Muslims, Like the Rest of the World, Engage in Dangerous Behavior

Here's and interesting story that shatters the myth of Islam as a superior "religion," if there are any who actually believe that. Emphasis has been added to selected portions:

AIDS threatens to overwhelm many predominantly Muslim countries, whose leaders remain in a state of denial of crisis, doing little to stem the deadly problem.

In one of the most comprehensive reports on AIDS covering the Muslim world, analysts warned of serious repercussions if governments continued to ignore the crisis.

A report released by the Seattle-based think tank, the National Bureau of Asian Research, said: "If leaders continue to ignore the problem, AIDS could debilitate or even destabilize some of these societies by killing large numbers of people in the 15-to-49-year age group."

"What is especially troubling to behold is the reluctance to admit that Muslims engage in exactly those same dangerous behaviors that support the transmission and spread of HIV/AIDS elsewhere," the report said, blaming "deeply rooted cultural and religious attitudes."

"This reluctance even to recognize the problem will only accelerate the epidemic and make it more difficult for the international community to provide meaningful support and treatment."

This would deprive the Muslim countries of some of their best, brightest and most economically productive members, say Laura Kelley and Nicholas Eberstadt, authors of the report.

An infectious-disease specialist, Miss Kelley previously had undertaken AIDS research for the U.S. National Intelligence Council and had studied other diseases for the U.S. Agency for International Development, the principal foreign-aid agency of the United States. Mr. Eberstadt is a scholar at American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

"An important take-home message for all Muslim nations is that real behaviors on the streets are sometimes in marked contrast to the expected behaviors of good Muslims, and that is something that leaders in these countries must deal with," Miss Kelley said.

The report said that even though the Muslim world was riven by premarital sex, adultery, prostitution, homosexuality and intravenous-drug use -- which help spread the HIV virus that causes AIDS -- many governments have been slow to respond to the rapidly spreading disease.