Drones, Kill Lists and Obamas Peace Prize
I think some feel the need to defend him too much because he is always being backed into a corner...Now they are claiming his recess appointments unconstitutional
of course, it has been accepted for the past 100 yrs or so, but now....it's annoying...
Aloha, Stephanie. It is nice to meet you and nice to see you venture into the forum.
The world, it seems, is not laughing at the US because Americans re-elected President Obama. Actually, a majority of those surveyed in 21 nations just before November’s election said they were in favor of his victory. Clearly the President’s global popularity is greater than your perception.
Last October the BBC World Service published a comprehensive survey taken in 21 countries. It tabulated the opinions of 21,797 respondents. Similar to the 2008 results, President Obama was preferred over his rival in 20 of the 21 countries. “Overall, an average of 50 per cent would prefer to see Obama elected, compared to only 9 per cent who prefer Romney.” {1} The survey also observed, “The emphatic preference for Obama’s re-election worldwide is in sharp contrast to the state of public opinion in the USA, where polls now show the two candidates to be nearly tied in public backing.” {2}
Steven Kull is the Director of The Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) of the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland. He commented on the conclusions drawn from the data, “Obama’s election in 2008 led to a major recovery of America’s image in the world and people are showing little interest in changing horses now.” {3}
Stephanie, I thought you might like to take a look at the details of the study to learn what the rest of the world really thinks about the President’s re-election. They do not seem to be laughing at the outcome at all.
I thank you for sharing your thoughts in this thread.
{1} http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/ … 12_rpt.pdf
{2} Ibid.
{3} http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/ … 28&lb=I wrote:
"Obama did nothing to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. Absolutely nothing. The Nobel Peace Prize website states that he was given the award 'for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. Really? Where was I when this happened? And how has it gone for him since? Iran going nuclear, North Korea testing missiles and nuclear, Israel's Netanyahu can't stand him, 60K people killed in Syria since March 2011 and U.S. does nothing, Egypt on verge of government collapse, relationship with Russia's Putin deteriorating, Obama revs up Afghanistan war which is a sewer pit, Libyan extremists kill first American ambassador in 30 years, North Africa is now crawling with Al Qaeda...and on and on. Is the world more peaceful today because of Barack Obama? The world must be laughing at the U.S. to think that this man got re-elected."
=================
Good evening Quilligrapher. This is the reason I hate to get pulled into these forums. Meeting up with people like you who seem to have nothing better to do than to quote endless meaningless statistics. Perhaps when I am retired I'll have more time to do what you do. But in Obama's shrinking economy most of us have to work.
Anyway, in response to your response, I just searched - 'what does the world think of Obama' and the following article came up. http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012 … rstep?lite
NBC is always in Obama's corner, but the following quotes seem to mirror most of the reasons I gave for Obama not deserving the Nobel Peace Prize. I should not have presumed to think what "the world" thinks of Obama, but neither should you or a pollster. Now we're getting as big-headed as he is.
Quotes:
However, NBC News' Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel said Obama should "enjoy his victory" now, adding:"Starting very soon, the rest of the world will be crashing down on the president’s doorstep.”
“You have the issue of Syria – a county that is imploding, and a conflict that could quickly spread to other countries in the region. You have the issue of Afghanistan, the war that is still ongoing. The expectation now is there will have to be a refocusing on Afghanistan to try and end that conflict.
“There are many Israelis who are not keen on Barack Obama – they did not want to see him elected,” Engel added.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has had a strained relationship with the American president over his policies on Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, congratulated the president in a text message to reporters. "I will continue to work with President Obama to preserve the strategic interests of Israel's citizens," he said."
"Would a Romney victory have made a difference to the situation in Afghanistan? Not much, according to Daoud Sultanzoy, political analyst in Kabul. "The bottom line would have been the same, I think - just their style of management would have been different.
"Mr. Obama...said some things that were good but he didn’t do them, he didn’t fulfill his commitments when it came to transparencies, when it came to credibility of both side’s commitment and accountability. He just paid lip service in the past four years and that has damaged the Afghan people."
"In Iran, with whom relations are tense because of Tehran's nuclear program, the semiofficial Fars news agency rolled out the vivid headline, "Republican's elephant crushed by Democrat's donkey."Hello again, Stephanie.
It seems you made a false and misleading statement and you seem irritated at me for pointing it out to you. I see no need to apologize for my post but I am sorry that you over reacted to it. However, I must add that I see no significance in your pointing out how you are employed and I am not.
Your personal opinion about the President’s qualifications for the Nobel Peace Prize is unimportant compared to the opinions of the committee members. Please note that I did not challenge or disagree with your many negative statements out of respect for your conclusions. You did, however, make a comment about world sentiment over the President’s re-election that was factually wrong and I provided a source supporting the opposite fact: a large number of non-Americans had responded they were, in deed, delighted by President Obama’s re-election. {2} I accept the fact you are one American that was not happy but that is hardly a good reason to presume “the world” agrees. Fortunately, the pollsters and I made an effort to learn the true facts.
I am further puzzled but thankful for your link to the NBC News article. The title confirms the one and only point I was trying to make: “World leaders welcome Obama's 2nd term.” {2}
Again, I am sincerely sorry to see you over react. I admit I was wrong to imagine you would be receptive to just and accurate criticism.
I thank you again for your participation in this thread.
{1} http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/ … 12_rpt.pdf
{2} http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012 … rstep?liteBoth Stephanie and I provided links that established the remark referring to President Obama’s re-election was untrue. Your willingness to accept and condone the false statement and to consider the facts as BS has been noted.
I thank you both for your opinions.
Hello Petra. You must to talking about some other peace prize! I followed your advice and checked out the process. The Nobel Prize web site contradicts nearly everything you said.
The Noble prize is given for…
Let’s start with the falsehood in your first sentence, “The Noble prize is given for a lifelong achievement in a specific area.” I did not find that specification anywhere on the Nobel Prize web site. Therefore, you or someone else must have made it up. Here are a few true facts about the prize found on the Nobel Committee web site. “The Norwegian Nobel Committee never formally defined ‘peace,’ in practice it came to interpret the term ever more broadly. This approach could have its pitfalls, but avoided the danger of locking the committee into fixed categories and gave the committee flexibility to adapt to new concerns.” Interesting to note “flexibility to adapt to new concerns.”
Throughout the years, the emphasis moved away from organized peace movements to include international jurists, church leaders, humanitarians, scientists, and even a Holocaust interpreter. “Different kinds of statesmen were awarded the Peace Prize, some for addressing global concerns, others for helping to solve regional crises, still others for the general principles they espoused. Interesting to note the part about “general principles they espoused”
Getting on the list…
There seems to be a few other distortions in your post. If you have discovered sources that do not agree with information on the Nobel site please share them with us.
First, Candidates are not selected on February 1st. Nominations are closed on that date and the committee culls through the candidates to select the winner of the prize awarded that same year. “The Nobel Committee makes its selection on the basis of nominations received or postmarked no later than February 1 of the year in question. Nominations, which do not meet the deadline, are normally included in the following year's assessment. Members of the Nobel Committee are entitled to submit their own nominations…after the expiry of the deadline.” Interesting to note some nominations can be added after the February 1st deadline. {2}
You mistakenly said “the list closes on February 1-st of 2007 while the prize was awarded in March of 2009. At the time Obama got on the list he was just a senator."
This is a major error on your timeline. The prize was announced on October 9th, 2009. {3} President Obama had been chosen by a majority of Americans to lead the country more than a year earlier. He had been the acknowledged leader of the free world for nine months. During those 200 to 300 days he worked to repair the tattered image of US diplomacy; he went to Egypt hoping to convince the Muslim world the US was now about cooperation rather than conflict; and, he reestablished multilateralism as the template for U.S. foreign policy.
According to the rules, nominees for the peace prize are not made public for 50 years, yet, history reveals they are the worst kept secrets in the world. The nomination of Irena Sendler was officially acclaimed by the Polish Parliament in 2007 although Al Gore and the IPCC received the award for a slide show on global warming. Still, President Obama’s name may have been submitted before Feb. 1st or nominated by a committee member sometime later. In either event, your version of history is untrue.
Lastly, you left us with, “Like it or not, we are being given a fixed hand.”
Like it or not, Petra, neither you nor I have been appointed to the Nobel Committee by the Norwegian Parliament. In the end, they decide who receives the Peace Prize and the world accepts their decision whether we agree or not.
{1} http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/ … ad-review/
{2} http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/ … omination/
{3} http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/ … ement.html
Hi there Nature Boy. Welcome to Hubpages. I am looking forward to reading your first hub.
I hope you do not mind if I correct your false statement above on our very first meeting. It is totally untrue. The prize was not based “on the assumption that he was going to do the things he promised.” If you want to know the real reason why the President was awarded the Peace Prize just go to the Nobel web site and read the diploma yourself:
“The Nobel Peace Prize 2009 was awarded to Barack H. Obama ‘for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples’.” {1}
“Following the announcement, Geir Lundestad, Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, told senior editor Simon Frantz why President Barack Obama's creation of a new climate in international politics closely fulfils the statues of Alfred Nobel's will.” {2}
I wish you success with your hubs on Hubpages.
{1} "The Nobel Peace Prize 2009". Nobelprize.org. 28 Jan 2013 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/ … ates/2009/
{2} "The Nobel Peace Prize 2009 - Prize Announcement". Nobelprize.org. 28 Jan 2013 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/ … ement.htmlGood Evening Nature Boy.
The links in my last post are not videos. They can be viewed on any web browser.
Also, would you care to share with us how you came to learn there is a secret reason other than the one stated by the Nobel Committee?
I think we would all be interested in knowing your source.
Thank you. Looking forward to you reply.
Hi Tammy. You did not mention the inquiry ended several weeks later.
OSLO | Thu Mar 22, 2012 3:24pm EDT
OSLO (Reuters) - The Nobel Foundation has defended the award of its annual Peace Prize to U.S. President Barack Obama, Yemeni rights campaigner Tawakul Karman and others by persuading a Swedish regional body that the awards remained consistent with its founder's wishes.
The County Administrative Board of Stockholm said on Thursday in an emailed statement that it had received a reply from the Nobel Foundation which supported its view that the foundation "fulfils its obligation to examine how the Nobel committees work".
It added that it believed the foundation was ready to act if the Norwegian Nobel Committee -- which awards the Peace Prize -- was deemed to not be fulfilling the rules stipulated in the will of founder Alfred Nobel.
"Therefore there is currently no reason for the County Administrative Board to further intervene against the foundation's work...and the matter is to be closed," the board said in the statement emailed to Reuters.
I love happy endings.
Quill, Thanks for the update, I love happy endings as well
I can always count on you too show up with the fcts Quill, you add so much to every forum. I always try to explore beefs from the right and see their point of view as I know astrong left needs a strong right for our country to function properly; and I want to know the truth always no matter who is in the big chair. I am happy to hear this worked out well
Lawyer, Community Organizer, Constitutional Law Professor, President of Harvard Law Review...yea he is so unaccomplished
I always thought the fact he wasn't a career politician was a positive thing
No matter who or what party is in power the US should use anything and everything in their arsenal to take out Muslim Extremists. If not we may end up with another smoking hole in the ground in New York City.
Yes the Muslim Extremists did it. No there is no US Government conspiracy blowing up our own buildings. How stupid can people get.
If I'm not mistaken that is a jet piloted by Muslim Extremists about to strike the building. We must as a people do everything we can to stop people like this. We must use everything we have to wipe these kind of people from the earth. Or it will happen again.
I'm really surprised that it hasn't happened again already. If they are not stopped it will happen agian and again.
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