Useful idiots

Bob Geldof and Bono have praised the G8 decision of African debt relief and aid. Geldof, creator of the Live 8 concerts, said: “The summit in Gleneagles is a qualified triumph”.

Dissenting historian Mark Curtis, writing in today’s Guardian, reveals the truth behind this “triumph”:

“The new deal was recently morphed by spin doctors into a Marshall aid plan. Brown told a Chatham House audience that this was “a smart business proposition: enlightened self-interest at its best … for the world economy to prosper and for the companies operating in it to have markets that expand, developing country growth is a necessity”. Without this, rich countries were “unlikely to maintain the growth rates we have enjoyed over the past 20 years”. Again, poor countries help western companies, at their own expense.”

Read the whole thing.

Geldof and Bono have been fooled. But then, are they just ignorant, stupid or gullible?

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