Posted by
John Caile on Friday, October 09, 2009 12:44:33 PM
If you had any doubts about how meaningless the Nobel Peace Prize has become, they were removed today. Giving such an honor to a person who has been in office for less than nine months is suspect on its face - suspiciously premature by any standard.
Then again, since the Nobel Prize is supposedly awarded on the basis of accomplishment, it is at least hypothetically possible that one could have achieved some major breakthrough in such a short period of time. If that were the case (an announcement by al-qaeda of an end to Jihad for example) then at least an argument could be made for bestowing such an award on a neophyte world leader.
But what exactly has Barak Obama accomplished? Not "tried" to do, but actually achieved? Other than to parade around the world, embarrassingly apologizing for America's prosperity and power, you cannot name a single positive outcome as a result of his being president. The Nobel Prize committee vaguely referenced Obama's "extraordinary efforts" and "outreach to the Muslim world."
But, so what? Al-Qaeda has most certainly NOT backed off. Muslim extremists have continued their attacks on civilians around the world. Iran continues headlong toward becoming a nuclear power - not to mention firing off a series of missiles as a direct response to Obama's overtures. Not exactly a resounding recommendation.
Elsewhere, the promised change in the world's view of America has not emerged, unless you consider getting the "thumbs up" from some of the world's worst dictators. But how receiving fawning praise from Libya's Muammar Qaddafi, Cuba's Castro regime, or Venezuela's Jugo Chavez qualifies one for a "peace" prize is likely to elude any thinking person.
What this event symbolizes is more than the triumph of style over substance - it is emblematic of the views of those who, quite simply, hate everything that the United States has always represented - freedom, achievement, and recognition of the individual.
Additionally, this award illustrates a fundamental difference between the values of those who built (and continue to build) America, and those who would remake this country into a socialist nightmare. Conservatives honor achievement - liberals worship "intentions."
But peace, especially global peace, is not a strategy - it is, at best, a temporary condition. And peace per se is not enough - the dead are at peace. Peace must be accompanied by freedom. And throughout history, whenever peace, real peace, has been accomplished, it has not been the result of "talking" - but because of the efforts of courageous people doing what is necessary to achieve it and then maintain it. Which sometimes mean the willingness to use force, even, paradoxically, to wage war.
Ronald Reagan won the Cold War without firing a shot - forcing the breakup of the Soviet Union, and in doing so did more than any president in modern history in terms of achieving long term peace and freedom. But don't hold your breath waiting for even a (belated) recognition of his achievements by the overtly socialist Nobel committee.
Now, if and when President Obama actually does achieve something resembling a condition of peace, for some recognizable period of time, and more importantly, a peace that does not require that Americans give up their freedoms and their prosperity, then I will be the first to praise him. But awarding what should be a serious accolade to such a rookie on the world scene is simply outrageous, not to mention insulting to the world's genuine "peacemakers" - Americans in the armed forces around the world.