I could not believe it when my wife told me. Obama was selected for the Nobel Peace Prize. Incredible and a slam in the face of many people working hard on peace. According to the office Nobel site and press release Obama he was awarded the prize for a) strengthening international institutions and b) his vision of reducing nuclear arms.
He is a smooth talker. That is to his credit. He has good speech writers and a good public relations team. That is also evident in his humble acceptance speech. But behind his outstanding rhetoric is little positive action. On the internal politics side it is business as usual, high-risk near fraudulent behavior of the big banks was and is rewarded and supported at the cost of the biggest bailouts funded by public money. Special powers and rights are given to special interest groups run by a few. On the foreign policy side the selfish profit-driven wars continue. Just days before being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize he sent 30,000 new troops to the unfair and unjustified war in Afghanistan.
The international cooperation mentioned is still based on a few organizations like the UN, IMF, the World Bank, etc. where the largest vote is held by the US and hence the US has most of the power to control any decisions and outcomes.
It is hard to understand how any US president can be selected as recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize, even harder one who just ordered more troops to Afghanistan. There are many individuals out there that work hard and unselfishly on peace in their surroundings. Giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Obama is sending the wrong message.
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