Is Barak Obama A Man Of Peace?

President only since January 20, 2009, Mr. Barak Obama has done little or nothing to indicate that he qualifies, has earned by actions, serious consideration for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009; yet, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, separate from the parent Swedish leadership, has awarded him the prize. The news came to me over National Public Radio while I was preparing breakfast at about 6 am, on October 9Th.

A gourmet omelet was in the making: sauteed shallots, cucumber and shitaki mushrooms with a flaming Madeira wine, using peanut and olive oils for fat, and corn starch for thickener. I was progressing quite smoothly and happily until I heard the announcement. It was lucky I was not making a souffle! My companion and I talked exclusively about the event, but we managed to savor the omelet; however, my anger over the delusional decision to award Mr. Obama, a johnny-come-lately to politics and already President of the largest military Empire in history, colored my perspectives throughout the entire day. Resentments still lie just beneath my skin, and I am doing what I can to temper my expressions as I write.

A week later, I am still trying to make sense of how the selection for the highest honor bestowed on any individual could conceivably go to Mr. Obama? But, try as I might, I can not find a logical framework. And the only rational explanation points to a hopelessly inadequate selection process grounded not on accomplishments, but instead on some fanciful notion of potentials as understood through a nominee's rhetoric, his or her mere words. My outrage over the savagery delivered to the prize itself, the cheapening of the honor, remains unabated.

Interestingly in that what follows is an important clue, presidential candidate Obama's election efforts led to his 2008 Marketer of the Year award by Advertising Age! (The 2007 winner was the video game system Nintendo.) This is prima facie evidence and a shocking reminder that hype and spin employed in advertising sells merchandise and candidates. Obviously, the Nobel selection committee was taken in by Obama's rhetorical and salesmanship skills. The only prizes left for Obama to capture are an Oscar and two literary awards, a Pulitzer and the Nobel Prize for Literature, and he is only in the first year of his presidency. Surely, lesser awards are forthcoming from Wall Street and the health insurance industry. An Obama statue in front of the New York Stock Exchange would be a major tourist attraction. And after he leaves office, he or his wife might become CEO at a major insurance corporation.

Later on October 9, 2009, in the same breath of the announcement of the Nobel award on Democracy Now, it was quickly noted that the Obama Nobel nomination occurred virtually simultaneously with his inauguration! He was sworn in as president on January 20, 2009; the deadline for Nobel nominations was February 1st. So, sometime in between this nomination was recorded, if not before. Note that there were some secret nominations not included on the regular list. Nominations, except the few that might be leaked, are sealed from public examination for fifty years! Is it possible that Obama was awarded the prize merely for being sworn into office and with that event there would come major world political changes? Or, as some observers have suggested that the award was given to Obama simply for not being George W. Bush? The only positive aspect of giving the prize to Obama, was that it represented an international slap in the face for Boy George, an inveterate isolationist and warlord for the Empire.

The Norwegian committees for the Nobel Peace Prize have made many other controversial selections. Henry Kissenger, an unindicted serial war monger, is perhaps the most egregious example of a miscalculation by a Nobel committee. Theodor Roosevelt was a war-maker of no little consequence. Woodrow Wilson forfeited the creditability of his Nobel Peace Prize by his late and disastrous entry into World War I. The Dalai Lama's award was a political slap in the face against China.

One of the high marks in Nobel Peace Prize selections was that of Linus Carl Pauling in 1962. His wife, Eva, was a pacifist who had a considerable influence on her companion. After Hiroshima, Pauling campaigned against above-ground nuclear testing and became a formidable anti-war activist. He had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1954. He is the only honoree to ever win two unshared Nobel prizes; and he narrowly missed another prize for his DNA molecular structure research, which eventually resulted in the discovery of it double helix configuration.

The Nobel Peace Prize is so important in supporting beleaguered peace workers and peace organizations. Every missed opportunity to bestow the prize (and the $1.4 million cash award) on the deserving is a serious blow to the world peace movement. A commentator suggested that the Norwegian Nobel Committee was premature in honoring President Obama and that the award in 2010, provided Obama matched his rhetoric with action, would make more sense all round.

Another commentator posed the question that in accepting the prize Obama was taking a "poisoned chalice". Tariq Ali whimsically offered the names of Mumia Abu Jamal and Noam Chomsky as deserving candidates. As matters stand, the least qualified of 205 nominees is the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize honoree!

Opinion from the Progressive field coalesced instantly: Obama, even by October 9Th had accomplished nothing of note in the peace movement. In fact, Obama is still in Iraq, with no stated exit date. At the very moment of the announcement, Obama is deliberating on how many more troops to send to Afghanistan as a "surge". Obama is expanding that invasion into Pakistan. Obama is ratcheting his sanction threats against Iran, as he grabs the trophy. Yet, this alleged man of peace has done nothing to aid the Palestinians! (And any mild criticism of Israeli actions he might gently express is not followed through.) Obama could instantly bring the Honduran coup to an end by cutting off military assistance; but he will not! Obama is creating in Guam a military operation that will equal or surpass those in Okinawa and Diego Garcia! Obama has pledged to reduce world stockpiles of nuclear weapons. But, at the same time the Obama administration quietly announced that the US stockpile would be increased by a new generation of weapons.

To Obama's credit, but hardly worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize, he has, at least for the moment, backed away from establishing a so-called missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic (allegedly against hypothetical Iranian attacks, but, considered an offensive threat against Russia). But, he did so only after meeting with Putin, who probably put the knuckles to Mr. Obama over the matter.

I would maintain that solely on Obama's failure to put pressure on Israel and forcibly condemn the Israeli attack against Gazan Palestinians (that ended on schedule when Obama was sworn into office) is prima facie evidence that Obama is not a man of peace and not deserving of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize! This is further confirmed with Obama's efforts to squash the balanced and highly acclaimed Goldstone Report, at the very moment he was accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. Also, George Mitchell seems to be wandering in the desert playing charades with himself. As long as Israel demands that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state and as long as "settlements" (read "colonies") expand and multiply, there will be no peace in Palestine! And Barak Obama knows this!

My concluding remark is actually a question: Why didn't President Obama decline the honor until possibly another year, by which time he might have earned it?