Obama and The Peace Award | Share it!
"I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear, I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations. To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize, men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.
But I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women and all Americans want to build, a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents. And I know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.
And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. Now, these challenges can't be met by any one leader or any one nation. And that's why my administration's worked to establish a new era of engagement in which all nations must take responsibility for the world we seek."
..Full Speech
8 comments:
Not that he does not deserve it, but really I think it's premature to give him this award..(now), after all he was elected president only in January 2009.
I know he made his stand on Iran, Iraq etc but 9 months is hardly enough time to gauge if he will follow through. Like our own exPM, he declared war against corruption, four years later, what do we have?
If it's so easy to get this award, Najib could be a potential winner with his 1Malaysia and 1World initiatives. Isn't he trying to promote peace among his countrymen and with the world (at least the Indonesians lah)? This he achieved by spending millions using a PR company to work out the hype.. a piece of cake towards getting the Nobel Peace Prize!
"...To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize..."
He said it!
You don't think "1Malaysia" would make the Nobel people hallucinate and wet their pants? The Nobel committee, in addition to recognizing proven contributors, think that it serves noble ambitions for people who are committed to peace and what they really stand for, and also to help forge them on to stay committed. In a way, its like a kind of reminder.
You can't remind Malaysians. They get a Datuk, Tan Sri or Tun for something much less but big on numbers with losts of 0's in them! ;))
It's a departure drom their static stated aims but its new and it's meaningful. So, anyone who does anything for same no matter how little, can share it. :))
Well there's no doubt he deserved it for his effort. He did it in 9 months many could not have achieved in a lifetime. Having said that, many observed Obama didn't feel particularly happy that it be given to him.
Peng,
To compare what Obama did to Bolehland's exPMs, is not only an insult but a downright disgrace!
At least Obama in true honesty of a gentleman was humbled by the award. Can you imagine the bleddy smirk look if Mamakthir had been the one?
Hakim Joe wrote a piece on this subject 'Nobel Peace Prize 2009':
http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/27808/84/
An excerpt from the above:
(Quote)
So what are Obama’s contributions that he was singly targeted as the 2009 Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and to join the prestigious ranks of former winners like Doctors without Borders, Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mother Teresa, Amnesty International, Andrei Sakharov and Martin Luther King Junior?
Well, he did say that he will decrease the troop levels in Afghanistan (US troops increased to 17,000) and he also did say that he will close down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp (which is still in existence). He also promised that US will withdraw its troops from Iraq (US did remove their troops from Baghdad but not elsewhere in Iraq) and he retained Ben Bernanke as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve (whose monetary policies were exactly the correct ingredients to cause the US Economic Meltdown and hence the Global Economic Meltdown).
To be fair, even Obama was somehow shocked to have received the Nobel Peace Prize that he has embarrassingly pledged to donate the US$1.4 million to charity. Which charity and when he is going to do the donation was never mentioned (but it is early days yet). I hope he donates it to my favourite charity – my bank account. US$1.4 million equates RM7,065,299.59 (today’s rates).
Additionally, the Nobel Prize was originally created to honour the person or organisation who has “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.”
(End of quote)
So Obama won by default, because there are no other worthy 'leader of nations and armies' deserving to win! Perhaps our very our C4 expert real PM (the PM's shadow) can!
"...The Nobel committee’s embrace of Mr. Obama was viewed as a rejection of the unpopular tenure, in Europe especially, of his predecessor, George W. Bush.
But the committee, based in Norway, stressed that it made its decision based on Mr. Obama’s actual efforts toward nuclear disarmament as well as American engagement with the world relying more on diplomacy and dialogue.
“The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world,” the Nobel committee chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland, said in Oslo after the announcement. “And who has done more than Barack Obama?” - The New York Times
It could well be a liability as some believe! Still it could make him more focus on the tasks he has set himself to achieve. If others feel it sufficient that their aims are similar, they too can share it. And as many share it with Obama, the will for peace may really be embodied in that global token, together with those others whose contribution had been similarly acknowledged.
But the Nobel Committee sort of gave Bush a kick in the rear, didn't they? For all that nonsense he had kicked up!
But Bush actually beat Mahathir to that unforgettable award ... the Shoe! :-))
Allow me to insert Qoute of the Day:
"...Man needs, for his happiness, not only the enjoyment of this or that, but hope and enterprise and change. - Bertrand Russell..."
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