The U.S. organization “The World Can’t Wait,” having organized weeks of protest against President Barack Obama’s escalation of troops to Afghanistan, announced today that it accepts the wisdom of the Nobel Committee’s choice of Obama as winner of its most famous prize. We find no irony in December 10 being International Human Rights Day.“We hope the Nobel Committee is satisfied that Barack Obama’s increase of US troops to occupy Afghanistan is enough to merit the prize. The speech he delivered at West Point on December 1 echoed 8 successful years of George Bush justifications, and Obama’s commitment to “win” certainly should have removed any reservation that he deserves the prize.
To those cynics who point out that Obama is now Commander in Chief of two pre-emptive wars widely considered to contravene international law, we point out that while General Stanley McChrystal publicly demanded 80,000 more troops, Obama pledged only 30,000.
To those who cringe at the use of un-manned robot drones on the sovereign country of Pakistan and fear that killing civilians will only make more recruits for Islamic fundamentalism, we remind them that these people are being killed by a war that is bringing peace.
To those concerned that Obama, who promised to close Guantanamo, has released fewer detainees than the Bush administration, and has revived the military commission trials decried by the world, we remind you that this President is committed to the rule of law. Remember, as former Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice said, “If the President does it, it can’t be against the law.”
In homage to George Orwell, in fact, we plan to nominate Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers for next year’s Nobel Prize for Economics. If not eligible, they could certainly win the Nobel Cash for Clunkers prize, if they hadn’t already won the cash.
Those who reject doublespeak, and actually want peace, are invited on Thursday, December 10, to join the War Resisters League in a march from Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza (East 47th, near 1st Avenue) down 42nd Street to the Times Square Recruiting Station.
PEACE: Obama’s Nobel speech on WAR
This is the Nobel Peace Prize: a prize given to recognize a leader for their accomplishments in promoting Peace and “walking the talk” of Peace.;
I did a quick textual analysis of his speech: it says it all:
Occurrences of the terms: PEACE; PEACEFUL; LOVE = 22 occurrences (2 of which are quotes by other leaders)
Occurrences of the terms: WAR; WARS; BATTLES;CONFLICTS; TERRORISTS; KILLING; POWER; CARNAGE; SANCTIONS; COMRADES IN ARMS;USAGE OF FORCE;= 89 occurrences