Obama gets reward for world view

[Christa]

Source: BBC News

In awarding President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian committee is honouring his intentions more than his achievements.

After all he has been in office only just over eight months and he will presumably hope to serve eight years, so it is very early in his term to get this award.

The committee does not make any secret of its approach. It states that he is being given the prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples."

This is of course an implied criticism of former US president George W Bush and the neo-conservatives, who were often accused of trying to change the world in their image.

The committee "attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons." But it also mentioned the UN, climate change and the "strengthening" of democracy and human rights.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8298787.st

[Captain Hilts]

1. Tell the folks in Gitmo and the Middle East that. nt

[MellowDem]

6. You mean...

the Gitmo he inherited that he is trying to dismantle as fast as possible given the sticky legal situation?

And the Middle East is a big place, maybe you should look at a map. What has Obama done to the people of the Middle East?

[No Elephants]

2. Bit of either anti-Obama or anti-American bias in that headline and story.

Why not let the Committee speak for itself?

"Announcement
The Norwegian Nobel Committee



The Nobel Peace Prize for 2009


The Norwegian Nobel Committee 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.

Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. 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. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.

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. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population.

For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama's appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."

Oslo, October 9, 2009"

http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/home/announce-2009 /

[bemildred]

3. Going to be a lot of sour-grape whine to listen to the next few days and weeks. nt

[treestar]

8. You should read the comcast article

So utterly biased it's almost funny. That the President got the prize "in spite of Iraq and Afghanistan" as if he were the one in office when we started those wars.

[bemildred]

4. "It is a bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment to peace and harmony

in international relations," -- Jimmy Carter, former Nobel Peace Prize recipient

http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-BarackObama/idUKTRE5983AM20091009?virtualBrandChannel=11621

The Mighty Wurlitzer(tm) seems deeply taken aback by this development.

[BlueMTexpat]

10. It's a gracious statement from Carter who does not disappoint.

And Carter should know. Unlike the talking heads and instant armchair authorities ... .

Mohammad Yunus, another Nobel Peace Prize winner, was also very happy about this selection.

:applause:

[bemildred]

11. Shimon Peres also spoke in favor of the selection.

I expect there will be more to follow.

[BlueMTexpat]

12. That's good to hear and I'm sure that you're right.

I expect that Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela will also be overjoyed.

I am very proud of my President right now for helping the US to regain some of the capital and goodwill we so badly lost during *Co's reign. That in itself is an impressive accomplishment.

[2Design]

5. nomination deadline was in the first two weeks of his administration

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091009/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_nobel

Obama's presidency began less than two weeks before the Nobel nomination deadline.

[sybylla]

9. Yeah, and voting takes place in October

What, exactly, is your point?

It doesn't take much to be nominated for a prize, but it does take some work to earn it. If you think they haven't considered all he's done both during campaigning (trip to Berlin, et al) and as President for the first 9 months of his administration simply because the deadline for nomination was February, you clearly haven't been following much of what the Nobel Institution has done for the past 30 years.

[treestar]

7. This is to tell the US too that it did the right thing

In not electing another Boosh - McPain, Boosh lite and Palin the warmongers.

I bet they just want us to know we are back in civilization again.