Awarding Obama the Nobel Peace Price is a Joke

Noble Peace Price for the new US President, Obama...

This is a joke for besides being good at making beautiful sounding speeches, one wonders what really this man has done to deserve this award. It would have been alright if this award was given after, at the very least, his first term in office...that is if his actions have shown that he deserved it...

It is good that the US have decided to finally withdraw their troops from Iraq - but bad that they have decided to sent even more troops into Afghanistan. Bush had Iraq...and Obama Afghanistan - is there really any difference between the two...

Guantanamo Bay Detention Centre WILL be closed down - but what about that Bagra Detention Centre in Afghanistan, which is no different and maybe even worse than Guantanamo Bay. There is also rumours that Obama may backtrack on his decision to close Guantanamo Bay.

What about the continous, indiscriminate and extrajudicial killing of persons in Pakistan and Afghanistan using bombs deployed by un-manned US drones. See earlier posts :- Obama's un-manned drones kills at least 45 people attending a funeral service in Pakistan...,Will Najib, Anwar, Lim Kit Siang, Hadi, Syed Husin Ali...protest this killing of (about 440) innocents by the US in Pakistan using un-manned drones?

Note that these killing of innocents have continued during the reign of Obama...and is still going on. The murder of the innocent in attempts to kill suspected terrosists is unacceptable.

What about Israel? What is there no investigation with regard to Israel's nuclear arms and nuclear enrichment facilities? Only Iran and North Korea are being targetted..

With the awarding of Obama a Nobel Peace Price ... I believe, that the award has just lost its value.

US President Barack Obama sensationally won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday less than a year after he took office with the jury hailing his "extraordinary'' diplomatic efforts on the international stage.

"Extraordinary" Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

"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 Nobel jury said in making the stunning announcement.

It said the decision was unanimous.

The committee attached "special importance to Obama's vision and work for a world without nuclear weapons'' and said he had created "a new climate in international politics.''

Obama, 48, took office on January 20 and has since then sought to restore US standing in the world after widespread criticism over the war in Iraq and the world superpower's attitude to efforts to control global warming.

The first black American president has brought the Israeli and Palestinian leaders together for a meeting, approved new diplomatic engagement with Iran, Burma and North Korea and signalled a new willingness to attack growing environmental problems.

Obama went to Cairo to make a major speech on relations with the Muslim world, badly tarnished by President George W. Bush's order to invade Iraq. At the United Nations, he has launched an initiative to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world.

He was honoured "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,'' the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Thorbjoern Jagland said.

Zimbabwe's prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai had been seen as the favourite ahead of the announcment but Jagland said the whole committee voted for Obama.

"We had no problem... It was a unanimous decision,'' he said.

The committee hailed his efforts at dialogue, highlighting their importance in resolving major issues of today, such as disarmament, the climate and human rights.

"Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations,'' it said.

"Thanks to Obama's initiative, the US is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic changes the world is confronting,'' it said, adding: "Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.''

Speaking to AFP, Jagland said: "It was unavoidable to give the prize to the man who has improved the international climate and emphasised negotiations and dialogue.''

"Before he took office the situation was so dangerous. Step by step he has given the message to the world that he wants to negotiate on all conflicts, strengthen the United Nations and work for a world without any nuclear arms.''

Asked whether it was too early to give Obama the prize at a time when the US military is fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq _ Jagland replied: "If you look at the history of the Peace Prize, we have on many occasions given it to try to enhance what many personalities were trying to do.''

The 2008 Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president and veteran troubleshooter in international conflicts, said the award should "encourage'' Obama's Middle East peace efforts.

"We do not yet have a peace in the Middle East... this time it it was very clear that they wanted to encourage Obama to move on these issues,'' Ahtisaari told CNN television.

"This is a clear encouragement to do something on this issue, I wish him good luck.''

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai said Obama was the "appropriate'' person to win the prize, while exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer said the honour would raise expectations for the US leader to stand up for human rights around the world.

Kadeer, who has been tipped as a laureate for her fight on behalf of the Chinese minority group, told AFP: "I am very happy that he got it. Now he has to do something with the award. It raises expectations on him to stand up for oppressed nations.''

Obama, who five years ago was a virtual political unknown, is the third US president in office to win the coveted award, after Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Former US president Jimmy Carter won the prize in 2002.

The gold medal, diploma and a cheque worth 10 million Swedish kronor (1.42 million dollars, 980,000 euros) will be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death in 1896 of the prize creator, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel. - Bangkok Post, 9/10/2009,Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize