Why did President Obama win the Nobel Peace Prize?

sxt

According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who

“ ...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. "

http://nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/will/short_testamente.html



I asked this same question in a dream I had last night.. I was in a large walled ornate garden, sitting by the edge of a pitch black pool of knowledge, underneath a flowering tree of wisdom. The moon was shining bright upon everything .. An Animal told me, truth to my question would be revealed to me, by disturbing the water, shaking the tree of its flowers and studying the picture that would develop through the light reflected on the pools surface.. I rushed my hand through the water in anticipation, my other hand pulling and thrashing the tree limbs. With one eye on the commotion in the water, my gaze quickly turned to the tree where no flowers would fall no matter how hard I laboured. I stopped and turned to gaze at the pool again and it was as still as whence I first laid eyes upon it.. I awakened. Still none the wiser.

admiralofthefleet

iz it because ee is black

whiteboy

It was the Jews dammit

Spunge

I just assumed he stole it.

OPENROAD

A very proud day for Ireland

mikemac

Jewish lobby

desaparecidos

Affirmative action

celtictiger32

because he was going to drill for oil on nobels grave if he didnt win it

Rud

because you touch yourself at night

biko

According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo, President Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".

There were 205 nominated candidates for the position. The selection was handled by a bipartisan committee with 1 representative each from the "far left," the "far right," and the "Conservative" parties, and 2 from the dominant "Labour Party."

The final winner was announced on October 9 2009, just 4 days after the 5 representatives had finally reached uniform consensus, and only eight and a half months after Obama's inauguration as president of the United States.

According to Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland, "He got the prize because he has been able to change the international climate... Some people say, and I understand it, isn't it premature? Too early? Well, I'd say then that it could be too late to respond three years from now. It is now that we have the opportunity to respond - all of us."

Jagland highlighted that the Committee was especially influenced by a speech Obama gave to reach out to the Muslim world in Cairo in June 2009, as well as the president's efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and climate change, and Obama's support for using established international bodies such as the United Nations to pursue foreign policy goals.

Some believe that Barack Obama has not done anything to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. Here are some opinions from Answers.com contributors who believe that Obama should not have won the Prize:

* There has been no intervention on a huge scale by Obama. He has not curtailed any aggressive actions by any foreign state, or even his own. In fact he has increased military actions against the Taliban in Afghanistan. He has not been long on the international circuit and has no international reputation as a peacemaker.

* In the past, winners have spent many years of dedicated service to achieve the honour, or have used high office for the furtherance of peace. President Obama has done neither of these.

* Obama himself has stated that he does not feel he deserved the award, and that it must be spiritually shared by all the other nominees, but also not "as a recognition of my own accomplishments but rather an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations," and "as a call to action --- a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century." He plans to donate the full US$1.4 million monetary award to charity.

* Jagland shrugged off the question of whether "the committee feared being labeled naive for accepting a young politician's promises at face value", stating that "no one could deny that 'the international climate' had suddenly improved, and that Mr. Obama was the main reason... 'We want to embrace the message that he stands for.'"

* The Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang has later reported that Inger-Marie Ytterhorn, who represented the right-wing populist Progress Party on the committee, led the way in objecting to the choice of Obama because she questioned his ability to keep his promises. It also said the representative of the Conservative Party, Kaci Kullmann Five, and Aagot Valle, the representative of the Socialist Left, had objections. The choice for Obama was however strongly supported by committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland and Sissel Roenbeck, both representatives of the Labour Party.

* In his will, Alfred Nobel left little to guide those who award the prize. Besides directing that it be awarded by a committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament (though Nobel was a Swede), Nobel said only that it should be given to the person who

"...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."





By October 2009, after less than nine months in office, few would argue that President Obama had qualified for the prize -- or any other -- even under such nebulous terms. Indeed, the announcement was something of a surprise in most circles, including the president's own. Obama himself is quoted as saying, "I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments."

Any reasonable review of the Peace Prize Committee's decisions in recent years yields the conclusion that ultra-left candidates are currently in strong favor, their tangible accomplishments -- or a complete lack thereof -- aside.



In the final tally, US President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize largely for offering the world hope, rather than for any practical achievements, and possibly as an encouragement for what he might accomplish after receiving the prize.


Now, at the beginning of 2011, one can only question the Nobel committee's wisdom. Obama has delivered nothing that the committee hoped for, and his influence in international affairs has plummeted to a point near irrelevancy.

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