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World leaders hail Obama's Nobel Prize
World leaders urged Barack Obama to seize on the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to intensify his diplomatic efforts to forge peace in the globe's trouble spots.
World leaders urged Barack Obama to seize on the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to intensify his diplomatic efforts to forge peace in the globe's trouble spots.
But the surprise announcement by the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Oslo was interpreted more as a bid to encourage the US president's bold diplomatic overtures to Washington's enemies, rather than a recognition of the achievement of peace by a leader in office for only nine months.
"We do not yet have peace in the Middle East... this time it was very clear that they wanted to encourage Obama to move on these issues..." said the 2008 winner, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari.
"This is a clear encouragement to do something on this issue, I wish him good luck."
The 1983 Laureate, Poland's Lech Walesa, was more blunt.
The 1983 Laureate, Poland's Lech Walesa, was more blunt.
"Who, Obama? So fast? Too fast - he hasn't had the time to do anything yet," Walesa told reporters in Warsaw.
"For the time being Obama's just making proposals. But sometimes the Nobel committee awards the prize to encourage responsible action," said Walesa.
Neither did key US newspaper The Wall Street Journal mince its words, describing the choice of Obama as "completely bizarre."
"It is unclear why. For making peace, of a kind, with Hillary Clinton? For giving up the missile shield and cheering up the Iranians? For preparing a surge of troops and weaponry in Afghanistan?" said the paper in an editorial.
"Of course, traditionally it has been standard procedure that winners of the prize do their peacemaking first... But this innovation sweeps aside such old-fashioned notions of reward following effort."
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Some will scoff at the prize as nothing more than meddling by the Nobel Committee, but they cannot take away the astounding and decisive success Obama has had in Afghanistan. The committee vote took such positive accomplishments, just as they did with Wilson's League of Nations, Carter's overall career of the betterment of all mankind, especially America and Yasar Arafat's known concern and love for his fellow men, in to account when they elevated Obama to this place of great respect and to show that the world now loves America.
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I applaud the committee for their consistency and vision of how they think America should be run and how voters here should conduct themselves. This is a giant step for America, and Obama, in recognizing that we are part of the world and as such, we should join the world and how they think.
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To the detractors of this wonderful award I say that criminals such as Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Hamilton never would have even been considered. Maybe because they would have just ignored the committee. That's the type of men they were and they would have no place in this Pantheon of Peace.
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Congratulations President Obama. You deserve this award.
