words in asking Powell: "How do you feel about representing a country commonly perceived as the Satan of contemporary politics?"

"Seen as what?" Powell asked. "Satan? Oh."

Taken aback, he gathered his wits and fired back: "Far from being the great Satan, I would say we are the great protector."

During a commercial break, Powell quipped: "This is like being in a congressional hearing," according to Irene Schwoeffermann, 20, a member of the audience in Washington.

During another break he told a story of how former President Bush, while trying to light a fire at the White House, created a smoke-filled room.

For his MTV appearance, Powell wore a dark suit and tie with an American flag pin on his lapel. The young people were in T-shirts, tank tops, jeans and khakis.

Despite the clothes clash, Powell was presented in an MTV video introduction as an alliance-builder with a foreign-policy outlook presumably close to that of many young people.

Powell also said Osama bin Laden "took credit, with pride, for killing almost 3,000 innocent people who were going about their daily lives, innocent people from 80 different countries. ... If he is not the person responsible, then why doesn't he step forward, if he's alive, and defend his innocence?"

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