Laura fires back at critics

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ACCRA, Ghana -- First lady Laura Bush yesterday said she was "irritated" by outside criticism of her husband's anti-AIDS programs in Africa as being focused too heavily on abstinence and not enough on condoms.

Mrs. Bush, on a trip to West Africa to witness the inauguration of the continent's first elected female president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, also defended a National Security Agency program to eavesdrop on foreign al Qaeda suspects who communicate with Americans. She said the political furor in the U.S. would aid the terrorists.

But she was most annoyed by a question about AIDS and the U.S. policy to emphasize abstinence, which the reporter asking her said "some people have equated ... with Christian moralism."

"I'm always a little bit irritated when I hear the criticism of abstinence, because abstinence is absolutely 100 percent effective in eradicating a sexually transmitted disease," Mrs. Bush said, before tying her answer in with one of the major themes of her trip, women's rights in Africa.

"In a country or a part of the world where one in three people have a sexually transmitted deadly disease, you have to talk about abstinence, you really have to," she said. "In many countries where girls feel obligated to comply with the wishes of men, girls need to know that abstinence is a choice."

She also said AIDS can be curbed by the correct use of condoms and by being faithful to one's partner.

Mrs. Bush also said her husband was upset last month when the New York Times revealed the existence of the National Security Agency eavesdropping program.

"He was worried that it would undermine our efforts by alerting terrorists to what our efforts are," she said. "We're constantly on the alert for an attack like what happened on September 11th.

"And I think the American people expect the United States government and the president to do what they can to make sure there's not an attack by foreign terrorists," she added.

Mrs. Bush is leading the U.S. delegation, which also includes her daughter Barbara and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to today's swearing-in of Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf, a U.S.-educated economist and former World Bank official.