Where’s Bob?

Now that we know that every line that left the lips of those at the G8 at Gleneagles was a lie and that the words "Mission accomplished, frankly" uttered by Bob Geldof were nothing short of a disgrace - is it not time for Mr Geldof to come down from his cloud and tell us the truth?

Let’s face it, Saint Bob was quick enough to hijack the long term efforts of a wide range of organisations devoted for years and decades to the cause of the poor. He suddenly crawled from the woodwork on planet Geldof, swept into the limelight, claimed a massive victory and then disappeared from whence he came.

Perhaps now is the time to review his efforts or even - shock horror - ask some Africans what exactly has been achieved in their name.
We could start with the World Development Movement: "... a disaster for the world’s poor."

Action Aid: "The G8 have completely failed to deliver trade justice."
Christian Aid: "a sad day for poor people in Africa and all over the world."

Oxfam: "neither the necessary sense of urgency nor the historic potential of Gleneagles was grasped by the G8"

Or what about Demba Moussa Dembele of the African Forum on Alternatives - quoted by George Monbiot in the Guardian 6/9 - "We are very critical of what Bob Geldof did during the G8 Summit. He did it for his own self promotion. This is why he marginalised African singers, putting the limelight on himself and Bono, rather than the issues.

The objectives of the whole Live 8 campaign had little to do with poverty reduction in Africa. It was a scheme intended to project Geldof and Blair as humanitarian figures coming to the rescue of ’poor and helpless’ Africans."

Okay... so how did Bob view the G8? In his own words.... "a great justice has been done... On aid 10 out of 10, on debt eight out of 10..."

The truth of the situation has, of course, only slowly trickled into the media (no big concerts to mark these truths). The World Bank for example, revealed in early August that the 100% debt relief to 18 countries actually meant that these nations would get a three year payment holiday. (Not quite 8/10 eh Bob?)

Sadly, I could go on and on with figures and quotes but perhaps now is the time for Geldof and maybe even his motormouth mate, Bono to give me some new ones, some hopeful ones... some truth.

So come on Bob - where are you? Are you going to be just another corporate tool and professional Irishman or are you going to re-surface and admit that you were wrong. If not then we can all forget about nice little wristbands, nice little concerts and actually helping people and create a new range of products along the lines of "Make Geldof History" - all profits to Africa, of course.