Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

[kevin67]

Recently the Nobel Prize committee awarded President Obama the Nobel Prize for peace, surprising many people including us Americans.

Many people believe that Obama has not spent enough time in office ( less than a year), and has too little of a track record to actually merit this award. I was wondering the same thing myself. The jury is very much still out on the policies put forward by Obama to consider him a viable candidate for this prestigious prize. The committee could have waited another year or two to see the outcome of the policies he is now presenting to the world. Make no mistake, I support Obama's efforts to try and make peace, and the jpb he faces is one I do not envy.

We must realize that this is the same committee(not the same people) who awarded Arafat this same prize, and there is still no peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Yet, Mahatma Gandi was never awarded this very same award.

On the other hand, is this a knee jerk reaction to the policies of former President Bush? Bush bashing has been very popular, not only in this country, but all over the world. In defense of Bush, if there is any, I honestly believe he felt that what he was doing was best for this country. Nevertheless, he was still responsible for his the outcome of his policies.

My question is; should we be proud of our president winning the Nobel peace prize or not?
I also wonder, what was in the minds of the Nobel committee when they awarded this prize?Any thoughts on this?

[Bluestone]

If you're interested in a Canadian perspective on this, I also agree that it was too early to award this prize, but the whole world seems to be suffering from Obamania. This is a good thing for America and you should indeed be proud of your president. After 9/11, the U.S. had the sympathy and support of the international community. I.M.H.O., President Bush squandered that with his whole weapons of mass destruction initiative. Finally, America is respected again by the international community, because your president is a very likeable guy. Hopefully, he will be successful in his peace initiative and prove that the Nobel Prize Committee was right in awarding this prize. To be completely jaded about the whole thing, the Nobel Prize Committee was probably figuring that they would ride on President Obama's coat tails. By making him their selection, they got very good press for their organization.

All of which is humbly submitted.

Blue

[Max5s]

I'll keep my initial response very brief.

Should Americans be proud of the fact that Obama is receiving the Peace Prize? Yes

Do I think he deserved it? No. It's too early to tell what his accomplishments in the peace arena will be. So far, her really hasn't accomplished anything in the peace arena. He's better qualified to be TIME's "Man of the Year".

Motivations by the committee- Perhaps the Nobel Committee is trying to influence US foreign policy. Give a man the most prestigious "Peace" award and it will be harder for him to justify waging war in Iraq or Afghanistan or Iran etc. without multinational support blah blah blah.

[random]

I'll keep my initial response very brief.

Should Americans be proud of the fact that Obama is receiving the Peace Prize? Yes

Do I think he deserved it? No. It's too early to tell what his accomplishments in the peace arena will be. So far, her really hasn't accomplished anything in the peace arena. He's better qualified to be TIME's "Man of the Year".

Motivations by the committee- Perhaps the Nobel Committee is trying to influence US foreign policy. Give a man the most prestigious "Peace" award and it will be harder for him to justify waging war in Iraq or Afghanistan or Iran etc. without multinational support blah blah blah.

Receiving this award is indeed an honor and as Max5s noted, it should be one earned for accomplishments, not intent.

The Nobel Committee's reasoning may be to influence the President's future directions. But, any President on the U.S. must be true to his country and not defer to the whim of world opinion.

On this, the jury is still deliberating.

[WAVE]

I don't know what country you lived in for the last few years, but Bush was vilified by mostly everyone the last few years of his term, rightly or wrongly. Yes, after 911 there was a period where it was considered unpatriotic to criticize his policies, but by 2003 or so things changed. Did he make the right decisions? Only history will determine that.

As for Obama, he criticized Bush's policy regarding Afghanistan, but now looks like he's not going to follow is own general's request for more troops. I might be wrong, and I hope I am. He also ran on capturing Bin Laden, but has been very quiet about that now he's president.

The problem for any president is that they have to make decisions and each time he does, it ticks someone off. That's why Obama's approval ratings have dropped. He had to make some decisions and many don't like what he's decided on. But that's how it works.

As for the Peace Prize, how about giving it to someone who's actually earned it? No matter what he decides regarding Afghanistan, the Mideast, Iran, and North Korea, there will be critics. I just hope he makes the right decisions.

Gary

[speak376]

i don't think that he deserves it. so far he has done nothing that he said he was going to do in his campiane. we still have all of our troops down in the mideast for no reason at all. he is just keeping up the same crap that bush did.

[Dalila di Capri]

Well said Evangeline.

This president was extremely popular around the world at the time this award was actually given.

It will take years to see if he can live up to the promises made during his campaign.

[elsullo]

I feel very strongly that President Obama DOES deserve the Nobel Peace Prize! His Inaugual Address CHANGED THE WORLD. He demonstrated a new USA attitude, reaching out to the rest of the planet with an open hand of cooperation rather than a unilateral military fist as many previous administations had done.

Obama specifically reached out to the BILLIONS in the "Muslim World" asking them to open up and reconsider us, so that we can get to know each other and learn that we do not HAVE to be enemies.

Even if Obama accomplishes nothing else, his Inaugual Address qualifies him as the worlds leading peacemaker for 2009..................elsullo

[Max5s]

While giving out the Nobel Peace Prize to someone before they have actually accomplished anything is not unprecedented, I think it cheapens the award.

I like Obama, and I believe that he will be a positive force for change and for peace, but this action, IMHO, is premature. I'd rather see him receive it in 5 or 6 years when we can point to some specific accomplishments. (assuming there are some).

[Max5s]

Carter won the award in 2002 (he didn’t share in the 1978 award presented to Sadat and Begin) based on 25 years worth of work focusing on the peace process. It wasn’t just based on the Camp David Accords. He had a long track record of accomplishments and deserved the recognition.

My problem with giving the Nobel to Obama now is that it’s like giving a soldier a Congressional Medal of Honor before he/she goes into battle. It’s just my opinion, but I think great honors should be earned. Obama may accomplish one thing that is truly remarkable or he may amass a series of smaller accomplishments over a lifetime. Either may be worthy of the Peace Prize, but to date, IMHO, he hasn’t accomplished either in this particular area.

Eve--I don't really think we disagree on the abilities of Obama or his potential. I'm proud of the fact that our president won the award, but would have voted for someone else had I been on the committee. It is what it is, and we should make the most of it and let the argument remain academic.

[Max5s]

I like that approach. Let's give the man a chance.

[circum95]

Did Obama deserve the prize? Not now - but maybe one day. The American people deserve the prize for finally electing a competent guy to be in charge of most of the world's megatons - that's for sure. On the other hand ... what choice did they have? McCain may be a decent fart, but Palin? Oh, for f***s sake...

[random]

Did Obama deserve the prize? Not now - but maybe one day. The American people deserve the prize for finally electing a competent guy to be in charge of most of the world's megatons - that's for sure. On the other hand ... what choice did they have? McCain may be a decent fart, but Palin? Oh, for f***s sake...

You're right, the American people deserve the recognition for positively addressing our racially-biased past.

Obama's competence has yet to be demonstrated or proven.

Neither McCain nor Palin are relevant to this year's Peace Prize award. Why the need to even mention them?

[bellystabs]

Any thoughts on this?

"The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 90 times to 120 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2009." http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/

I counted 3 former presidents on their list: 1. Jimmy Carter, 2. Woodrow Wilson, and 3. Teddy Roosevelt. I don't know all their accomplishments verbatim, but I think they were all deserving -- especially Jimmy Carter with all the peace talks he initiated between Egypt and Israel and all his humanitarian efforts via Habitat for Humanity. (I hated most all of his other policies, but I am glad he was honored for his peaceful intentions and actions.)

There were also many other notable laureates such as Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King Jr, Mikhail Gorbachev, the UN Peace Keeping Forces, and dozens of others.

I think it is a mockery of the noble accomplishments of so many noble people to add the name of someone who supported a minister for 20 years who refered to caucasians as "whitey." It is also a contradiction in terms to give Obama the Peace Prize when he attacks our own Officers of the Peace by proclaiming on national TV that the Cambridge Police "acted stupidly" before he even knew the facts.

Obama refused to attend the 20th Anniversary of one of the greatest symbols of peace and freedom in recent memory: The Fall of the Berlin Wall. Another of his fellow Peace Prize Laureates (Mikhail Gorbachev) was there in honor of the occasion, but not Obama. Nope, he wouldn't be the center of attention. Or maybe it interfered with his golf game when he was scheduling important events a few months ago. After all, he has played more golf during his first year in office than George Bush ever played during his entire eight years as president.

So, in answer to your question, those are just a few of my thoughts on the matter.

[elsullo]

"REFUSED to attend?" I guess you did not notice that Obama was occupied with a little visit to an Army base in Texas yesterday. The day before that he was closeted with the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff and top advisors in Washington trying to determine policy on Afganistan, like, exactly what the heck are we trying to DO there and how can we achieve it? He has been kinda busy lately. Just a few world crises going on here and there, but nothing urgent in Berlin. I DO AGREE that his trip to Paris over the Olympic selection was a waste of time, but Airforce One has a big office and conference room, and his work never stopped much. He seems to take one day a month off, and plays golf about every two months for a couple of hours. Everybody can use a break once in a while.

bellystabs, I think you are misinformed about the amount of golf-playing that Obama versus Bush has done. Bush kept an office and conference center at his ranch, which was good since he spent about one third of his Presidency there. Why don't you do some careful research on how many hours each man worked per week, and give us a detailed report?........................elsullo