Official White House photo

(h/t JHJ) In my twenties, I had a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine and really enjoyed it, especially the writings of Hunter S. Thompson.  But, I’m not a big music fan so much as it was the great articles and interviews and a different perspective, I get the same when I read Sports Illustrated, I don’t care much about sports but I love the human interest stories.  Now comes a Bono interview in Rolling Stone Magazine here.

I confess to really enjoying Irish rockers U-2 and think they’ve produced great songs and videos over the years.  But I truly love Bono’s work with Africa and his doggedness at leveraging his fame and fortune to help these people and he does it without shoving his political views down your throat.  Many observers squirm uncomfortably when he praises President Bush for his policies (and funding) of HIV-AIDS assistance in Africa.  But before you think he’s a big conservative lover, remember the song Bloody Sunday was about a terrible shooting of civilians in Northern Ireland by the British Army, I think he calls it like he sees it without pushing a political agenda.

If you have five minutes, please read the whole article and you’ll see as cogent a discussion of America in the context of the world and terrorism as you’ll find.  Bono acknowledges some of the mistakes in our approach to the world while acknowledging our unique position in the world.  Some excerpts from the interview with Anthony Decurtis:

•  So we're in the era of asymmetrical war. The greatest army cannot protect you from hatred that gets busy and organized and has enough of an audience to protect it. There's a moment. Was that true of Caesar? Was that true of Napoleon? No. Might was always right. Strangely, we have now entered a phase where being powerful and having the biggest nuclear arsenal leaves you completely defenseless.
• Now let's flip that. That could be a positive. Because if for the first time in history, military capacity doesn't protect you, what would? It would point us in the direction of prevention, rather than protection. When I'm arguing for increased aid to Africa, I always say, "Isn't it cheaper and smarter to make friends out of potential enemies than to defend yourself against them later?"

• I want to be very, very clear, however: 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

• I'm arguing for a demonstration to the world of what we're capable of in the West, with our technology, our innovations, our agriculture, our pharmacology. We've developed this unimaginable prosperity. Let's show the world what we can do with it. America, as I always say, is not just a country, it's an idea. The world needs to see right now what that idea means. Because there's an oncoming train on our track, and it's going to be met one way or another. It isn't going away.
• And this too…Yeah. But I think I'm less like that now. Now I'm about "Describe Everest, then climb it." Know what you're in for. I think you can achieve much more than you'd ever imagined by getting busy and getting organized. And don't get too interested in what's "possible." The impossible is made possible by a combination of faith, gift and strategy. You need faith for sure - as Lou Reed says, "A busload of faith to get by." You need some talents, and if you don't have them, you better find people who do. And then: strategy. That's as true of making U2's next album as it is with the One Campaign to make poverty history.

Did you catch that?  Bono knows we are in an asymmetric fight, that the threat is real and grave, that in the West we can use our innovations and get busy and organized. A combination of faith, gift, and strategy.....

Rock on Bono, and keep on making a difference!