Spread of AIDS Threatens U.S. Security, Tenet Says

Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet said Tuesday that the global upheaval caused by the AIDS epidemic could threaten U.S. national security. Speaking to a Senate Intelligence panel about global security threats, Tenet said a recent intelligence report indicated that the globe might face 100 million HIV-infected people outside of Africa by 2010. Tenet told the panel that some 3 million people last year died of AIDS and that more than 40 million are currently HIV-infected. "The national security dimension of the virus is plain," he said. "It can undermine economic growth, exacerbate social tensions, diminish military preparedness, create huge social welfare costs, and weaken already beleaguered states."

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