Obama Receives Peace Prize
Posted Under: Afghanistan,Anti-War,Obama
US President Barack Obama (right) holds his Nobel Peace Prize next to Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjoern Jagland Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Barack Obama received his much debated Nobel Peace Prize in Norway today. One has to wonder exactly what part of sending 30,000 additional troops into a destitute nation, which has been occupied by the world’s greatest superpower for the last eight years, constitutes peace. Obama himself recognised the irony of receiving the prize whilst his country is engaged in two major conflicts. It’s fair to say that he was not the one who took his country to war, but for all the A grade essays I wrote at school, I can’t remember ever earning a gold star by rubbing out someone else’s mistakes. Or, for that matter, copying them. No one can doubt that Obama is a better president than Bush. But he has an awful lot left to prove if he’s to retroactively earn the award that was repeatedly denied Gandhi.
Reader Comments
Gandhi was a dickhead.
You know The Third Estate has often been praised for the level of debate it hosts. Above is a shining example
To quote Vegetius “If you wish for peace, prepare for war”. A lesson sadly forgotten by DfID and Clare Short, we now have confirmed by the inquiry into the Iraq war.
I think it would be hard to blame DfID for the years of chaos in Iraq. If you wish for peace, don’t start utterly unneccessary wars…
That Obama spent so much of his acceptance speech defending war must have been very embarrassing for the Nobel committee.
It really demonstrated the moral bankruptcy of giving the award to Obama.
Not blaming DfID in isolation, just an example of the general lack of planning for the aftermath. Better to plan and not need it , than need it and not plan. Obviously DfID has to react to the decisions of the cabinet.