A Honoured Prize Yesterday; A Political Joke Today

"He won what?!" I nearly spat out the Coke I was drinking.

As I continued watching the news in astonished silence, I only had one sentence in my mind: "Why did they do that?!" 

If all it takes is a good campaigner to convince people that you are a hero despite having accomplished nothing other than getting elected, then many people could have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize already.

You know, there ARE people nominated who have actually suffered horrifically at the hands of their own governments for decades, trying to bring about real change and peace.

(Remember, his presidency began less than two weeks before the February 1 nomination deadline for the prize and has yet to yield concrete achievements in peacemaking.)

Ironically, The Nobel Committee's citation doesn't pretend that Obama has actually achieved anything at all; rather it was presented to him as a vote of confidence for

......his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people.

At least they could have waited a few years to see if Obama could live up to his promises. Now, the absurdity of this prize will only harm Obama politically. Former Polish president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa was quoted to have been saying,

“So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far. He is only beginning to act.”

 Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi condemned the Nobel committee’s decision, saying Obama had only escalated the war, while Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called the Nobel decision “hasty”, and was also quoted to have been saying,

“The appropriate time for awarding such a prize ..... is when foreign military forces leave Iraq and Afghanistan and when one stands by the rights of the oppressed Palestinian people.”

Mr. Nobel stipulated in his will that the peace prize should go to:

"......the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses."

It's sad to kill an award that was so prestigious. Now this award means nothing, because it was awarded to someone who hasn't accomplished anything.