While I agree with you, They nominated him 2 weeks into his presidency. If was before the Cairo speech, the statements to Israel, the efforts with Nuclear bombs, et al.
-----Original Message----- From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Kelwyn Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 7:48 AM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Obama Wins Peace Prize (was: Okay, didn't see this one coming...) It can be argued that neither President Woodrow Wilson nor President Theodore Roosevelt deserved their Nobel Peace Prizes. That Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has one is criminal. I, personally, think President Carter deserves his). On the Peace Prize continuum Obama is probably somewhere in between Kissinger and Aung San Suu Kyi. You know who else has a Nobel Peace Prize? Yasser Arafat F.W. de Klerk Mikhail Gorbachev Willy Brant George C. Marshall ~(no)rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@...> wrote: > > I'm not sure I agree with this. Obama is taking the first steps toward trying to improve things, but I don't know that he's amassed the body of work that King did, or even Jimmy Carter when he was trying to broker peace in the Mideast. I wonder, is this more of a usage of the Prize to remind Americans to "act right" and not go back down the Bush path of Big Stick diplomacy? Is it a gentle nudge to Obama to not make Afghanistan the next....Afghanistan? > I think I'd have chosen Bill Clinton for his foundation's work before Obama. Either way, the backlash from those who hate him will simply be more intense hatred, and what a burden to carry now, especially when he's trying to decide how many more troops to send into Afghanistan. I can see people criticizing any moves now that are seen are aggressive or overly militaristic, coming from the Peace Prize winner. > > I hope the prize doesn't become a millstone around his neck... > > ***************************************************** > > (CNN) -- President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, a stunning decision that comes just eight months into his presidency. > > > > > > The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it honored Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." > > > > > The president had not been mentioned as among front-runners for the prize, and the roomful of reporters gasped when Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel committee, uttered Obama's name. > > The president, who was awakened to be told he had won, said he was humbled to be selected, according to an administration official. > > > > > The Nobel committee recognized Obama's efforts to solve complex global problems including working toward a world free of nuclear weapons. > > > > > "Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the committee said. > > > > > Jagland said the decision was "unanimous" and came with ease. > > He rejected the notion that Obama had been recognized prematurely for his efforts and said the committee wanted to promote the president just it had Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990 in his efforts to open up the Soviet Union. > > > > > "His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population," it said. > > > > > Obama's recognition comes less than a year after he became the first African-American to win the White House. He is the fourth U.S. president to win the prestigious prize and the third sitting president to do so. > > > > The announcement Friday in Oslo, Norway, came as a surprise -- Obama had not been mentioned among front-runners -- and the roomful of reporters gasped when Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel committee, announced Obama's name. VideoWatch announcement of Obama as Nobel recipient » > > Jagland said the decision was unanimous and came with ease. > > > > > He rejected the notion that Obama had been recognized prematurely for his efforts and said the committee wanted to promote the president just it had Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990 in his efforts to open up the Soviet Union. > > Jagland said he hoped the prize would help Obama resolve the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. VideoListen to Jagland explain why Obama was this year's choice » > > > > > Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, last year's laureate, said it was clear the Nobel committee wanted to encourage Obama on the issues he has been discussing on the world stage. > > "I see this as an important encouragement," Ahtisaari said. > > > > > The committee wanted to be "far more daring" than in recent times and make an impact on global politics, said Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the International Peace Research Institute. > > > > > And Wangari Muta Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist who won the 2004 Peace Prize, said the win for Obama, whose father was Kenyan, would help Africa move forward. > > > > > "I think it is extraordinary," she said. "It will be even greater inspiration for the world. He has shown how we can probably come together, work together in a cooperative way." > > > > > The award comes at a crucial time for Obama, who has initiated peace missions to key parts of the globe. > > Obama's envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, has returned to the region to advocate for peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Mitchell met Thursday with Israeli President Shimon Peres. He plans to meet Friday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before talking with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank. > > Secretary of State Hillary Clinton starts a six-day trip to Europe and Russia on Friday. On the trip, the secretary will discuss the next steps on Iran and North Korea, and international efforts to have the two countries end their nuclear programs. > > > > > The centerpiece of the trip will be her visit to Moscow, where she will work toward an agreement to take the place of the Start II arms control pact, which expires December 5. She also will address the new bilateral presidential commission that is working on a broad range of issues, from arms control to health. > > > > > Mohamed ElBaradei, who won the 2005 peace prize for his efforts to prevent nuclear energy being used for military means, said Obama deserved to win for his efforts to bring Iran to the table for direct nuclear talks with the United States. > > > > > "I could not think of anybody who is more deserving," said ElBaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency. VideoListen to ElBaradei react to the announcement » > > As the news of Obama's win broke online, postings on social network sites Twitter and Facebook expressed surprise. Many started with the word: Wow. > > > > > The last sitting U.S. president to win the peace prize was Woodrow Wilson in 1919. The other was Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Jimmy Carter had been out of office for more than two decades when he won in 2002. > > This year's Peace Prize nominees included 172 people -- among them three Chinese dissidents, an Afghan activist and a controversial Colombian lawmaker -- and 33 organizations, the highest number of nominations ever. > ------------------------------------ Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYa hoo! Groups Links
