Community | October 09, 2009 | 61 comments

In a surprise, Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091009/ap_on_re_eu/eu_nobel_peace;_ylt=AnnHid0X1C3PmFyGWFbWj_Ks...

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Maryleaf
President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.
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61 comments // In a surprise, Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

  • freecrack
    • 0
      freecrack  

    • i love how all of a sudden everyone knows what is the right or wrong thing for the nobel committee. they have been doing it for longer than you have been alive but you know better.

      maybe outside of the us we have looked like assholes for 8 yrs and this prize is a way of saying thank you america for stopping this global douchebaggery

    • 2 years ago
  • s_peak
    • 0
      s_peak  

    • wow this is bullshit. They've raised the bar. Whatever they can do to convince us that everything is fine, I guess...

    • 2 years ago
  • curtisreed
    • 0
      curtisreed  

    • I was pleased to hear Obama say this:
      In a brief statement in the White House Rose Garden on Friday, the president said he does not "view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments," but rather as a recognition of goals he has set for the United States and the world.

      Well, no shit. You don't have any accomplishments, so it's got to be for something else.

      "I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize," he said.

      And that would be "no shit" #2. Because you DON'T deserve to be in their company.

      You DO deserve to have your likeness in a wax museum, but that's about it.

    • 2 years ago
  • nursediesel
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  

    • Congratulations President Obama on the Nobel Peace Prize -- Now Please Earn it!

      Friday, October 9th, 2009

      Dear President Obama,

      How outstanding that you've been recognized today as a man of peace. Your swift, early pronouncements -- you will close Guantanamo, you will bring the troops home from Iraq, you want a nuclear weapon-free world, you admitted to the Iranians that we overthrew their democratically-elected president in 1953, you made that great speech to the Islamic world in Cairo, you've eliminated that useless term "The War on Terror," you've put an end to torture -- these have all made us and the rest of the world feel a bit more safe considering the disaster of the past eight years. In eight months you have done an about face and taken this country in a much more sane direction.

      But...

      The irony that you have been awarded this prize on the 2nd day of the ninth year of our War in Afghanistan is not lost on anyone. You are truly at a crossroads now. You can listen to the generals and expand the war (only to result in a far-too-predictable defeat) or you can declare Bush's Wars over, and bring all the troops home. Now. That's what a true man of peace would do.

      There is nothing wrong with you doing what the last guy failed to do -- capture the man or men responsible for the mass murder of 3,000 people on 9/11. BUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT WITH TANKS AND TROOPS. You are pursuing a criminal, not an army. You do not use a stick of dynamite to get rid of a mouse.

      The Taliban is another matter. That is a problem for the people of Afghanistan to resolve -- just as we did in 1776, the French did in 1789, the Cubans did in 1959, the Nicaraguans did in 1979 and the people of East Berlin did in 1989. One thing is certain through all revolutions by people who wish to be free -- they ultimately have to bring about that freedom themselves. Others can be supportive, but freedom can not be delivered from the front seat of someone else's Humvee.

      You have to end our involvement in Afghanistan now. If you don't, you'll have no choice but to return the prize to Oslo.

      Yours,
      Michael Moore
      MMFlint@aol.com
      MichaelMoore.com

      P.S. Your opposition has spent the morning attacking you for bringing such good will to this country. Why do they hate America so much? I get the feeling that if you found the cure for cancer this afternoon they'd be denouncing you for destroying free enterprise because cancer centers would have to close. There are those who say you've done nothing yet to deserve this award. As far as I'm concerned, the very fact that you've offered to walk into the minefield of hate and try to undo the irreparable damage the last president did is not only appreciated by me and millions of others, it is also an act of true bravery. That's why you got the prize. The whole world is depending on the U.S. -- and you -- to literally save this planet. Let's not let them down.

    • 2 years ago
  • littlewing53
  • nanac
  • nanac
  • littlewing53
    • 0
      littlewing53  

    • Everyone seems to have forgotten that President Obama was one of the few who voted against the war in Iraq. And at this point, Iraq is completely destabilized by OUR interference in their politics. And remember that Pakistan, an Islamist country, has nukes? If some wacko Islamist is voted their leader, we could end up in WW3. We need to placate these people, not piss them off. BTW, Einstein is to have said that he had no idea how WW3 would be fought, but he knew how WW4 would be. With sticks and stones. Think about that, people.

    • 29 days ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • Well, this snippet should clear up the motive regarding who it was awarded to. Sad to think this was truly a "political" pick.

      "NRK said that Chinese dissident Hu Jia, was among the bookmakers' favourites, but it said that "several experts" doubted he could win. It might be a bad time to give the prize to a dissident when the United States wanted closer ties with China."

    • 2 years ago
  • unclecharlie
    • 0
      unclecharlie  

    • He won it for apologizing for being an American, and his unwillingness to put his foot down. Giving long winded speeches focusing on himself (which is basically what he does) only gives Obama more reason to revel in his narcissism. This is not a very good reason to give this far left nutjob a Nobel Prize.

    • 2 years ago
  • eldamon
    • 0
      eldamon  
    • unclecharlie:

      What would you have him do "put his foot down", thumb his nose at the world - basically continue the actions of the previous administration and MAKE the word respect us again? Are you familiar with the colloquial definition of insanity at all???

    • 2 years ago
  • Tyr
    • 0
      Tyr  
    • unclecharlie:

      This is the attitude I spoke of in my above post, this idea that we can threaten and bluster the world and be respected. The Nazi's tried that approach as did the Soviet Union..I ask you Charlie, how did that turn out for them? The notion that all we have to do is "put our foot down" as if we are some parental figure and the rest of the world our child to abuse in anyway we see fit, is as simplistic as it is delusional.

    • 2 years ago
  • eldamon
    • 0
      eldamon  

    • I've got to admit I am impressed by a lot of the posts on this topic. Even those in dissent have done it in a considerably respectful manor, so far. I believe they've failed to take into consideration the President's starting point however. It's not like he came into office with a clean slate. The wars they complain about were handed to him along with the economy it took eight years to destroy as most set silently or cheering in some cases.

      Imagine the task of erecting a sky scraper but you have to do it on the site of a massive crater. When you reach level ground and start the actual building to the naked it eye it would appear that you had done nothing to that point when in reality you had accomplished a monumental task just to break even.

      That is a little like where President Obama is now. We have international respect back and good standing in the community again in a relatively short time and that was no easy task considering we started two wars, broke the worlds economy and ecology.

      President Obama still has much to accomplish and no he hasn't cured cancer or made money grow on trees just yet but don't lose perspective and above all else give him credit for what he has done in light of what he is working with.

    • 2 years ago
  • Menchaca
  • stonefree87
    • 0
      stonefree87  
    • eldamon:

      Alright, wait a minute. A bit off subject here, but I hardly think that the economy took only eight years to destroy.

      Honestly now, I'll be the first to agree that the economy sucks right now, but I think it's a little shortsighted to say that our economy began to fall as little as 9 years ago, and even more shortsighted to attempt to blame it on one administration. I'm not a Bush fanboy, but I'm also not going to blame all of our country's problems on the last two terms.

      Something like that takes a long time to accumulate into the near collapse of an economy. Some might say it began as soon as we started to recover from the Great Depression. I personally think it began as early as the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913.

    • 2 years ago
  • eldamon
    • 0
      eldamon  
    • eldamon:

      stone, you have a very good point and I stand corrected. I should not have suggested the economies woes started and ended with Mr Bush. In fact I believe, along with some prestigious economist the decline actually began with Mr Regan and the repealing of the Glass-Stegall act which began the end of regulation and let the greed and corruption genie out if the proverbial bottle.

    • 2 years ago
  • stonefree87
    • 0
      stonefree87  
    • eldamon:

      True. I wasn't even thinking about the Reagan issue. I have heard of that theory as well, but it slipped my mind.

      Strange how we always seem to get off subject when commenting like this, but I always appreciate a healthy debate. And I also appreciate how well you handled my comment. I wish more people on this site, and other forums, would behave as they do in person, like you have.

    • 2 years ago
  • eldamon
    • 0
      eldamon  
    • eldamon:

      Stone, it is always a pleasure to converse with someone that can hold up their end of the conversation and keep an civil tongue about them. This whole forum could be a great learning tool if people would step back once in a while and truly consider the opposing point of view instead of trying steadfastly to pound their opinions across.

    • 2 years ago
  • maasanova
  • asherp
  • ras_menelik
    • 0
      ras_menelik  

    • Imagine there's no countries
      It isn't hard to do
      Nothing to kill or die for
      And no religion too
      Imagine all the people
      Living life in peace

    • 2 years ago
  • Thargor19
  • sk8bs55
  • nanac
    • 0
      nanac  

    • Some of you people are so blinded by hate until, you can't see before you...Obama have tried and is currently reversing diplomatic policies that no longer worked... Bush lied us into two wars however, Obama will have to clean up his mess..It will take more effort and brains to end the war ,than it did to start it. ..The Nobel Peace Prize is a honor bestowed upon him, because the Committee felt that he was deserving of the award..They made a proper decision, and it really doesnt matter who disapproves of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • 2 years ago
  • ssbeeno
  • LadybugLady
  • current89
  • cztheday
    • 0
      cztheday  

    • Amazing. I am sometimes left open-mouthed in wonder at some people's perception of reality.

      "Bring 'em all home!" they shout at President Obama with respect to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. They speak as if he some kind of warmonger who delights at the thought of Americans sacrificing their lives.

      How, I wonder, can these people not realize even the very basic issues that confront President Obama, preventing him from just loading up the planes? Some of them, I know, simply don't want to be bothered with "details." They believe that "principle" trumps the facts. They are wrong.

      In Iraq, we OWE the Iraqis the courtesy of not leaving their country in an insecure condition after WE disbanded (at least those we did not kill or maim) their police force, army and any other semblence of a security force.

      In Afghanistan WE are responsible for the re-emergence of the Taliban due to the utter incompetence of the previous Administration in failing to complete the mission once our boot was on the Taliban's throat. Instead of stepping forcefully down and crushing the life out of that evil organization, we shifted our focus and the bulk of our manpower to an illegal invasion of neighboring Iraq.

      None of this was President Obama's doing -- yet he is stuck with the consequences. Calling for the immediate drawdown and withdrawal of troops when we have incurred serious moral and ethical obligations as a result of the failings of OUR President (I may not have voted for him but as a citizen I am duty-bound to do what I can to clean up his mess) is not just childish and petulant whining. Such people embarrass themselves with their two-dimensional thinking.

      President Obama's performance has been nothing short of remarkable. He has turned this country's entire foreign policy philosophy on a dime into one that is admirable and that garners the respect of nearly the entire world -- at the same time he has dealt forcefully and effectively with domestic economic issues that would have been daunting to lesser President.

    • 2 years ago
  • current89
  • cztheday
    • 0
      cztheday  
    • cztheday:

      Sorry, anamilia, but from my perspective YOU are the one who is utterly lacking in logic.

      The Iraqis don't want us there? Fascinating. So in your view (see my reference above to two dimensions) all Iraqis feel exactly the same way about having us there. Of COURSE many Iraqis don't want us there. Some of them have NEVER wanted us there. Others have LEARNED not to want us there after we slaughtered their innocent men, women, children and infants. There may even be a MAJORITY who don't want us there. Unfortunately, Obama doesn't get a pass on moral and ethical responsibility by taking a show of hands. He is being advised by people who can tell him with a fair degree of certainty what will happen in that country if we just suddenly abandon it to its fate. Those deaths would be on HIS conscience...just as the deaths will be that will result from the slow drawdown he has planned and that is being implemented right now. But his plan means FAR FEWER deaths and MUCH LESS suffering. How easy it is to sit at one's computer and spout fine-sounding principles about how all war is evil and how it should not last one more minute. Unfortunately, the real world is not that easy. We don't get to pack up and leave and pretend nothing ever happened. We don't get to trade hundreds or thousands more Iraqi dead because we are not willing to lose another American soldier. Not if we ever hope to stand for something more noble than the rot of the previous Administration.

      Of COURSE he is sending more troops into Afghanistan. If the Taliban retake control of Afghanisan, it will become a nation devoted to the production and export of terrorism. President Obama is trying to crush that movement to save tens of thousands of lives and oceans of heartache that will come from state-sponsored terrorism in the decades to come if Afghanistan essentially becomes one large safe haven for terrorist training bases. This is the war that should have been a battle and that should have been won long ago. It went from a small wound to gangrene under Bush. Obama is trying to save the limb. How you can not see that is really the wonder here,

    • 2 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • cztheday:

      He voted for the funds to keep these wars going and never held Bush accountable. So don't say this isn't his doing as well. Bush would never have been able to get away with what he did without willing enablers.To state anything different only shows your true colors as a partisan who puts the man and party over the principle. Some of the syncophants here are downright unrealistic. But perhaps it will keep him from sending more troops to Afghanistan. He will be watched every step of the way now and held accountable for his rhetoric.

    • 2 years ago
  • cztheday
    • 0
      cztheday  
    • cztheday:

      He never held Bush accountable, eh Jan? The fact that the man ran for President on a platform of ending Bush's war in Iraq as quickly as possible and refocusing on Afhanistan where the focus SHOULD have been all along is just going along to get along, right

      And all he had to do was deny funding -- by himself, mind you -- and that would have made everything OK? Bush would simply have admitted his error, tucked his tail between his legs and brought the guys home, right? Becuase that was SO Bush's M.O. the whole time he was President.

      So I am partisan above principle because they don't serve cotton candy for breakfast, lunch and dinner in MY universe, Jan?

      I have been an advisor to many different projects done by government agencies. None of them were issued magic wands. They are just people -- usually (but not always) very good people who mean well. But the world is an imperfect place filled with imperfect people and complicated choices. You can tell me all day long that the choice is easy...just load our folks up and fly them home. But wishing doesn't make it so. Doing that would cost many, many more Iraqi lives. We have already taken way, way, WAY too many Iraqi lives. Their children's children's children will hate us...and justifiably so. We need to STOP doing damage to them...and that INCLUDED abandonning them without an adequate replacement for their security. And Obama knows that to be the case...regardless of public opinion here or in Iraq. An organized draw down is the way to minim

    • 2 years ago
  • Tyr
    • 0
      Tyr  
    • cztheday:

      CZ you are casting your pearls before swine...the Obama haters, would simply accuse him of a "cut and run" policy if we did immediately leave those countries. They hate obama more than they love America, that has become clear. Rather than take pride in the fact that an American president has been awarded an internationally respected honor, they would rather vomit on their shoes in bitter disappointment that in spite of all their desire for his failure he is succeeding. His success is the taking the necessary steps in regaining the worlds respect once again for this country. A respect that is based upon a restoration of our adherence to the ideals and principles that made us great, not because of our threats.

    • 2 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • cztheday:

      NO he never held him accountable. And no amount of your partisan rhetoric will change that. "Impeachment is not an option" are not the words of a man of peace. Any man of real peace would have stood up apart from the lemmings and pushed for that based on principle. Unfortunately, there aren't many men of principle in Washington Dc. So much blood spilled over these years ENABLED by the very people you now support in a war you now support. Sickening. None of our children should have to spend the rest of their lives paying for this war, and you can bet your ass Obama like Bush will be held accountable for it by me and millions of others the longer it goes on.

      END THIS WAR NOW.

      Anything less is sheer hypocrisy.

    • 2 years ago
  • montesooma
    • 0
      montesooma  
    • cztheday:

      There you go again --- the war in iraq is not "illegal".
      Stop saying it unless you can back it up.
      And your saying that sadaams men did not maim or kill is a total falsehood, they were perpetrating brutal killings of their people just for pleasure.
      I do however agree with your assessment of afghanistan - to fight a white glove war and not fighting to win causes more loss of life, it is immoral.This is why it takes a prez who has the balls to WIN despite what is politically correct. P.C. is not correct when it comes to fighting a war, nor is concern for what the neighbors will think. Its time to get serious.

    • 2 years ago
  • Still_Falling
    • 0
      Still_Falling  

    • Breaking News:

      Rush Limbaugh has just announced on his radio show that tomorrow will be national jumping off day.

      He is asking all teabaggers and town hall yell crazies to gather on the Golden Gate Bridge to commemorate the day - by jumping off the bridge into the frigid waters of San Fransisco Bay.

      It will be a national day of cleansing, and will show the strength of the right wing radicals.
      The more people that show up and participate in the nearly 500 feet fall to the waters below will be deemed a true American patriot.

      Jumping off time will begin at 9 a.m. sharp.

    • 2 years ago
  • becktionary83
    • 0
      becktionary83  

    • I would be surprised if this didn't cause major controversy in major news outlets. When are they going to let him tackle the important issues instead of riding him for wining the prize? It seems to me he would be able to do more if he had more latitude to deal with issues than having to defend every little thing that happens.

    • 2 years ago
  • vizzzzzance
  • becktionary83
  • frank_runyeon
    • 0
      frank_runyeon  

    • This is really somewhat absurd. No one knew of him a few years ago!

      What concrete accomplishments has he made to world peace?

      Sadly, I think this cheapens the award for future winners. Potential greatness is not what the Nobel Peace Prize is about.

      Obama made a dramatic policy shift in favor of open diplomacy and engagement. No arguments there.

      But simply peruse the list of past winners and consider their momentous accomplishments. Does he belong in the same category as Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, Médecins Sans Frontières, Martin Luther King Jr., or Mother Theresa?

      I don't think so.

      But you're entitled to your own opinions.

      http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/...

    • 2 years ago
  • asherp
    • 0
      asherp  

    • WE'RE AT WAR IN TWO NATIONS!

      WE'RE BOMBING PAKISTAN!

      We've killed over ONE MILLION IRAQI'S.

      Is this a FUCKING JOKE?!!???

      WAR IS PEACE?!

      If Obama can get the nobel peace prize for not doing a fucking thing, why can't I?

    • 2 years ago
  • PirateSauce
    • 0
      PirateSauce  

    • What the fuck.

      Maybe they thought Obama actually did something, like end all the wars we are involved in... but oh wait.. he completely lied and didn't do anything.

    • 2 years ago
  • stonefree87
    • 0
      stonefree87  

    • Really? A Nobel Peace Prize? Nomination for the prize began only two weeks after he entered office. And before his campaign, he was virtually unknown. I don't see him spreading any kind of peace. Unless you consider the war in Afghanistan a peaceful operation.

      Some people wait their entire lives to win this award, and then only get it after death. It was bad enough that Gore won this prize for a film that, for all we know, produced no results.

      Good job Nobel foundation, you have lost all dignity.

    • 2 years ago
  • samthesixth
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  

    • Congratulation !
      PEACE 1 OBSCURANTISM... (well pretty much the whole friggin' ball game up to now)

      A gentle reminder...
      DON'T JUDGE POLITICIANS ON WHAT THEY SAY BUT ON WHAT THEY DO !
      CITIZENS 2.0 : PLAYERS NOT CHEERLEADERS

      As a sobering thought...

      Please remember that child chewing monster Henry Kissinger was also rewarded with a NOBEL PRIZE !!!
      http://www.zpub.com/un/wanted-hkiss.html

      "It's not a matter of what is true that counts
      but a matter of what is perceived to be true." - Henry Kissinger

      True peace is not merely the absence of tension:
      it is the presence of justice - Martin Luther King, jr.

    • 2 years ago
  • samthesixth
  • MissAmanda
  • asherp
  • slvrGelatin
  • MirrorLake
  • montesooma
  • ProjectBat
    • 0
      ProjectBat  

    • Thst's pretty cool that he won, but I just get the feeling that there are other more deserving people out there. Now if he had actually ended the two you know- WARS- he's commanding, then he gets it.

    • 2 years ago
  • ras_menelik
  • samthesixth
    • 0
      samthesixth  
    • ProjectBat:

      Ras,

      President Obama may be a qualified nominee, but the guy from Zimbabwe has been in the fight for a long time. Peacefully wresting power from a brutal dictator starving his own people is mind blowing.

    • 2 years ago
  • yonie
    • 0
      yonie  

    • At first i thought it was a little early to already hand out the prize to him while he isn't nearly through his first year. Then i realized that he was already spreading his peaceful message way before he was elected.

      It is a good day for the whole world when the president of the USA recieves the Nobel Peace prize. Congratulations to him and to all Americans, especially the ones that voted for him.

    • 2 years ago
  • sk0j0
  • Still_Falling
    • 0
      Still_Falling  

    • I WONDER IF GLEN BECK IS GOING TO STRIP NAKED AND SET HIMSELF ON FIRE TONIGHT ?

      FOR THIS BECK NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING EXTREME - LIKE SLIT HIS WRIST ON LIVE TELEVISION.

      COME ON BECK DON'T LET DOWN.

      I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NONSENSE THE REPUBLICANS ARE GOING TO SAY.

      I WONDER IF BECK IS GOING TO SAY IT IS A CONSPIRACY AND DRAW ANOTHER CONSPIRACY TREE - THEN THROW A FEW TADPOLES IN BOILING WATER, WHILE CRYING.

      I NEED TO BE ENTERTAINED .... BY FOOLS.

      LET THE REPUBLICAN HATE FEST BEGIN !!!!!!!

    • 2 years ago
  • eldamon
    • 0
      eldamon  
    • Still_Falling:

      In the interest of the spirit of the prize and unity I would hope they would use this as a starting point for responsible and productive dialog to search for common ground and the greater good. OR - we can just sit back and count the respective exploding heads as they spew more madness and can't deal with the overwhelming success and popularity of what has always been their worst nightmare.

    • 2 years ago
  • LadybugLady
  • randomized
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