"State Department Doctors Bono Quote"

[EdgeVox]

First post here, and yes, I am a Democrat. I read both huffington post and drudge report daily and make up my own mind from those two. Personally after watching Bush's speech last night, his brief moments of sincerity were undermined by his continued and desperate exploitation of 9/11. If there's karma, this whole administration and its minions are going to get theirs. This story is just another example of manipulation.

Here's the story in brief and the link to the full story:

State Department Doctor's Bono Quote...
ThinkProgress.org | Nico Pitney

A State Department release from Monday doctored remarks from U2’s Bono, twisting his quote to mean the very opposite of what he apparently believes. Here’s the State Department paragraph, two graphs below the lede [besides underlining, excerpt appears exactly as published]:

Bono, lead singer of the Irish band U2 and longtime activist for aid to Africa, echoed Geldof’s praise for President Bush as he told an American television interviewer June 26, “[Bush] has already doubled and tripled aid to Africa .… I think he has done an incredible job, his administration, on AIDS. 250,000 Africans are on anti-viral drugs; they literally owe their lives to America.”

In fact, Bono only said the latter half of that quote during his appearance on Meet the Press last Sunday. The first part — “[Bush] has already doubled and tripled aid to Africa” — is deceptively transplanted from an interview Bono did with Time magazine that Tim Russert quoted on the show, and the State Department has taken it entirely out of context.

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/06/29/state-department-doctors-bono-quote/

Xavier

 

[Dreadsox]

Welcome to FYM...

Piece of advice for you....Check your sources....cause they are wrong.....

[Q]MR. RUSSERT: One of your fellow organizers of the concert, Sir Bob Geldof, is quoted as saying that he wanted no ranting or raving at President Bush or Prime Minister Blair about the war. He was quoted of saying, "We want to bring Bush in, not run him away." Is that a stated goal of the meeting in Scotland with a million people on the street not to protest the war but to be in favor of increased aid to Africa?

BONO: Absolutely. This is the other war. This is a war that can be won so much more easily than the war against terror, and we wish the president and others luck in winning the war against terror. But this- -there will be a time when AIDS, you know, they'll find a vaccine, it will be over, malaria will be over. No, this is an issue that I think can unite Europe, can unite the world. And remember the rest of the world are very suspicious about the G8 countries, about the industrialized world. They're not sure, you know, if we have any values. They're not sure who we are. They meet us with our military, they meet us with our trade, our movies, our, you know, commodities. But they need to meet who we are on a deeper level. And that's where they meet us with foreign assistance.

And if it's spent well, if it's not used to redecorate presidential palaces and as it's not now. This is targeted, focused aid we're talking about now, only given to people who are tackling corruption. Then everyone's with them. Now, this is, I think, this will unite people. And I fear--and it's the reason I'm talking to you today--that, you know, because there's so much going of in America with the war in Iraq and stuff, that you might miss this opportunity. I love America. I believe in America. It offends me, it upsets me when the rest of the world thinks America is not doing enough. The president is right to say they're doing a quarter of all aid to Africa. He has doubled, even tripled if he follows through, aid to Africa. But they are about to double aid, the rest of Europe, to double aid, so that will leave America as one-eighth of all aid going to Africa if they don't match that. And that's not a place Americans want to be, one-eighth. And that will be Europe doing four times as much as America. You know, I want to encourage Americans just to give their president permission. I know he wants to do this, but his advisers must break with this kind of fiscal conservativity on this one issue. This is the moment to be generous right now. I'm sure of that.

[/Q]

And the interviewer QUOTED the TIME article....at another point in the article...

[Q]MR. RUSSERT: You say from everybody. In fact, you gave an interview to Time magazine. "Question: Which of the G8 leaders do you think remains the toughest nut to crack? Bono: The most important and toughest nut is still President Bush. He feels he's already doubled and tripled aid to Africa, which he started from far too low a place. He can stand there and say he paid at the office already. He shouldn't because he'll be left out of the history books. But it's hard for him because of the expense of the war and the debts."

How much pressure do you think should be on President Bush at this time?

BONO: Well, I think he's done an incredible job, his administration, on AIDS. And 250,000 Africans are on antiviral drugs. They literally owe their lives to America. In one year that's being done. But it can't just be AIDS. It has to be the environment in which viruses like AIDS thrive, or malaria. I mean, 3,000 Africans die every day of a mosquito bite. Can you think about that, malaria? That's not acceptable in the 21st century and we can stop it. And water-borne illnesses--dirty water takes another 3,000 lives--children, mothers, sisters.

[/Q]

and a link to Meet the Press

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8332675/


So much for the BIG CONSERVATIVE CONSPIRACY THEORY

 

[Dreadsox]

And the memo...which is poorly worded....but is on target with the interview

[Q]Geldof, Bono praise Bush before Group of Eight Summit in Scotland



By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer



Washington -- President Bush is not a rock star or a producer but he has used the power of his presidency to aid Africans beset by the seemingly intractable challenges of poverty and disease more than anyone on the planet, according to two celebrity activists who are dedicated to keeping Africa's plight in the forefront of world attention.

"[Bush] has actually done more than any American president for Africa," British producer Bob Geldof, who is the leading organizer of the "Live 8" concerts that are being held worldwide on July 2 to raise awareness of Africa's development needs, told Time Magazine recently.

Bono, lead singer of the Irish band U2 and longtime activist for aid to Africa, echoed Geldof’s praise for President Bush as he told an American television interviewer June 26, "[Bush] has already doubled and tripled aid to Africa .… I think he has done an incredible job, his administration, on AIDS. 250,000 Africans are on anti-viral drugs; they literally owe their lives to America."

As for an overall legacy, Bono said of Bush: "If he, though, in his second term, is as bold in his commitments to Africa as he was in the first term, he indeed deserves a place in history in turning the fate of that continent around."

Government statistics indicate that American assistance to Africa -- on all levels, private sector as well as government -- are at an all-time high reflecting an increased awareness of the continent's needs by the president who pledged more funding, especially to combat HIV/AIDS, during a trip to the continent in July 2003.

Now, both Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have pledged to make aid to sub-Saharan Africa a central topic at the upcoming meeting of the Group of Eight Nations (or G8, consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) in Gleneagles, Scotland, set for July 6-8. They have also been the prime movers behind a recent announcement by developed nations’ finance ministers of a massive debt reduction for 14 nations in sub-Saharan Africa. (See related article.)

In addition, Blair is pushing a plan of action for development aid to Africa put together by an organization he established called the Commission for Africa (CfA). It calls for a doubling of the more than $25 billion in annual aid that currently goes to the continent.

On June 13, when President Bush met with five African leaders, he assured them: "The United States is committing to expanding our efforts to relieve, hunger, reduce debt, fight disease on the African continent." (See related article.)

Calling AIDS "one of the greatest causes of suffering in Africa, the president told them he made combating the disease in Africa "a top priority of my administration. This crisis is one that can be arrested. And I want you all to know that when America makes a commitment, we mean what we say," he emphasized.

That commitment involves a worldwide emergency plan for AIDS relief focusing on sub-Saharan nations that was allocated about $780 million to battle the disease in 2004. That amount grew to $1.1 billion in 2005.

Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick has also placed Africa at the top of his agenda. He told a business-finance gathering in Rwanda in early June: "U.S. development aid to sub-Saharan Africa has risen three to four times (since 2000) to about three to five billion dollars over the past two years."

The private sector adds considerably to the development equation, Zoellick added: "If you take the amount of net private investment, personal remittances to developing countries, and NGO grants, that amount from the United States totaled $48 billion last year -- over two and a half times the amount we had in overseas development assistance."

Furthermore, he said, "If you combine development assistance, private capital flows, grants by NGOs, and trade, the United States now supplies 70 percent of the G-7 support to developing nations," which shows how development aid is combined with other capital sources.

To help Africans pursue business-oriented growth, President Bush established the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), an innovative way to help countries increase a better business environment to attract investment. So far eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa are eligible for its funding and Madagascar has already signed an MCA agreement worth $110 million to help develop its rural infrastructure.

For additional information on this program, see Millenium Challenge Account.


(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
[/Q]

 

[EdgeVox]

Wow........definitely impressed with the rebuttal. I will definitely check my sources next time, though I will offer a quick cop out. I was merely calling attention to an article I found that was political in nature and U2-related as well, as well as offering a quick introduction to my political leanings to give any reader some insight as to where I'm coming from, before I present such an article. I did not write the article, obviously; but I am curious about any refuting evidence. Thanks

Xavier

 

[Dreadsox]

Welcome to FYM....home of the crazy conservative...lol

 

[financeguy]

Welcome to FYM....home of the crazy conservative...lol

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

they discussed this on that Tucker Carlson MSNBC show last night. The editorial comments and smileys are mine

CARLSON: Next situation, the Bush administration between the rock and a hard place and it‘s all because of rock star Bono. A State Department press release quotes the U2 front man praising President Bush. But apparently, Bono was not so much quoted as misquoted.

According to the State Department, Bono said Bush, quote, “has already doubled and tripled aid to Africa.” But actually, Bono told “Time” magazine, quote, “Bush feels he‘s already doubled and tripled aid to Africa, which he started from too low a place.”

This is such an interesting story on so many levels. Here is the most interesting level, as far as I‘m concerned. The Bush administration feels compelled to twist Bono‘s words. Why do they care what Bono thinks? Bush actually has dramatically elevated aid to Africa to a much higher level than Clinton ever even thought about bringing it.

The United States is the largest donor to Africa far and away. We have no moral obligation to give anything to Africa ( WHAT? ) We do it because we‘re decent. Isn‘t that enough? The front man from U2 has to approve? Why are they lying about this? It‘s bizarre.

SEVERIN: This is very sad. By the way, Bono has an “r” missing from the end of his name. I just wanted to report that on this program. ( God, who is this guy? )

Secondly, you know, how can I know what to think about world affairs until Bono and the Edge weigh in? What about the Backstreet Boys? What do they think today? I mean, this is really sad that we care about what “Bonor” thinks about anything.

MADDOW: Well, fine, you can be upset that they quoted Bono. But the fact is, they misquoted Bono.

CARLSON: No, but that makes me more upset. Why are they doing that?

Why do they care?

(CROSSTALK)

MADDOW: ... get out there and say that Bono, who they respect for whatever reason, he‘s actually made himself into a voice on debt issues...

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: Well, I‘m sure he‘s a great guy and very smart. I mean, still.

MADDOW: Paul Wolfowitz thought he was worth, you know...

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: That‘s right.

MADDOW: ... long phone call before he took the head position at the World Bank.

SEVERIN: I knew we‘d get you to say something nice about Wolfowitz before the year was up.

MADDOW: Exactly. But the fact is, the State Department, like they‘re doing—like the Bush administration is doing on way too many things, just overreach. They not only had to quote Bono, they had to lie about what Bono said. It‘s embarrassing.

CARLSON: But why not just tell the truth about their own record? It‘s compelling enough. It‘s amazing. Here‘s this purportedly mean, right-wing administration sending huge amounts of aid to Africa.

MADDOW: Well, yes, they‘ve promised—they asked for $4 billion for the Millennium Challenge. They‘ve actually spent $4 million. So we‘ve got a difference of opinion on that.

CARLSON: The fact is, in money spent already, they‘ve elevated 56 percent over the final year of the Clinton administration. It‘s a lot of money.

MADDOW: Yes. But you can‘t take credit for more than you‘ve done.

SEVERIN: Yes, but they‘re Republicans. That‘s why.

CARLSON: All right.

 

[MaxFisher]

Desperate exploitation of 9-11? Please!!...lets calm down and review what the President actually said about 9-11 in his speech.

Bush mentioned 9-11 five times...

First, the president said that American troops “are fighting a global war on terror. The war reached our shores on September 11, 2001.”

Well, that’s true.

Second, the president said, “After Sept. 11, I made a commitment to the American people: This nation will not be attacked again. We will defend our freedom. We will take the fight to the enemy. Iraq is the latest battlefield in this war.”

That’s true, too.

Third, the president said, “The only way our enemies can succeed is if we forget the lessons of September the 11th, if we abandon the Iraqi people to men like Zarqawi and if we yield the future of the Middle East to men like bin Laden.”

That’s true, too.

Fourth, the president said that terrorists “are trying to shake our will in Iraq, just as they tried to shake our will on September 11, 2001. They will fail.”

That’s true, too.

And finally, the president said, “After Sept. 11, 2001, I told the American people that the road ahead would be difficult and that we would prevail. Well, it has been difficult and we are prevailing.”

That — hopefully — is true, too.

So, where is the exploitation?

 

[Dreadsox]

According to the State Department, Bono said Bush, quote, “has already doubled and tripled aid to Africa.” But actually, Bono told “Time” magazine, quote, “Bush feels he‘s already doubled and tripled aid to Africa, which he started from too low a place.”

I find it interesting that after reviewing the transcript Bono DID on MEET THE PRESS say Bush Doubled and if he followed through TRIPLED the aid....

But I digress....clearly the press is looking to make news rather than report the facts...

As for Jay Severin....

He is the pride of 96.9 FM Talk Radio here in Boston on from 3-7:00 PM in the afternoon.

He hates Bono.

 

[BluRmGrl]

As for Jay Severin....

He is the pride of 96.9 FM Talk Radio here in Boston on from 3-7:00 PM in the afternoon.

He hates Bono.

Then he must die!

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I knew I had heard/seen that name before..what an embarrassment

 

[BVS]

Iraq is the latest battlefield in this war.”

Because BUSH made it that way. He would like us to think that's why we went there, but the truth is insurgents are coming to Iraq because we're there. Bush created the front, don't kid yourself to think otherwise. Some may see no problem with that, but to try and sell it any other way is lying and exploiting what happened to the victims of 9/11.

 

[Dreadsox]

I knew I had heard/seen that name before..what an embarrassment

I hate it when he acts that way. He is too intelligent to behave in such a manner.

He has been vocal about pulling the troops out of Iraq. He leans more conservative, but is very libertarian about other issues.

3 out of five days...he is intelligent....

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I've never even listened to that station so I don't know anything about him. I wasn't impressed when I saw him on Tucker Carlson. That show looks lame anyway

 

[nbcrusader]

Because BUSH made it that way. He would like us to think that's why we went there, but the truth is insurgents are coming to Iraq because we're there. Bush created the front, don't kid yourself to think otherwise. Some may see no problem with that, but to try and sell it any other way is lying and exploiting what happened to the victims of 9/11.

There were training camps inside Iraq before the war. It's not like the insurgents all come from far away places.

 

[BVS]

There were training camps inside Iraq before the war. It's not like the insurgents all come from far away places.

None of which had anything to do with 9/11. You can try and make all the ties you want but they just don't exist.

 

[Teta040]

What training camps? Surely not Al-Queda or anyother Moslem terrorist group. The only training camps were anti-Turkish Kurdish peshmerga camps in the North. None of which had anything to do woith America.

The fact is, WE brought Queda to Iraq. There was no insurgency or terrorist prescense. Not in the 9/11 sense. Ironically, we breought them there. And the Iraqis know this.

 

[BVS]

^ that was your 666th post...

 

[trevster2k]

I agree with Teta040 and BonoVox, Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Now Saudi Arabia, that's a different story. Funny how 15 of 19 hijackers were Saudi and nothing is even said to that country. That has bewildered me ever since that day.

 

[Dreadsox]

The fact that we had to keep troops in Saudi Arabia and in Kuwait for years and years after the Gulf War has everything to do with Iraq. It has everything to do with 9/11 and the terrorist acts committed against the US since the Gulf War. Let's not kid ourselves...the US Government decided in 1998 under President Clinton to do everything possible to remove Saddam from power because there needed to be a change in the area so that we did not have to keep such bases in the region.

 

[BVS]

The fact that we had to keep troops in Saudi Arabia and in Kuwait for years and years after the Gulf War has everything to do with Iraq. It has everything to do with 9/11 and the terrorist acts committed against the US since the Gulf War. Let's not kid ourselves...the US Government decided in 1998 under President Clinton to do everything possible to remove Saddam from power because there needed to be a change in the area so that we did not have to keep such bases in the region.

Still don't see how you're making those ties...

 

[A_Wanderer]

Bin Ladens aim of getting US forces out of Saudi Arabia layed out clearly in his declaration of Jihad in 1996

"Message from Osama bin Laden to his Muslim Brothers in the Whole World and Especially in the Arabian Peninsula: Declaration of Jihad Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Mosques; Expel the Heretics from the Arabian Peninsula."

In an interview with Al Quds al Arabi the same year

"The presence of the American crusader armed forces in the countries of the Islamic Gulf is the greatest danger and the biggest harm that threatens the world's largest oil reserves The infidels must be thrown out of the Arabian Peninsula."

.

 

[BVS]

Bin Ladens aim of getting US forces out of Saudi Arabia layed out clearly in his declaration of Jihad in 1996

In an interview with Al Quds al Arabi the same year.

Ok so what exactly is your point?

 

[deep]

There were training camps inside Iraq before the war. It's not like the insurgents all come from far away places.

where in the north, no fly zone?

basically owned and controlled by us.


those Kurdish training camps wanted to defeat Saddam,

 

[A_Wanderer]

No, Ansar al Islam was a group affiliated with Al Qaeda and was fighting against the PUK, it was not "owned and controlled" by the US, it was fighting against your Kurdish allies.