The Nobel Prize for good intentions
President Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize. Although some are scratching their heads over why, I’m not. It’s quite obvious and the Nobel peeps even said why:
Some were somewhat dubious of his accomplishments:
But, they tend to forget the fact that in those eleven days, he did not declare war on anyone, endured no terrorist attacks, and repeatedly mentioned the fact he’s not a Republican. They knew he was going to end all US wars, rid the world of nuclear weapons, and bring peace between the Muslims and the rest of the world even if the Muslims didn’t want it. They KNEW that simply by stating the fact he wanted Iran and North Korea to quit developing nuclear weapons, they would destroy all their efforts. They KNEW that by simply stating that he wanted to end poverty in the US by taxing the rich, the poor would become productive and wealthy. They KNEW that by stating his disdain for corporate greed that the US would become a prosperous socialist state. They KNEW that by simply telling Congress he wanted a public health insurance plan for everyone, everyone would support whatever change he deemed desirable whether it made things better or not. They KNEW all this. How do you ask? Because Obama said so. There is no law that says the Nobel Peace Prize has to be awarded to someone who’s actually done anything is there? For that matter, there are no laws at all governing the Nobel Peace Prize. If there were, it would be kind of contradictory awarding a peace prize named after the man who contributed to the deaths of hundreds of millions of people over the last 100 years or so. So, it makes more sense to ignore logic and run with whatever makes those peeps feel good at the moment. In the eleven days after Obama was elected, for some reason or another, they were convinced this had changed the world for the better in regards to world peace.
Now, before those people get all uppity trashing the Nobel Peace Prize over Obama, they need to consider some of the people who Obama will be joining:
- 2007 – Al Gore wins the Peace Prize for making a movie and only charging $10,000 to promote companies he’s invested in.
- 2002 – Jimmy Carter wins the Peace Prize for informing the world he knows the United States is evil because aliens told him so. Some also felt this was a belated award for his efforts in passing the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 that made sure banks loaned money to those who could not afford it. Some horribly misguided people would blame this act for the financial meltdown of 2007. He also got bonus points for failing to recognize the political situation in Iran, which, along with the Carter negotiated Egypt-Israel peace agreement of 1979, led to a guy named Saddam Hussein assuming a leadership role not only in Iraq, but with the League of Arab States. Some contend it was the overt support for Iraq that encouraged their invasion of Iran. That’s why I find it ironic that the Nobel committee cited “finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development”.
- 2001 – Kofi Annan wins for only allowing genocide in a handful of continents.
- 1994 – Yasser Arafat wins for agreeing to blow up fewer buses with children. He lied.
- 1919 – Woodrow Wilson for his “Fourteen Points”. The heart of the Fourteen Points would be the formation of an international body to oversee conflicts between countries. The League Of Nations’ complete failure would set the stage for World War II. The failure of the League of Nations was mainly due to the opposition of one person, Woodrow Wilson.
- 1906 – Teddy Roosevelt for allowing Russia and Japan use a room to negotiate the Treaty of Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. It didn’t matter that Russia was in the midst of a revolution to oust the tsarist regimes. The more or less total surrender by Russia sealed by the Treaty of Portsmouth and the arrangements made before, during, and after the Treaty would lead directly to both World Wars. By allowing Japan to keep all of it’s territories taken during the war while requiring Russia to cede all of theirs, it pretty much forced Russia to side with China during the Second Sino-Japanese War that broke out in 1937. The escalation created by Russia’s entry into the Sino-Japanese War created a major war in the Pacific. The Second Sino-Japanese War was completely a result of Japan’s unfettered efforts to expand their territories in efforts to obtain more mineral resources. By allowing Japan to continue it’s expansion as a result of the Treaty of Portsmouth, Japan took that as a signal that the US was tacitly condoning their expansion as an ally. When the US started invoking economic sanctions as a result of those efforts to expand that were allowed under the Treaty of Portsmouth, Japan took that as a sign the US could no longer be trusted. Fearing a US alliance with Britain due to the conflict in Europe and Japan’s intended aggression into British held territories in the Pacific, the Japanese sought to prematurely negate the US’s naval superiority, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Immediately recognizing the US’s alliance with Britain would force the US to be strained defending the Pacific against Japan, Germany declared war against the US in their effort to restore lands lost during Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points”.
Pretty hefty company for Obama. I’m hoping his “peace” efforts are a lot less catastrophic than some of his predecessors. Maybe the Nobel Prize committees should do what most other organizations do to reward humanitarian efforts: wait five or ten years to see what the results are.
