I am just discovering that Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people.”
What can I add?
Barack Obama has really changed the way non-Americans (like me) now perceive Americans following the damage done by George Bush when he started a war without being allowed to do so by the United Nations. Thanks to Obama, we now know that Americans are not egoistic and fanatical but can also show signs of intelligence and understanding.
I like that America now sees things in various shades of grey instead of that utterly stupid “Either you’re with us, or against us” stance they had before.
The world is complex. People are complex. And no one is 100% good and 100% bad. The thing is, we have to live together. And I think Obama understands this.
Beaucoup pensent qu’il a eu le nobel trop tôt. Espérons qu’il entreprendra ce qui faudra pour en être à la hauteur…
I understand why some people think it’s too early for him to win the Nobel. My opinion is that, by becoming the President of the USA, he has completely changed the way people think of politics (in the USA at least.) In a way, he has made people realise that they can have a say on an important topic (like deciding who should become the leader of their country) and can influence things. Before Obama, I guess most Americans (the poor ones at least…) thought that, well, politics was decided in Washington.
So the very fact that he is President is a fantastic achievement in itself (and I guess we all agree on that.) The second thing he did was to his speech in Cairo. He acknowledged the existence of people having different opinions as him (Muslims et al.) and this is an unprecedented move by a US President. And it seems that the effect is that the world is now less tense… despite the ongoing problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan which he will have to tackle next (Charlie Wilson was right after all.)
I was driving when I heard it on radio at 20:00 yesterday and I couldn’t resist swearing. If the current president of a country which has currently invaded 2 countries wins a “peace” Nobel prize then somebody needs to explain to me what the “peace” prize stands for. I still believe it’s too early and there are probably many more deserving people and organisations. It is indeed true that Obama is a big change from Bush but ultimately it’s the American self interest that supersedes everything so I won’t keep my hopes too high on US suddenly becoming world friendly.
Raj
You have two points, Raj :-)
Let’s hope Obama manages to stop those two wars and to bring peace to the Middle East… despite those who sell weapons (who, I think, fuel all those conflicts.)
I agree about the weapons manufacturers encouraging wars. As a side note the beginning of Lords of War with Nicolas cage summarises it very well. It shows the production chain of a bullet from the raw materials, processing, manufacture in factory up to being loaded into a gun and ….. ending on an african child’s forehead.
Hmm, i believe the nobel prize has started to lose any credibility nowadays .. :s what the heck did this guy do which is sooo extraordinary and has anything to do with ‘international diplomacy and cooperation between ppl”??? :S
are you sure you are not just following blindly?
i haven’t seen any wars stopped till he is in that seat
i haven’t seen israel and palestine has stopped fighting
i haven’t seen immigration problem solved to the us
neither have i seen a decline in hard drug traffics
..and he won a nobel prize … crazy world :p
that’s like a kick in the butt to all other previous nobel laureates.
its crazy how many ppl are folowing that dude almost religious and yet no concrete results have been seen yet
You’re right Selven. It’s true that only few things have changed. But, personally, I think that simply being a black USA President (with millions and millions of white supporters) is a feat in itself. Can you see any European country getting a black PM or President? No? Neither do I.
Nice issue raised here, he said he’s gonna remove his soldiers from iraq.. let’s hope he does so.
Regarding GW bush, HE’S A CRIMINAL killing innocents and instigating others to join him (UK etc)… Regarding the 911, there are several movies which have been released to prove that Ben Laden is not the culprit (I’m a muslim and I’m not trying to protect him here because if my family was inside the building I’d be agsinst him without doubt ) These videos were created and reported by physicists explaining intriguing things..
Regarding Obama, I heard he’s trying to shut down the internet (which is very bad) ;) especially to comptuer scientists like us :D It’s here
Regards,
Yasir
Come on… some people still see the US President as a BLACK man! You haven’t changed, isn’t it?
To Yasir:
(1) You’re right concerning Bush: he started two illegal wars after all… (2) As far as I know, the 911 attacks were done by Bin Laden et al. (3) There is currently a proposal by a Senator to have a bill (“law”) which would allow the President to ask ISPs to shut down their equipment (in case of cyber attacks for example) and the proposal has not been debated yet.
To Romeo:
He is black, isn’t he? In fact, he is more than black. He is black and his middle name is Hussain… And his father comes from Africa. And, still, he is the President of the most powerful country on the planet which has a population of mostly white people (5% black people only as far as I remember.) Like I like to say, show me (just one) another *rich* country where something similar could have happened.
Am very sorry avinash.. but i believe what you just said was just plain … bullshit!
This is called judging a person because he is from X or Y race because he is of I or J color…. and for me this is no different than racism….
you can’t give someone a peace nobel prize because of his race/creed/color!!! wtf!
Where does “your actions and results” go?
“Like I like to say, show me (just one) another *rich* country where something similar could have happened.”.
If you removed *rich* I’d say India and Mauritius. Paul was PM for two years wasn’t he?
I don’t understand why so many Americans are so against their president. I’m a Canadian….I love him ! I don’t think they could have elected a better person…..and I absolutely agree with what you are saying ! It is nice to know the Americans are not the egotists George Bush was raising ! Nice to see a positive political post !
Yasir, you should stop relying on conspiracy theorists. By the same token you may start believing that there is no climate change, or that man did not land on the moon.
There was a terrorist attack on 9/11 perpetrated by haters. They are stuck up in their brain and want the world to do back to the stone ages. Terrorist attacks haven’t stopped. Look at the recent arrest of the guy who was planning to commemorate 9/11 by blowing the NY subway. This is no fabricated story, the threat is ever present. Look at what happened in India last year and what is happening right now in Pakistan. It may sound like a paradox right now, but the world is safer thanks to the US. Going into Afghanistan was not illegal. Going into Iraq is debatable. Today it is worse I agree. The recent attacks by the insurgents is proof that the Iraqi are unfortunately not ready to defend themselves. Is it too early for the US to move out, maybe. The US soldiers are risking their lives to bring peace in that country. The problem in Iraq is not the US, it is the insurgents and we all know where they come from.
And btw President Obama is not black. He is not an African American either. His mother is a white woman from Kansas.
Selven, Obama got a Nobel Prize for Peace. He did make the world better, didn’t he? He got rid of that dangerous guy known as Bush and made Americans likeable (ahem…) again :-)
Don’t worry. He does not qualify for the Nobel Prize in Physics or Medicine. He only qualifies for this completely unscientific and subjective Nobel Prize for Peace… and I somewhat understand why the Swedish committee chose him instead of someone else.
with all due respect..
Hmm why do i feel that there’s no reasons and logic in what you just said and it seems as if you are trying to dissolve this discussion…
:D Whether scientific or non scientific… i don’t care.. if the prize was meant to someone who did lots of things that did have to do with peace.. then someone who did those thing should have won it..
just saying “bof, stfu .. he won the prize .. he rocks”…. sounds more like a football fan who blindly follows his team and will agree with anything just because its his team.
As for why i should not be worried because it is just a peace prize… i sure am… not because i ever intended to win any nobel prize [first of all i don’t like nobel and other stuffs that dares say they can ‘qualify’ someone for something by some unknown dark magical ways when infact … it is just as biased as any other person’s thought…]
AS for “He got rid of that dangerous guy known as Bush…
this is still debatable, because… he hasn’t done anything concrete to reverse what the bush guy did….
it seems more like… what was started is still going on… but the lead figure was changed to make the gory details go behind the curtains and let everyone focus on the ‘perfect kind of president’.
Talks and Appearance is good… but without any action.. it is just like a fart without a bad smell!
+selven
You know, Selven, you have the right to disagree with the Nobel committee. Personally, I tend to be happy with their decision to award the Nobel Prize to Obama. That’s life :-)
You guys better grab a copy of ‘The Obama Deception’ or watch that on Youtube.
Reminds me of The Simpsons Sideshow Bob complaining about being incarcerated for attempted murder. “Nobody gives a Noble PRize for attempted Physics do they?”
“efforts” is the word. He was only President how long before he got it?