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    Obama Should Keep His Peace Prize for Making Enemies of Peace Rest in Peace

    By Mark Whittington | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Thu, Feb 2, 2012
    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
    Do you have a story to tell? Become a Yahoo! contributor

    COMMENTARY | The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which hands out the Nobel Peace Prize, has found itself under investigation for not honoring the wishes of Alfred Nobel is choosing recipients for the coveted prize, according to the Associated Press.

    In contention is the selection of a number of people for the peace prize who have not actually advanced the cause of peace. President Barack Obama, who won the prize in 2009 when his administration was no yet a year old, has been specifically mentioned as one of the laureates who should not have been given the peace prize.

    According to the Nobel site, Obama was awarded the 2009 peace prize, "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Since then Obama has waged wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya and has carried out a campaign of executions of terrorist leaders, including Osama bin Laden.

    The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Obama was controversial at the time, especially by people who wondered what he had actually done to deserve it. Saturday Night Live gave a devastating answer that was, according to the comedian playing Obama, because he was not President George Bush.

    Two years and four months later it might be an occasion to wonder whether the Nobel Committee erred even under that dubious criteria. He did not, as many of his supporters hoped he would, initiate a Vietnam-style bug-out of Iraq, complete the last helicopter rising from the Green Zone as Baghdad burned. He actually conducted a George Bush-style surge operation in Afghanistan. He has conducted a war that toppled Libya's dictator Muammar Gadhafi. He has been quite free in using drone strikes and special operators to snuff out enemies of the United States.

    It could be said that the Swedish officials have a far too narrow definition to what constitutes a peace maker. Peace makers are not just people who forge agreements, bring warring sides together, and resolve conflicts. Some people -- like Obama -- make peace by finding threats to peace and making them rest in peace.

    So, by all means, let Obama keep his peace prize. He has earned it after the fact. Now, if only the Nobel Committee could apply the same standards that were obviously applied to Obama to other candidates, the real George W. Bush may get his peace prize after all.

     

    2 comments

    • alan n
      alan n  •  3 mths ago
      disastrous news
    • Jingle
      Jingle  •  New York, New York  •  3 mths ago
      At the time Obama's prize was awarded, he had opposed the Iraq war along with 20 other senators. He also campaigned on a rapid effort to end the war. Perhaps this is why he got the Nobel.
      However, in the time since then, he has escalated in Afghanistan, intervened in the Libyan civil war, and carried out a campaign of assassinations. These activities would weigh heavily against the rightness of the award.
     Post a comment
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