Bono Urged U.s. Leaders To Meet With British Army Vets
02 November 2007
Picture: U2 singer Bono leaving Balans in Soho in the early hours of the morning. London, England - 14.09.11
Bono Urged U.s. Leaders To Meet With British Army Vets
U2 star Bono urged America's top politicians to speak with British soldiers who had occupied Northern Ireland before choosing to extend the war in Iraq.
The outspoken Irish rocker has never wasted an opportunity to tell the likes of Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleezza Rice and Karl Rove that the U.S. occupation of Iraq has always been a bad idea.
And he feels Americans were lured into thinking the idea was a good one by Iraqi terrorists who pretended to be overjoyed when U.S. tanks rolled into Baghdad.
Bono tells Rolling Stone magazine, "I told all of them to go ask the British army what it's like to stand on street corners and get shot at.
"Remember that during the British army's first years on the streets of Northern Ireland, they were applauded by the Catholic minority. Go look at that, and ask yourself how that all got turned around.
"It (occupation in Iraq) was always going to go wrong. I remember in the first moments after shock and awe, I was watching it at home with (my wife) Ali and I said, `These people have just hidden their guns in the basement, took off their uniforms and come out waving American flags. And they've been told to. They knew this was coming, and they know what they're doing.'"
But Bono accepts the American leaders had to do something to show terrorist groups they meant business after the U.S. was attacked on 9/11.
He adds, "I understand and agree with the analysis of the problem. There is an imminent threat. It manifested itself on 9/11. It's real and grave. It is as serious a threat as Stalinism and National Socialism were. Let's not pretend it isn't."
The outspoken Irish rocker has never wasted an opportunity to tell the likes of Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleezza Rice and Karl Rove that the U.S. occupation of Iraq has always been a bad idea.
And he feels Americans were lured into thinking the idea was a good one by Iraqi terrorists who pretended to be overjoyed when U.S. tanks rolled into Baghdad.
Bono tells Rolling Stone magazine, "I told all of them to go ask the British army what it's like to stand on street corners and get shot at.
"Remember that during the British army's first years on the streets of Northern Ireland, they were applauded by the Catholic minority. Go look at that, and ask yourself how that all got turned around.
"It (occupation in Iraq) was always going to go wrong. I remember in the first moments after shock and awe, I was watching it at home with (my wife) Ali and I said, `These people have just hidden their guns in the basement, took off their uniforms and come out waving American flags. And they've been told to. They knew this was coming, and they know what they're doing.'"
But Bono accepts the American leaders had to do something to show terrorist groups they meant business after the U.S. was attacked on 9/11.
He adds, "I understand and agree with the analysis of the problem. There is an imminent threat. It manifested itself on 9/11. It's real and grave. It is as serious a threat as Stalinism and National Socialism were. Let's not pretend it isn't."
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