I recently read an article about former recipients of the Nobel Prize in the 1980s, during the height of the Russian invasion and occupation. In their acceptance speeches, almost every one of them made strong comments decrying the tragedy of that conflict. Rest assured that you will hear no such comments from President Obama in the approaching Oslo ceremonies.
So, how could Mr. Obama truly deserve this � ���"peace� �� � prize and join the five former recipients mentioned above to go down in history as a peacemaker?
First he must renounce wars of choice forever and bring our troops home from Afghanistan. The bloodthirsty war hawks in Washington want no such thing. They have this mindset that if we pull out of that occupation, what will follow will be total chaos and disaster and we will lose our dominant position in that region. But the major problem was and continues to be our unwanted presence in that nation. If we leave there will surely be factional confrontations and strife, as has been the case throughout history, but it will not match the magnitude of what is currently happening.
If Mr. Obama was truly a peacemaker, worthy of that prestigious award, he would use his current formidable influence in the world to assemble a coalition of nations within that vast region to include but not be limited to; Pakistan, India, Russia, China and yes, Iran. Each of these nations has a special interest in that region, and, if the U.S. simply pulls out of Afghanistan, any one of them might try to take control of that nation.
For such a coalition to evolve into a viable regional organization with the objective to establish on-going stability in Afghanistan and that region of the world would certainly present significant challenges. Detractors would say that it would be pure folly, a total impossibility. But it will only remain insurmountable until a world leader who wields tremendous influence and power steps forward to begin such an important process.
Here is the very situation in which Barack Obama could become a true peacemaker and be worthy of the Nobel Prize. Difficult as it would appear to be, he would have a great opportunity to really change the world and move nations away from war. Sure, efforts to achieve world peace have been tried before with the League of Nations after World War I, which proved to be incapable of preventing World War II, and The United Nations of today which is largely an ineffective debating society. That does not mean that it should not be attempted again, because the chances of world conflict become greater every day.
Insurmountable odds did not stop the peace prize winners mentioned above from dedicating themselves and their lives to the promotion of peace and humanitarian actions. They overcame huge obstacles placed in their way by many opponents of their philosophies of peace, sometimes risking their lives.
To join those world renowned peacemakers Mr. Obama must transform himself from a war president to a president who can lead the world into peace and stability. Will he, can he rise to the occasion, and be truly deserving of that prize? Only history will tell.
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