by Mark Silva
As President Barack Obama heads for Oslo this week to accept the Nobel Prize for Peace -- only the third sitting president to accept the award -- he is ramping up the U.S. military deployment in Afghanistan, an eight-year-old war, to nearly 100,000 troops.
The irony of the war-time president accepting the world's most prestigious peace prize is not lost on the Obama White House. Mark Knoller, a seasoned and smart White House correspondent for CBS News reports that Obama will address the "juxtaposition'' of the times he faces and the prize he will accept in Oslo on Thursday.
"There'll be no effort by Barack Obama to disguise or obscure the fact that he's a war president when he accepts the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Thursday,'' Knoller notes of a ceremony takng place "10 days after he announced plans to escalate the U.S. military engagement in Afghanistan by deploying another 30,000 American troops there.
"Even the White House regards it as an odd "juxtaposition" and spokesman Robert Gibbs says the president will use his Nobel acceptance speech to address that irony. Obama plans to mention Afghanistan in his acceptance speech this week.
The judges awarded the prize to the president to honor "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
The president's predecessors with the prize had an easier time of it, Knoller notes:
• "In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt was honored for what the Nobel Committee termed his "happy role in bringing to an end the bloody war recently waged between two of the world's great powers, Japan and Russia."
• "In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson was honored for helping to end World War I (before such wars had to be numbered) and his enumeration of "Fourteen Points," which the Nobel Committee said brought "a fundamental law of humanity into present-day international politics."
Wilson, too ill to attend the ceremony, lamented by letter that "mankind has not yet been rid of the unspeakable horror of war." But he was convinced "that our generation has, despite its wounds, made notable progress." Roosevelt had delivered his Nobel Lecture in person in Oslso at the National Theater in Oslo, before an audience of more than 2,000. "Peace is generally good in itself," Roosevelt said, "but it is never the highest good unless it comes as the handmaid of righteousness."
Peace can even become "a very evil thing if it serves merely as a mask for cowardice and sloth, or and an instrument to further the ends of despotism or anarchy,'' Roosevelt said in Oslo. "No man is worth calling a man who will not fight rather than submit to infamy or see those that are dear to him suffer wrong."
So it will fall upon Obama to contend in Oslo that he is escalating a war in Afghanistan- - with a plan to start drawing down forces in July 2011 -- for the greater cause of peace: "If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan," the president said in his speech from West Point announcing his new strategy, "I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow."
Comments
I don't think President Obama's receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace any more ironic, than the history behind the prize, itself. Wasn't it Mr. Nobel who perfected the use of gun powder-like substances, such as dynamite !!? So, it is only fitting that our President, President Obama, who ran a presidential campaign predicated on extracting us from, not one, but two wars, that were, at the time, raging, be given this prestigious award. As we all know, President Obama's intentions are still to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but in a timely fashion. Anyone who questions his motives or his need to do right by all parties concerned, are either, babes in the woods or, more likely, partisans who wish to paint him with the same, unforgiving brush, that our nation painted the Bush&Cheney tag team ! I will not tax your intellect with the stupendous differences between the two administrations, suffice it to say, President Obama will not be led around, by the nose, the way the Bush&Cheney tag team were !! For one very simple reason, he has followed them into Office, the messiest, most incompetent, dynamic draft-dodgers in the history of our Presidency, which means he has to clean-up their mess. No small order, given their level of incompetence !!
So, President Obama, enjoy your day. You get a day or two away from the Corporate Media, that hydra that tries daily, to hammer you to the wall, for trying to fix, what their darlings, the Bush&Cheney fringe, messed up: our nation, America
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | December 8, 2009 8:28 AM
Let’s reiterate since the article seems to forget one very important fact regarding this
award to Obama. When he was nominated for the award HE WAS ONLY IN
OFFICE FOR 12 DAYS!!! It’s obvious that some were trying to sway Obama
with regard to troop deployment in current conflict zones.
1) How warm will the reception be now from the “peace” idealists?
2) How much is this trip for a bogus award going to cost the taxpayers?
Posted by: wingnut master | December 8, 2009 8:35 AM
It's not an odd juxtaposition if one considers why the Norwegian socialists gave Obama the Peace Prize after only 11 days in office.
They gave it to Obama because he promised to be a socialist, like they are. The award didn't have anything to do with "peace". Even the American people recognize this fact, as only 26% (in the latest Gallup Poll) think Obama deserved the award.
Auto-company owning, healthcare takeovering Obama remains a socialist--the reason for the award. Hence the award is just as "valid" now as it was then.
Posted by: Inconvenient Truth | December 8, 2009 9:26 AM
To Don,
So what you are bascially stating in your usual daily long winded rant is that Obama received the award in 12 days for NOT being Bush. Correct?
STOP THE DC SPENDING, BRING OUR DOLLAR BACK!
Posted by: wingnut master | December 8, 2009 9:28 AM
In related news the Association of Narcissists and Liars (A.N.A.L.) announced that Obama would be awarded their lifetime achievement award for demonstrated proficiency in making everything about him while balancing inconvenient facts to fit the myth.
Well done sir, well done!
Posted by: Chris | December 8, 2009 9:36 AM
Off-topic, but for those Loony Lefties always harping on those evil old Big Corps. Let's hear it for the 2 teacher's unions!!!!
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Mike Antonucci of the Education Intelligence Agency put this in perspective, writing that the NEA's and AFT's 2007-08 contributions meant that "America's two teachers' unions outspent AT&T, Goldman Sachs, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, General Electric, Chevron, Pfizer, Morgan Stanley, Lockheed Martin, FedEx, Boeing, Merrill Lynch, Exxon Mobil, Lehman Brothers, and the Walt Disney Corporation, combined."
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Any comments, Loony Libs? Not name calling and "8 years of Republican rule" (ummm Demoncraps have controlled both houses for 3 years now), but intelligent (ok how about not unintelligent?), lucid comments.
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | December 8, 2009 9:54 AM
For a thoughtful real-world look at carbon caps and their impacts:
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http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/07/copenhagen-climate-change-carbon-emissions-opinions-columnists-joel-kotkin.html
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | December 8, 2009 10:12 AM
Geez, I better get out of here. I am among stunted posters. They can't think, so they name-call and of course, distort and deceive, but, by now, we are used to it. I'll see all of you unfortunates, when you unstunt yourselves, if, of course, you have the capabilities !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | December 8, 2009 11:05 AM
Much controversy has been stirred up by the recent awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama so early into his Presidency. Some see it as an embarrassment and encumbrance to the work before him, others see it as a triumph of good intentions over effective implementation of policy; others still, regard it as little more than a slight against the previous administration. Whatever the rights and wrongs of these and the many other points of view, a more expanded perspective can be gained by exploring the meaning behind this event.
According to Alfred Nobel’s Will, the Nobel Prize should be awarded to the person who “during the preceding year… shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.
While this dictum may be interpreted in terms of outer events and measurable changes, its psychological aspect is arguably more important, for those fundamental ideals which can bring about international peace must first gather sufficient mental and emotional force to empower outer changes. The skilful projection of a vision through the right use of oratory is of immense importance in this process. Great oratory awakens hope and adds its momentum to the transformative process to ensure its emergence in the world of physical plane events. Tied down as we are in the world of the five senses, it may not be easy to relate cause and effect; but in the realm of conscious energy, every momentous thoughtform must reveal itself in the mundane world at some point.
Not for nothing is the term “a ray of hope” evoked in journalistic circles in contrast to the gloomy background of world affairs. Diana Mukkaled, a prominent and respected journalist in the Arab world, remarks that “Obama possesses a particular ability to push matters towards hope, not only in America, but also in the rest of the world. Perhaps the Nobel Peace Prize will contribute towards making this hope a reality, particularly in our countries that are drowning in despondency and despair.” http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=18521,
(Read More at the Lin
k)
http://www.lucistrust.org/en/service_activities/world_goodwill__1/world_view_on_president_obama_receiving_the_nobel_peace_prize
Posted by: angellight | December 8, 2009 11:08 AM
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | December 8, 2009 9:54 AM
'
Please clarify your words of "the NEA's and AFT's 2007-08 contributions meant that "America's two teachers' unions outspent ... "" Are those "contributions" what the union members paid in dues to the unions? Or do you mean that the two unions spent more money on political lobbying than those listed corporations?
Posted by: BC | December 8, 2009 11:26 AM
Don Fitz, when you strip away the rhetoric, what BO did with the Afghan troop surge is this: He is sending tens of thousands of additional American soldiers to a foreign land to fight radical Muslims. I know you blame Bush for all the carnage in Afghan, but the situation is what it is today, and BO has to deal with it. Given what the situation is today, do you agree with BO's strategy? If so, don't you think you should change your signature line?
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As far as the Nobel Prize, I think that was politically motivated to pressure BO into ending both the Afghan and Iraq Wars. To BO's credit, he didn't cave to this pressure.
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I hope BO keeps his promise of getting troops out of Iraq by this summer. If Iraq is not ready to "stand up" by then, they never will be. They need to fight their own battles. If they need air support or counterinsurgency advice, fine. If they want American troops to go door to door to root out insurgents again, I say forget it.
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I'm more pessimistic about Afghan. While Iraq's security force is far from perfect, it is functional, and far better than Afghan's. I'm worried that it will take years before the Afghan security force will be able to function on its own. BO's withdrawal date has already been watered down by subsequent statements by Clinton and Gates. I think we are going to be in that cesspool of a country for a long time.
Posted by: Herbie H. | December 8, 2009 11:33 AM
the two unions spent more money on political lobbying than those listed corporations. Guess where the vast majority of that money came from: Yep, dues.
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | December 8, 2009 12:17 PM