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Many of you have valid points but are sort of talking past each other.

The most commonly performed HIV test does test for antibody. There are very good tests available to test for the antigen (HIV virus coat proteins). The problem is that within two to three months after exposure it disappears from the blood stream. This is, actually, common for viruses. They continue to spread within the lymphatic glands "cell to cell". So, if a person tests positive for the antibody they virtually certainly have the virus itself in their body.

It is also true that infection with the HIV virus has not been shown to cause full-blown AIDS by itself. There is an undeniable connection but it is also known that virtually all AIDS patients also have been infected with EBV and HPV. People who test positive for HIV but not the others often show no symptoms. Recent efforts to understand the disease are focusing on the idea of multiple concomitant vectors

Many of you have pointed out that when a particular remedy, drug etc., is used against a given microorganism, sooner or later a resistant strain will emerge. This is particularly true in the case of the HIV as it is a "hypervariable" virus, i.e. it has a very high rate of spontaneous mutations as compared to other viruses. This is why the effort to make a vaccine has been so frustrating - as fast as a vaccine can be developed, the bug changes! Talk about always fighting the last war!

Once the immune system is compromised any number of adventitious organisms are free to invade. Thus the high numbers of patients with AIDS who have other diseases. Toxoplasmosis, Kaposi's sarcoma and Pneumonia are commonly found in AIDS patients but none are believed to be caused in any way by HIV.

Hope this isn't too long winded but it's just a layman's view.