When the news of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama was announced at a conference I was attending Friday the spontaneous reaction from people in the audience was a surprised gasp "What, why?"
Wishful thinking on the side of the Nobel Committee cannot be ruled out. Nor Norwegian arrogance in thinking the prize will be a support for Obama along his political path. That would be to overestimate the influence of the award and underestimate the forces influencing the world in which Obama operates.
Rewarding presidential rhetoric before his ideas have borne concrete results shows a Nobel committee too keen on basking in reflected presidential glory rather than recognizing peace or human rights efforts made by persons for whom a Nobel medal would constitute the difference between life and death.
This year’s award is a clear proof that the committee chair, Thorbjørn
Jagland, should resign and save his political networking to his job as head of the Council of Europe.
The Nobel Committee needs to realize that the world no longer rotates around Washington's axis. A peace prize to a president busy running two wars and supplying the arms to a few more, is ridiculous. While fellow politicians and lapdog organizations applaud, ordinary people still ask - Why Obama? No matter how much one likes the guy.
Jan Speed
Great blog!!!!
If you like, come back and visit mine: http://albumdeestampillas.blogspot.com
Thanks,
Pablo from Argentina
Posted by: Pablo (yo) | October 19, 2009 at 05:54 PM