Bono prays for... something

To be fair, Bono seems to be one of the few in the rock world to actually bother to even mention the now-being-extinguished rebellion in Burma, so it'd be churlish to focus too closely on just how vapid his contribution has been:

"It is extraordinary to see the Buddhist monks isn't it? Their non-violence may, I pray, win out over the ugliness of the situation.

"There is jeopardy. I slept uneasily last night and I'm sure everyone else that watched did too."

It's hardly a clanging call to action, though, is it?

Bono says he admired the imprisoned pro-democracy leader Aung san Suu Kyi, adding, "I've always followed her progress and that of the Burmese people. "She is a study in grace and they are a study in patience."

Bono's support for Suu Kyi is, indeed, both in public record and on record: he wrote both the song Walk On and an article for Time in 2004 in her honour.

But what's noticeable is that Bono stops short of actually calling on the squatters in the Rangoon government to step aside; it's lovely to praise grace and patience - oh, so much patience - but where's the fire, Bono?

Indeed, rather than calling out the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Bono takes the opportunity to once again heap praise on his friends at the heads of Western governments:

"In Britain, Gordon Brown has shown some leadership as has George Bush. Everyone should keep their fingers crossed and say your prayers for them."

The most important thing, then, is that Bush has come out of this looking good. Clearly.