Make a comment

E-mail

PERISCOPE

Why Bono is wrong about Obama in New York Times op-ed

Niall O'Dowd

Published Sunday, October 18, 2009, 9:52 AM

Updated Sunday, October 18, 2009, 10:32 AM

Vote now - Buzz this up!

World Leader Pretend: Why Bono is wrong on President Obama Nobel Prize

Bono has told America what it needs to know - or has he?

That is the mixed conclusion I reached after reading his op-ed piece in The New York Times praising Obama and justifying his award of the Nobel Peace Prize.

I still don't think Obama deserved it but Bono does make some critically important points.

America is still the most admired country in the world and we need a leader who reflects that.That is true - to a point.

Ronald Reagan was unpopular in Europe but helped ended the Cold War.

America alone cannot handle the massive burden of ending poverty in the world but it needs to be in the vanguard of all major efforts.

Bono says Obama knows all that and his immediate action in that regard places him in a new reality.

Not so fast. George Bush knew it too.

George Bush deserves widespread praise for what he accomplished in Africa, lavishing more funds on it than any other leader in the western world, incluidng his predecessor Bill Clinton.

Bonoe does not truly acknowledge that which is strange. Whether or not America is popular in the world may have little enough to do with solving world hunger.

Bono cites General Jones and many others who agree with him - and it is hard not to.

When people have enough to eat it is harder to foment revolution and whip up anger.

But even in times where America was viewed far more benignly in the world say under Bill Clinton there was still war and famine, disease and death and the beginning of Al Qaeda.

Who runs America does not run the world and Bono probably gives this country too much credit.

The reality is that there are as many starving in Africa as ever despite all the massive efforts under Band Aid, Live Aid, Bono, Bob Geldof and everyone else.

It has much to do with leadership in those countries and the rotten stench of corruption which is all too evident.

Give a man a fish and he will eat. Give him a fishing rod and he will catch fish.

We have to find the means to make African leaders responsible for what is happening on their continent.

Bono has done his best to bring that about and he, not Obama deserves the Nobel far more for trying.

Just because the world cana gain hold hands with Ameirca and chant Kumbya does not mean we have made progress against famine and strife.

Bono was exceptionally nice to President Obama who may well end up doing all that he says he will.

But we have to wait and see. The Nobel prize was premature - way so. Bono knows that too.

Vote now - Buzz this story up!

E-mail

Be the first to make a comment.

MOST RECENT COLUMNS (by Niall O'Dowd)

MOST READ
MOST E-MAILED

Become a fan of IrishCentral.com on Facebook

Irish news is the meat and potatoes of IrishCentral.com. And we don't just find Irish news from Ireland, but from all the homes of the global Irish in the United States and around the Irish world. In the U.S., we crawl websites and blogs in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Miami, Washington D.C., and more than 30 other Irish-American strongholds. The same happens with sites in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Europe, Australia, Argentina and throughout Asia. If there's Irish news out there, we'll find it! And the IrishCentral.com staff will make sure it is written, edited and designed with our very special audience of global Irish in mind. We'll look for the best photos and videos — many of which will be supplied by you, our readers - and lace our coverage with other helpful Irish news links and our own blogs. We define Irish news very simply: It is news that will inform, entertain, amuse, bewilder, enrage or excite the global Irish community. It may bring a curse or a laugh, a tear or a smile — and often, it will simply let you know everything Irish from everywhere Irish. And we make this promise to you: Every reader will have a chance — in every single article — to comment on what they have read and seen. Tell us, and your fellow readers across the Irish world, what you liked and what you didn't. That's Irish news the way it should be: a two-way street where you hear from us and we hear from you.

Why Bono is wrong about Obama in New York Times op-ed

Be the first to make a comment.

news

sport

entertainment

business

travel

advice

opinion

multimedia

roots

food & drink