Oct 12 2009
Was Obama Deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize?
Last Friday,the Nobel committee announced awarding the 2009 Nobel Peace prize to President Obama. In its official statement the Norwegian Nobel Committee states that “it has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons. Many were shocked by the unexpected choice so early in a presidency that began less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline for the prize and has yet to yield concrete achievements in peacemaking. Peace Action, the nation’s largest grassroots peace network, with a membership of over 100,000, and chapters and affiliates in 30 states in its press release on Friday Oct. 9th says Obama does not deserve Nobel Peace Prize yet
GUEST: Paul Kawika Martin, Peace Action Political Director. For more information, visit www.peace-action.org.
2 Responses to “Was Obama Deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize?”
I dont believe he was deserving. What has he done? Comparing him to other winners is an insult.
Just days after taking office, Obama killed his first victims in Pakistan via predator drone. Over 120,000 U.S. troops are still in Iraq. And not only has Obama already escalated the war in Afghanistan, he is contemplating an additional troop surge. The United States still maintains an empire of troops – 700 military bases in 130 countries. Obama has threatened to take military action against Iran.
Although conservatives have bemoaned Obama’s plan to decrease defense spending ever since he took office, it turns out that defense spending is up for fiscal year 2010, which began October 1. Back on May 7, Obama sent to Congress his proposed defense budget. He requested a base of $533.8 billion and an additional $130 billion to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to a Department of Defense press release: “The base budget represents an increase of $20.5 billion over the $513.3 billion enacted for fiscal 2009” (Bush’s last defense budget). And according to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates: “This budget provides the balance necessary to institutionalize and finance our capabilities to fight the wars we are in today and the scenarios we are most likely to face in the years ahead, while at the same time providing a hedge against other risks and contingencies.”
Obama’s first defense budget (FY 2010) is almost as much as the rest of the world’s defense spending combined. The U.S. Navy’s battle fleet is larger than the next 13 foreign navies combined.