Israel Matzav

Obama to lose Nobel peace prize?

Yes, this is for real, although it's unfortunately unlikely that the prize will be revoked. AP reports that Nobel peace prize officials are facing an inquiry into why President Obama was given the Nobel peace prize a few months after taking office (Hat Tip: Verum Serum).

Nobel Peace Prize officials were facing a formal inquiry over accusations they have drifted away from the prize's original selection criteria by choosing such winners as President Barack Obama, as the nomination deadline for the 2012 awards closed Wednesday.

The investigation comes after persistent complaints by a Norwegian peace researcher that the original purpose of the prize was to diminish the role of military power in international relations.

If the Stockholm County Administrative Board, which supervises foundations in Sweden's capital, finds that prize founder Alfred Nobel's will is not being honored, it has the authority to suspend award decisions going back three years — though that would be unlikely and unprecedented, said Mikael Wiman, a legal expert working for the county.

Obama won in 2009, Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo won in 2010, and last year the award was split between Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen.

They don't really confront the issue of what Obama has actually done (or had actually done as of the closing of nominations for the prize on February 1, 2009) to bring about peace, i.e. nothing. Instead, they focus on the belief (and I'm not sure it's correct) that Obama would use military force if necessary.

Fredrik Heffermehl, a prominent researcher and critic of the selection process, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that "Nobel called it a prize for the champions of peace."

"And it's indisputable that he had in mind the peace movement, i.e. the active development of international law and institutions, a new global order where nations safely can drop national armaments," he said

Especially after World War II, the prize committee, which is appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, has widened the scope of the prize to include environmental, humanitarian and other efforts, he said.

For example, in 2007 the prize went to climate activist Al Gore and the U.N.'s panel on climate change, and in 2009 the committee cited Obama for "extraordinary efforts" to boost international diplomacy.

"Do you see Obama as a promoter of abolishing the military as a tool of international affairs?" Heffermehl asked rhetorically.

I don't think that's the point. I think the point is that the prize was intended for people who have made a contribution to world peace, and not for people who might make one in the future. That's what was wrong with giving the award to Obama in the first place. Let's face it - it was an attempt by the Europeans to lash out at George W. Bush one more time. And it cheapened the prize.

It's too bad he's unlikely to lose it.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Nobel Peace Prize

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:15 AM