Obama’s Nobel an investment in peace?
So have you heard the joke about the president of the United States winning the Nobel Prize for peace while simultaneously fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and conducting counter-terror operations in the Philippines, Africa and Colombia?
Oh, wait. That’s no joke. That happened today. And many observers around the world, not to mention leading lights of the Republican Party and some liberals, were not amused or very happy about it.
I emailed Mairead Maguire, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in l976 with fellow Northern Ireland peace-campaigner Betty Williams, to get her reaction.
Maguire said this: “I am very disappointed to hear that the Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama. They say this is for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples, and yet he continues the policy of militarism and occupation of Afghanistan, instead of dialogue and negotiations with all parties to the conflict. …
“Furthermore, I believe the Nobel Committee has not met the conditions of Alfred Nobel’s will where he stipulates it is to be awarded to those who work for an end to militarism and war, and for disarmament. This is not the first time the Nobel Peace Committee in Oslo has ignored the will of Alfred Nobel and acted against the spirit of what the Nobel Peace Prize is all about.
“Giving this award to the leader of the most militarized country in the world, which has taken the human family against its will to war, will be rightly seen by many people around the world as a reward for his country’s aggression and domination.”
The Associated Press reported that U.S. Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele contended that Obama won the prize as a result of his “star power” rather than meaningful accomplishments.
“The real question Americans are asking is, ‘What has President Obama actually accomplished?’” Steele said.
And today on the Daily Beast, liberal Peter Beinart, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes this:
“I like Barack Obama as much as the next liberal, but this is a farce. He’s done nothing to deserve the prize. Sure, he’s given some lovely speeches and launched some initiatives – on Iran, Israeli-Palestinian peace, climate change and nuclear disarmament – that might, if he’s really lucky and really good, make the world a more safe, more just, more peaceful world. But there’s absolutely no way to know if he’ll succeed, and by giving him the Nobel Prize as a kind of “atta boy,” the Nobel Committee is actually just highlighting the gap that conservatives have long highlighted: between Obamamania as global hype and Obama’s actual accomplishments.”
But, while I was as surprised as the next person that Obama got the peace prize without actually bringing peace anywhere, the Nobel committee, in awarding the prize, made clear that this is an effort to encourage peace in the many places where Obama has said he will strive for peace.
And already, just by agreeing to talk with enemies of the United States and by such gestures as his June 4 speech in Cairo pledging “to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims,” Obama has entirely changed the view of this country. We are, once again, according to a recent poll, regarded as the most popular nation in the world, with high marks from Muslim countries as well.
A statement issued today from Michael Ignatieff , the leader of Canada’s opposition Liberal Party probably says it best:
“The awarding of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama recognizes the tremendous promise of his efforts to bring peace and hope to troubled areas in the world.
“President Obama has set an ambitious agenda to achieve a more peaceful Middle East, end terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and curb nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea. He has sought to reduce the destabilizing effects of climate change and extreme poverty in Africa, and has reached out to the Muslim world.
“By seeking to strengthen international diplomacy and advance co-operation between people early in his mandate, President Obama has given momentum to the efforts of people and countries throughout the world who seek to achieve peace, reconciliation and nuclear disarmament. I hope that the vote of support given to President Obama by the Nobel committee through the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize adds to this momentum.
“On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our Parliamentary caucus, I offer my sincere congratulations to President Obama for this momentous achievement.”
Here, here! Hail to the Chief! Now go out there and get us some peace, Mr. President.
Tags: Middle East, Mideast, Nobel, Obama
Nobel Peace Prize | admin October 9, 2009
1 Comment to “Obama’s Nobel an investment in peace?”
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By Pearce Decker, October 14, 2009 @ 6:14 pm
I hate to be a cynic, but a man was just given arguably the most impressive honor anyone could receive, for talking about all the cool stuff he’s going to do. First Al Gore and now Obama? Who’s next? The Nobel Peace Prize is supposed to be given “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” No doubt a United States president is in a pretty good position to do just those things. But I hardly think pulling troops out of Iraq to bolster those in Afghanistan constitutes the reduction of standing armies. I would bet that if I wandered around my campus and asked one hundred students what our president has accomplished the few people who wouldn’t outright say “nothing” would have no idea.
President Obama reminds me of the wrestlers on RAW. They stand around with their ridiculous outfits on, muscles bulging with steroids (and probably an unrelenting self-hatred) and they talk shit about how they’re going to beat each other up. An entire episode of this show is composed primarily of banter, with a smattering of people actually trying to hurt each other (it’s a ruse of course, but that’s a comparison for another day). The biggest difference being that when John Cena FINALLY gets around to the date or time he said he was going to fight, he actually follows through.
For your entertainment, imagine there is a class full of very bright children, and you are their teacher. Imagine they all had to do a science fair project, and the one who did the best job would get a prize. Then imagine that on the due date, all the children, being that they’re very bright and studious, have a project ready. They’ve done their experiments and analyzed the results and cited outside resources, all of them, except for one. That one child, instead of having a physical experiment prepared, regales you with a speech about how he WILL do a project, and it will be way better than any of the other projects, which are inferior by nature of the fact they actually exist. He gives you lots of vague non-specific details on the subject, and convinces you with his beautiful speaking that he is absolutely right, and it doesn’t really matter that he hasn’t done the project. At this point you realize that at the time you decided to allow him to join the class he hadn’t done anything to earn that spot to speak of either. So you might as well give him the benefit of the doubt now right?
Rather than rewarding one of the individuals that actually did a fantastic experiment, or at least did the assignment at all, you are so distracted by this child’s speaking prowess and ideas that you give him the prize instead. On Wikipedia (gasp!) his list of accomplishments is quite simply what he’s managed to do with no list of accomplishments. The American people have gotten so caught up in everything he is supposed to do, not to mention the opportunity to be part of a “first black person to do something” story; we’ve forgotten to expect our politicians and public figures to act.
Our politicians are becoming celebrities. We no longer care about how they attempt to fix this debacle we call a Democracy. We’d rather be lied to about how it’s going to be better one day, and sit back and get high on the future. Pull your heads out of your asses America, hell mankind in general, and reward people that actually deserve it, not the ones that just sound like they deserve it.
If Obama does even a quarter of the stuff he says he’s going to do it would be pretty fantastic, and I have faith that he just might pull it off. But for God’s sake, we can’t give the man the science fair first prize before he’s even finished, let alone started, his project. As a friend of mine said “…apparently if you talk about something enough you can win a Nobel Peace Prize. Gore had Manbearpig and Obama has… umm… uhh… got elected… Special deal. One free Nobel Peace Prize with victory in Democratic Presidential Primary. Sorry Hillary maybe next time.”