DEARBHLA KELLY,
Sir, - I wish to express my utter dismay at U2's decision to perform at Sunday's Superbowl in New Orleans. The Superbowl is the ultimate display of Americana and this year's event was the most ferverently patriotic yet. Given the current political climate, with Bush as self-appointed moral dictator of the world, just stopping short of declaring war on Iran, Iraq, North Korea and any other country that refuses to fall into step with American foreign policy, it amounts to blatant populism on the part of U2. It's not as if they need either the money or the publicity, so why did they do it?
Further, the refusal of the Bush administration to grant POW status to prisoners seized in Afghanistan and the fact that it is now promising the biggest defence budget since the Cold War era shows that the US "war on terrorism" is not just about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, but is part of an overall plan to maintain American global economic and political hegemony at all costs.
U2's performance at the Superbowl is an endorsement of current US policies. I would have expected better. - Yours, etc.,
DEARBHLA KELLY, Lakeshore Drive, Chicago, USA.