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CounterPunch
March 4,
2003
BonoWatch: Is It?
Yes, It Must Be
The Curse of Bono!
Hey, Look, Now He's Against
the War
By HARRY BROWNE
DUBLIN. Bono (blessed be his name) seems at last to
have employed the services of a weatherman. Having thus discerned
which way the wind blows, and lifting his purple wraparound shades
long enough to wink at the Nobel committee, U2's frontman has
finally outed himself, ever so carefully, as antiwar.
You wouldn't have guessed when the tabloid
Ireland on Sunday blared its 'exclusive' Bono antiwar
interview on February 23 that the 'outspoken' Bono would actually
hedge his criticisms so thoroughly. But reading through the article
all you find is implied criticism of excessive tactics when dealing
with 'terrorism', contained in a simplistic history lesson. "I
think the way terrorism in Ireland was encouraged by a very over
the top British response is a good example. You had 300 active
service members of the Provisional IRA in the '70s and '80s and
they sent in 30,000 troops. They also interned everybody who
was suspicious without fair access to trial lawyers. Internment
was the thing that actually grew the IRA."
Bono's surging concern) about civil rights
and liberties in Ireland will come as some surprise to people
who actually campaigned for them during the Troubles. Back then
Bono was just another of the establishment voices in the Republic
who worked hard to ensure that republicanism was marginalized
and criminalized. (Remember his re-assuring "This is not
a rebel song!" on the live version of 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'?)
Like most of that Irish establishment, and sharing its complete
lack of compunction about changing tune now that the IRA has
ended its campaign, Bono is now an moist-eyed spokesman for dialogue,
negotiation, addressing the causes of conflict, bringing people
in from the cold, etc etc. He even offers "Irish people"
(himself?) as experts on call to President Bush: "It would
be wise at this moment in time to think about the mistakes that
have been made. Irish people have a little bit of experience
with terrorism, and America has none."
In any case, Bono's comments were certainly
more akin to "Steady on there, George and Tony" than
"No blood for oil!" Around the same time he was chatting
to Ireland on Sunday, he was attending a 'MusiCares' benefit
in New York City, where he was honoured for his tirelessly self-promoting
'humanitarian work'. There he told the crowd: "The war against
terrorism is bound up with the war against poverty." Which,
when you think about it, sounds less like a criticism than a
plea for a piece of the action.
At the same celeb-studded event, Bono
introduced Bill Clinton as "more of a rock star than any
in this room". Was this some caustic reference to the ex-prez's
sexual proclivities? He's such a messer, that Bono; he sure knows
how to afflict the comfortable.
Last week Bono was at it again in Paris,
when he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor (which definitely
sounds better than 'MusiCares Person of the Year') for, you guessed
it, his 'humanitarian work'. This time Jacques Chirac was the
duly appointed flatteree, and Bono did not disappoint. Did he
approve of Chirac's stance on Iraq? "How can you not be
for peace? I think America has no experience with terrorism or
even with war. In Europe, we know a little bit more about these
things. We must not make a martyr out of Saddam Hussein He's
good at propaganda. Let's not make it easier for him."
The press reports don't say whether he
dropped his American drawl in favor of a European accent (Dublin
middle-class will do), but his pulling of historical rank in
favor of 'old Europe' still left him with Tony Blair to address.
Bono did so with his customary tongue-work: "Tony Blair
is not going to war for oil," he said. "Tony Blair
is to me a great politician. He is sincere in his convictions
about Iraq but, in my opinion, he is sincerely wrong."
Compare this patented Bonoblather to
the maturing outlook of fellow superstar Bruce Springsteen, who
upset some fans last year when he was mealy-mouthed about the
Afghan campaign. (Check out Garry
Leupp's excellent August open letter to Springsteen on the
subject.) In recent months, Bruce has been opining away in interviews
against an Iraq invasion and domestic repression; opening his
recent gig in Austin, Texas, with Edwin Starr's 'War'; and giving
his props to the late Joe Strummer from the Grammy stage with
a version of 'London Calling'. (Since February 15 no one can
be in any doubt about what London's saying when it calls.)
Still, you might say, better late than
never from Bono. Except that here in his own country, Ireland,
antiwar activists may be suffering from the notorious curse that
afflicts those associated with the Wailing One. (Just ask his
erstwhile travelling companion, ex-US treasury secretary Paul
O'Neill.) Let's look at the record: less than three weeks ago,
well over 100,000 people turned out on the streets of Dublin
to oppose the war. Since then, Bono has revealed that He is On
Our Side, and the movement here has descended into argument and
sniping about the admissibility or otherwise of 'direct action'
tactics, divisions gleefully exploited by the media. This belated
confirmation of Brendan Behan's too-oft-quoted maxim about how
an Irish agenda begins with the split led to a disappointing
turnout of fewer than 2,000 protesters (in two separate groups)
at Shannon 'Warport' on March 1.
Coincidence? Nah. Sure, you could explain
the middle-class likes of the Labor Party and the Greens running
a hundred miles from a demonstration where the 'violence' of
wirecutters applied to a runway fence might be employed. But
Sinn Fein (the IRA's political brethren) taking a stand against
'direct action'? They can only have been spellbound by the Curse
of Bono.
Harry Browne
lectures in the school of media at Dublin Institute of Technology.
He can be contacted at harrybrowne@eircom.net.
Yesterday's
Features
Dr. Richard Lichtman
Psychologists
and War
John Stanton
Life
in a Barrel of Oil
Carol Norris
George Bush's War on Himself: the World is His Battlefield
Wayne Madsen
The
First Shots of the War
Pablo Mukherjee
Orwell's
Bastards: Lies and Shameless Pretence
Larry Mosqueda
A Duty to Obey All Unlawful Orders
Behzad Yaghmaian
Scarf and Make-Up: the Modern Face of Islam
Jason Leopold
Hell-Bent for War: the Six Year Campaign by Right Wing Think
Tanks to Promote Takeover of Iraq
Anthony Gancarski
Bush's Divine Inspiration:
What If Jesus Were a Gunslinger?
Ellen Cantarow
The
Day of the Barricades: New York City Against the People
Sam Bahour & Michael Dahan
Snow Covered Rubble
Website of the Day
Bush
and Blair: the Duet
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