'HASTILY DONE'
[Het Parool, The
Netherlands]
Dagens Nyheter,
Sweden
The Norwegians
'Got Carried Away' with Obama
"By rewarding
Obama with a Nobel Prize, the Norwegian committee has managed to raise already
unrealistic expectations of the U.S. president. With that they have done a
disservice both to Obama as well as the Nobel Peace Prize."
EDITORIAL
Translated By Tomas
Ageskog and Mia Shanley
October 10, 2009
Sweden - Dagens Nyheter - Original Article (Swedish)
Those in Oslo's Nobel Hall were clearly taken aback when the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced last
Friday that Barack Obama was to be awarded the Peace Prize. It was only after
the announcement was repeated in English that the audience managed a proper
applause. It's understandable that people were shocked with astonishment. The
Peace Prize is normally awarded to people who have achieved something, not political
leaders who ignite hope of a better world.
Most of us expect that the
person so honored would have actively contributed to ensuring peace and
liberty in the world. And not all of the laureates have succeeded in their
ambitions, but they are recognized for their courage and for taking great
personal risk.
[Editor's Note: For reasons unknown, Alfred Nobel, the creator of the Nobel prize, designated Sweden as the custodian of all Nobel Prizes except one - the Peace Prize. That honor went to neighboring Norway. Some surmize that Sweden's militaristic traditions had something to do with it.]
Sometimes the award subsequently
turns out to be a fiasco, such as when Israel’s Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres shared
the prize for the Oslo Accords
with the PLO’s Yassir Arafat. Just a few years later,
Arafat abandoned the peace talks and unleashed the second intifada.
Barack Obama has been U.S.
president for less than a year. During this time he has tried to strengthen
international cooperation, including through negotiations on nuclear
disarmament. He has also given a number of memorable speeches around the world,
with the aim to improving America’s image and to initiating a dialog with some
of the world's most brutal regimes.
But none of this justifies the
Peace Prize. Obama has a lot to prove in the arena of global politics.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
It's great that the American
president wants the U.S. to play a more active role internationally, but so far
things haven't gone Obama’s way. The conflict in the Middle East between Israelis
and Palestinians has become even more
virulent and complicated since the war in Gaza. A peace treaty seems remore.
In Iraq, Iran's influence is
growing, while at the same time American troops have begun withdrawing. There's
a great risk that Iraq will turn into a dictatorship controlled by Teheran.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
SEE ALSO ON THIS:
DNA, France:
Nobel Peace Prize Could Cripple Young President
Le Monde, France:
One Must Not
Misinterpret Obama's Nobel!
Le Temps, Switzerland:
Has Nobel Committee
'Fallen on its Head?'
Corriere della Sera, Italy:
Is Obama's Nobel Just to Repudiate George W. Bush?
Sato, Portugal:
President Obama's Nobel - Can He Fulfill World's Expectations?
Rue 89, France:
Nobel 2009: Obama a (Premature) Icon of Peace
Kayan, Iran:
'Traitorous African Murderer' Wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize!
Zaman, Turkey:
Turks Agree: Obama's Nobel Reflects Hope, Not Action
Der Spiegel, Germany:
For Barack Obama, Nobel Prize
More of a Burden than an Honor
The Times, U.K.:
'Absurd Decision'
on Obama Makes Mockery
of Nobel Peace Prize
The Times, U.K.:
'Pointless' Nobel Reveals How Obama is Lost in His own Mystique
The Hindustan Times, India:
EDITORIAL: Nobel Committee
Wins an Obama
Times of India, India:
EDITORIAL: Decoding Obama's Nobel Prize
The Hindu, India:
The Nobel and
the Audacity of Hope-Giving
India Today, India:
[Indian] People's Verdict:
Obama Not 'Nobel' Enough
NTV Kenya Video:
'Yes He Can and Yes
He Did' Win the Nobel Prize
Russia Today Video:
Nobel Peace Prize
for Obama a 'Big Mistake'
CBC Canada Video:
Canada's Nightly
News Covers Obama's
Nobel Prize Win
France 24 Video:
Does Barack Obama
Deserve Nobel Peace Prize?
BBC News Audio:
IAEA Chief
ElBaradei Says 'No One
More Worthy' than Obama
BBC News Video:
After Mandela and
Tutu, South Africans Applaud
Obama Nobel Victory
BBC News Video:
Israeli President
Peres Praises Nobel Prize for Obama
Meanwhile, it appears that Iran
has taken new steps to develop a nuclear bomb. Weeks ago, it became known that it
has a nuclear facility in a previously unknown location.
Nor are the winds
blowing in Obama’s favor in Afghanistan. Eight year after the terrorist attacks
of September 11, the Taliban seem to have strengthened their influence. Barack
Obama has held constructive talks with Russia, but in parallel with these discussions,
Kremlin leaders have continued to move
in an authoritarian direction. The threat to neighboring countries has
increased. Russian troops are still in Georgia a year after the war, which is a
violation of international law.
Add to the list North Korea -
a regime that has conducted nuclear tests
recently - and it's clear that the state of the world is pretty
miserable.
Barack Obama is responsible
for very little of this, and perhaps the picture is not quite as dark as it seems.
But just the number of issues shows that tremendous challenges await the
American president.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
That the Norwegians got carried
away with euphoria over Obama's election is understandable, but that doesn’t make
their decision any more justifiable. By rewarding Obama with a Nobel Prize, the
Norwegian committee has managed to raise already unrealistic expectations of
the U.S. president. With that they have done a disservice both to Obama as well
as the Nobel Peace Prize.
CLICK HERE FOR SWEDISH VERSION
[Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US October 11, 1:37pm]
