US President Obama wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

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timesofearth
October 09, 2009

http://timesofearth.com/Wor... OSLO U.S. President Barack Obama wins the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen global diplomacy, in a stunning choice that comes less...

http://timesofearth.com/Worldnews/?NT... OSLO U.S. President Barack Obama wins the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen global diplomacy, in a stunning choice that comes less than nine months into Obamas presidency.

The announcement was made on Friday in Oslo, the Norwegian capital, recognising Obama's attempts to foster international peace and create a world without nuclear weapons.
A White House official said the US president felt "humbled" by the award.

The Nobel Committee said that Obama had made "extraordinary efforts in international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".

Obama, 48, wins the award while still being the commander-in-chief of US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," Thorbjoern Jagland, the head of the Nobel committee, said.

"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population.

"Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics.

"Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play."

The prize is worth $1.4m, which will be handed over on December 10.

The only US presidents to have won the award while in office were Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

Kristian Berg Harpviken, from the International Peace Research Institute, told Al Jazeera: "I was very surprised ... On the other hand what I did expect this year was a daring prize.

"I mean by daring is a prize that went to somebody who is not only rewarded for past achievements but who actually stands in the midst of a historical engagement.

"In other words, I was expecting the committee to want to use the political weight of the prize to make a difference in the world. To award it to somebody who could take that political capital and run with it."

Harpviken said that Obama is yet to achieve any of his major objectives on the global stage but added "what Obama has done is to give a breath of fresh air to international diplomacy and to multilateral collaboration."

"He has done that but he has yet to prove that he can deliver. And on many of the concrete issues where he has made tall commitments and has high ambitions it is clear that the wind is not blowing his way and that it is going to be very difficult."

Governments and world players began reacting to the announcement of the award on Friday.

The Taliban condemned the decision saying that Obama has "not taken a single step towards peace in Afghanistan".
However, Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, congratulated Obama, calling the announcement "appropriate".

An aide to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, said the award should prompt Obama to begin to end injustice in the world.

"We hope that this gives him the incentive to walk in the path of bringing justice to the world order," Ali Akbar Javanfekr, Ahmadinejad's media aide, said.

"We are not upset and we hope that by receiving this prize he will start taking practical steps to remove injustice in the world."

Mohamed ElBaradei, the International Atomic Agency nuclear watchdog chief, said that he was "absolutely delighted" that Obama had won.

"In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself," he said in a statement.

"I cannot think of anyone today more deserving of this honour."

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Copyright 2009 THE TIMES OF EARTH (TOE). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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US President Barack Obama is surprise winner of Nobel Peace Prize

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JimmyFormerMarine (1 week ago) Show Hide

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Obama is a disgrace. Impeach him before he does further damage to our nation.

ArmyTank00 (1 month ago) Show Hide

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Obama is the worst president in the world. It still baffles me that people vote for somebody they hardly know anything about.

Obama is way far left, he is a downright communist. He is anti-american, and not for the benefitting america, but for GETTING benefits from america, like power and wealth

freedomthinker7 (2 months ago) Show Hide

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This is a great embarrassment for Obama. This ACORN child abusing president wins the communist Nobel, which marks the end of this presidency. Obama has got to go. The Olympic committee had it right when the world bitch slapped him dead last. Obama is officially an international embarrassment. Hitler was nominated for the Nobel in 1939 and Stalin was nominated in1945 and 1948. Obama is with the likes of those mass murders along with his brutal dictator friends Chavez, Castro, and Qaddafi.

Isheeen (2 months ago) Show Hide

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I don't know what he has done. A very Big joke.!!!!

ReservationAtDorsia9 (2 months ago) Show Hide

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i always thought this award meant something.

eksdem (2 months ago) Show Hide

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Maybe Obama got the prize for ensuring that Karzai would not be neatly re-elected.

Conditions in Afghanistan worsened because Obama refused to send troops.

Dissatisfied Afghan voters voted for CHANGE.

andyandymax (2 months ago) Show Hide

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I agree, we should support our president. However, according to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize should be awarded to the person who: during the preceding year ...." The rules also state that nominations must usually be submitted to the Committee by February 1 of the year in question. So in other words, about ten days after Obama was elected, he was already being considered for this award, for having accomplished these goals THE YEAR BEFORE HE WAS ELECTED!

Darkrift777 (2 months ago) Show Hide

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The guy in the background keeps on cracking up. He knows the Peace Prize is a joke.

mia0899cs (2 months ago) Show Hide

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lol! I keep seeing that.

okieoneshinobi (2 months ago) Show Hide

-6

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US President Obama wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

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