{"id":183,"date":"2009-10-09T15:29:13","date_gmt":"2009-10-09T22:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/?p=183"},"modified":"2009-10-19T09:35:53","modified_gmt":"2009-10-19T16:35:53","slug":"obamas-nobel-an-investment-in-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/?p=183","title":{"rendered":"Obama’s Nobel an investment in peace?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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?<\/p>\n

Oh, wait. That\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

I emailed Mairead Maguire, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in l976 with fellow Northern Ireland peace-campaigner Betty Williams, to get her reaction.<\/p>\n

Maguire said this: \u201cI 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. …<\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiving 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real question Americans are asking is, \u2018What has President Obama actually accomplished?\u2019\u201d Steele said.<\/p>\n

And today on the Daily Beast<\/a>, liberal Peter Beinart, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes this: <\/p>\n

\u201cI 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 \u2013 on Iran, Israeli-Palestinian peace, climate change and nuclear disarmament \u2013 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 \u201catta boy,\u201d the Nobel Committee is actually just highlighting the gap that conservatives have long highlighted: between Obamamania as global hype and Obama’s actual accomplishments.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cto 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.<\/p>\n

A statement issued today from Michael Ignatieff , the leader of Canada\u2019s opposition Liberal Party probably says it best:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe awarding of this year\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“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. <\/p>\n

“On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our Parliamentary caucus, I offer my sincere congratulations to President Obama for this momentous achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here, here! Hail to the Chief! Now go out there and get us some peace, Mr. President.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s no joke. That happened today. And many observers around the world, not to mention leading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[14,50,48,49],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nobel-peace-prize","tag-middle-east","tag-mideast","tag-nobel","tag-obama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions\/212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryjohnsononline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}