i was pretty surprised when i heard that obama had been awarded the nobel peace prize – when he hasn’t yet had the chance to do anything significantly noteworthy towards peace – but to hear him use his acceptance speech as a justification of war convinced me that the prize has gone to the wrong person. if obama had any humility, and any real understanding of peace, he would have declined the prize. he would have said, wait until i have achieved something; wait until i prove myself to be of the same calibre as previous recipients of the nobel peace prize. because he most certainly has not yet done that, and he may never.

he – or his speech-writers – are very good with words, & one could almost accept his arguments and justifications. but it’s all a bit too convenient. he just happens to have inherited a country already embroiled in two never-ending conflicts, with an economy that is heavily dependent on those conflicts continuing, and such circumstances allow him to justify the ongoing use of violence, the deaths of civilians and human rights abuses (people are still being held without trial in guantanamo bay).

if war is so justifiable, then surely peace must come as a result – so why not wait until he has got there and THEN give him the prize?