OK, I know I'm going to catch a lot of heat on this from the "left" and/or the "Politically Correct" but here goes anyhow.
Am I the only one amongst a sea of bloggers and political commentators who can see China's point-of-view with regards to the 2010 Novel Peace Prize?
The Chinese government says that Nobel Peace Prize is more about western politics than it is about actual peace efforts.
Let's just examine this for a minute, considering past NPP winners and their actual contributions to peace.
2010 LIU XIAOBO They say...for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.Oh really now. China has increased the economic welfare of 1,300,000,000 people and increased civil rights in a democracy that is practically less than 20 years old, have changed their ways on a multitude of fronts in the face of a gigantic military and societal communist regime that is slowly dying off or crumbling. To throw this in their face YET AGAIN is tantamount to throwing oil on the fire and wondering why it isn't put out.
Read here: http://shanghaiist.com/2010/03/11/six_nobel_prize_nominees_that_will.php
According to the Nobel Foundation themselves http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/nomination_committee/nominations-2010/ there were 237 nominees this year.
Was their anyone this year who actually devoted their time to the larger goal of human rights? The manner in which winners are chosen makes one truly appreciate the satire at
There Goes a Thought and wonder if those satirical candidates are almost as deserving.
How did they miss Ariane Inkesha of Rwanda who has been seriously working on re-building Rwanda for the past 50 years????
It certainly helps one see China's point of view that the Nobel Peace prize is just a western political tool and mutual admiration society full of self-praise.
2009 BARACK OBAMA
They say...for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.
Gimme a break. First year of his presidency, his time devoted to the bail-out of the richest of the rich in America and that extended to other countries and their bail-out needs for the fat-pigs syphoning off the economic comfort zone of the western world for their own largess... I don't recall ANY serious peace efforts, and ZERO NAUGHT NADA ZILCH in results. I guess everyone was just delighted to have a non-white President that nothing else mattered.
Let's just forget about Bill Clinton's missions to North Korea that single-handedly ended conflict, or his missions to Haiti and other places. Wherever that man goes, peace breaks out. But wait... he's white. And of course, let's not forget the man's sexual appetite, that surely voids all his efforts.
2008 MARTTI AHTISAARI
They say...for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.
I guess he was one of their own... let's forget about Ron Brown who actually gave his life on secret diplomatic missions flying in and out of Kosovo, and not just preaching from finland. Yes, I know that was 14 or 15 years earlier but it seems to be the basis for this one.
2007 INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) and ALBERT ARNOLD ( AL) GORE JR.
They say...for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.
Perhaps the FUNNIEST bumble ever by Nobel! This "joke" of an ex-VP made so many cackle with laughter it wasn't even funny. The lard-ass hypocrite was shown that same year to be the single biggest user of energy in the USA amongst individuals. Talk about environmental waste and largess. you know, there were actual peace efforts in 2007, and this propaganda wasn't even remotely connected to actual peace efforts.
2006 MUHAMMAD YUNUS and GRAMEEN BANK
They say...for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.
Are there no Linus Paulings left in the world???
2006 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY and MOHAMED ELBARADEI
They say...for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.
Remember that bit about Mutual Admiration Society and self-praise? I'd say China has a right to underline this one as another point. did no one even think of Father Daniel Berrigan? See, he isn't politically correct but he is certainly a devoted peace activist.
2004 WANGARI MAATHAI
They say...for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace
Nice Lady. Environmental activist though. Not someone who actually achieved a significant increase in world peace. Were there no actual deserving people this year? Again, this is about politics.
2003 SHIRIN EBADI
They say...for her efforts for democracy and human rights
HALLELUJAH! Someone who actually deserved the prize! Although one has to wonder if an Irani winner was more about poking a stick in Iran's eye than anything else. Still, she was deserving.
2002 JIMMY CARTER JR., former President of the United States of America,
They say...for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development
I really like Jimmy Carter, but he was no Bill Clinton.
2001 UNITED NATIONS, New York, NY, USA KOFI ANNAN, United Nations Secretary General
FOR WHAT??
??? I never got this one. Not for one moment. If anyone deserved it, it certainly wasn't the UN. This was just political grand-standing and the kind of thing that validates China's claims. for Pete's sake. they had GEORGE W BUSH on the short list for nominees this year! That idiotic war-monger. Serioiusly? This was the year Nobel really lost credibility. They didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground.
Even Jean Chretien deserved this more, this year, for wanting to have his own say in world military efforts and not just knee-jerk reactions... and "not following the US blindly into illegally invading a sovereign country"
2000 KIM DAE JUNG
They say...for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular.
If ANYONE kept the Korean peninsula under control it was William Jefferson Clinton. How many times has he been back to keep the peace there? I just wonder.
1999 DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS (MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES), Brussels, Belgium.
FOR WHAT?
Umm...isn't there a Nobel Prize related to Medicine? Again, no one thought of Bill Clinton.
1998 JOHN HUME and DAVID TRIMBLE
They say...for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Yes, They made efforts. But MORE SERIOUSLY... am I the only one who thought trying to stop India and Pakistan from testing and further developing nuclear bombs might have been just a tad more deserving? What about Arundhati Roy?
Ok fine. I've had my say. Bring it on.