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So, basically he gets an award for not being George Bush?
No, he's not George Bush, notice also he's not Bill Clinton, nor Ronald Reagan or Jimmy Carter.
He still has the power to start a major war against any country in the next few years. How ironic would this be then?
He didn't deserve that - he haven't even closed gitmo yet.
That is correct, we have not closed the prison camp at Guantanamo, nor have we ceased extraordinary renditions, nor apparently have we ceased to commit torture as a matter of policy. While the Nobel Peace Prize is by it's very nature a political tool intended to promote the political goal it is named for; in this case it feels rather premature. It does seem like an award that was directed more against his predecessor…
Woodrow Wilson won the Nobel Price in 1919 (while he was in office).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>>Good point, so maybe upgrade the US prisons to Guantanamo Bay standards ? That was as an answer to your original description of Guantanamo as equally shocking as the mass murders of Jews/Gypsies in WW II. I would, without doing a Devil's Advocate, describe that position as lacking a sense of proportions. >>But it isn't a war. It is not a war in Afghanistan? Please inform the media. >>So either they're civilians tha…
> That was as an answer to your original description of Guantanamo as of an equal shocking standard as the mass murders of Jews/Gypsies in WW II. > I would, without doing a Devil's Advocate, describe that position as lacking a sense of proportions. I wasn't comparing them on an objective level (which I think was pretty obvious), merely stating that they are all things that will be with those respective countries for…
>>I wasn't comparing them on an objective level (which I think was pretty obvious), merely stating that they are all things that will be with those respective countries for a long time.
See the note above, re that all countries I know of with terror problems thread on the limits of human rights.
>>The U.S. Administration did not declare war, and labeled Taliban troops and supporters terrorists rather than soldiers,
Afghanistan is a conflict against organized units which as standard behavior do terror attacks against civilians and misuse civilian dress.
Anyway, it is continuing military operations since the invasion 2001, where the term is used in the standard press.
I don't have a problem with the Afghan invasion -- and neither do neutral countries like Sweden which send soldiers there.
If you harbor terrorists which attack other countries' civilians, you might get invaded. I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing -- it is an incentive for countries to not destabilize other countries.
>>So, do you waterboard people in your US prisons ? Do you torture them ? Desecrate their religious objects ? And far worse than that ?
Check spr.org. How popular do you think these people would be, if put in US prisons?
Second, I do honestly think the judgment on US here is harsher than e.g. the British and their handling of IRA, etc.
Third, desecrating religious objects isn't illegal in civilized countries. (And is it really documented?)
Fourth, lots of the stories coming from Guantanamo prisoners are certainly made up. There are innocent people incarcerated (all prisons have that). The guilty are in the terror business -- which is more or less the propaganda business.
Edit: Grammar, sigh.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You have to remember, it's a big deal for the leader of a Superpower. In a vacuum, these things don't sound so great. In today's world, they actually are. Obviously there's something wrong with that, but that's just the way it is.
> You have to remember, it's a big deal for the leader of a Superpower. Dude, Bush invaded two countries for no particular good reason. Clinton jumped into the middle of a backwards country's tribal civil war to draw attention away from his personal life. Obama can't close a fucking prison? Seriously.
http://dir.salon.com/story/opinion/conason/2003/07/30/terror...
> "CIA officials went to the White House and said they had 'specific, predictive, actionable' intelligence that bin Laden would soon be attending a particular meeting, in a particular place. 'It was a rare occurrence,' Clarke said. Clinton authorized a lethal attack. The target date, however -- August 20, 1998 -- nearly coincided with Clinton's deposition about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Clarke said that he and other top national security officials at the White House went to see Clinton to warn him that he would likely be accused of 'wagging the dog' in order to distract the public from his political embarrassment. Clinton was enraged. 'Don't you fucking tell me about my political problems, or my personal problems,' Clinton said, according to Clarke. 'You tell me about national security. Is it the right thing to do?' Clarke thought it was. 'Then fucking do it,' Clinton told him."
So, basically he gets an award for not being George Bush?
Obama has been noticeably quiet about the mess he inherited. From what I can see he's doing his damnest to raise the level of discourse, no small feat given the politics of his opponents. No, he's not George Bush, notice also he's not Bill Clinton, nor Ronald Reagan or Jimmy Carter.
From the secretary of the peace prize committee: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ibu-kfROlV... _ Myth: The prize is awarded to recognize efforts for peace, human rights and democracy only after they have proven successful. More often, the prize is awarded to encourage those who receive it to see the effort through, sometimes at critical moments. Posted by AP 6 hours ago. Clearly they knew this would…
Also: _ Myth: Candidates can be nominated until the last minute. The nomination deadline is eight months before the announcement, with a strictly enforced deadline of Feb. 1. Wow! So Obama was president for only 11 days before he was nominated.
too bad he hasn't lived up to the promise.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You have to remember, it's a big deal for the leader of a Superpower. Dude, Bush invaded two countries for no particular good reason. Clinton jumped into the middle of a backwards country's tribal civil war to draw attention away from his personal life. Obama can't close a fucking prison? Seriously.
About Clinton. That's what I thought at the time, too. But it turns out to be absolutely false. http://dir.salon.com/story/opinion/conason/2003/07/30/terror... > "CIA officials went to the White House and said they had 'specific, predictive, actionable' intelligence that bin Laden would soon be attending a particular meeting, in a particular place. 'It was a rare occurrence,' Clarke said. Clinton authorized a lethal…
From the secretary of the peace prize committee: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ibu-kfROlV... _ Myth: The prize is awarded to recognize efforts for peace, human rights and democracy only after they have proven successful. More often, the prize is awarded to encourage those who receive it to see the effort through, sometimes at critical moments. Posted by AP 6 hours ago. Clearly they knew this would…
Also: _ Myth: Candidates can be nominated until the last minute. The nomination deadline is eight months before the announcement, with a strictly enforced deadline of Feb. 1. Wow! So Obama was president for only 11 days before he was nominated.