President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today -- and even though the Nobel Prize hasn't shied away from getting political over the years, let's leave politics out of this. Here in Washington, and across the rest of the country, even Obama's supporters are shocked. After all, Nobel voting ended on Feb. 1 and Obama became leader of the free world on Jan. 20. Not only is this not exactly time to prove your peace-making mettle, but the former Illinois senator didn't come into office with a strength in foreign policy to begin with. While the prize is supposed to reward future intentions of the president, political observers note that the prize could also be pressure upon Obama as he weighs whether to send 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan, as requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
Past winners of the Nobel Peace Prize have included the obviously inspiring -- Martin Luther King Jr., Andrei Sakharov, Mother Teresa, Lech Wałęsa, Elie Wiesel, the Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela -- and the hotly controversial, including Yasser Arafat. The ranks of the overlooked -- never awarded the prize despite their tireless work for humankind -- have included Mahatma Gandhi, Vaclav Havel and the monks of Burma who led brave peaceful protests -- with a bloody end -- in 2007.
And this year?
I would argue -- and there are those who agree with me -- that Zimbabwe's Morgan Tsvangirai should have won the Nobel prize. Yes, the power-sharing agreement he forged with tyrant Robert Mugabe has been an uncomfortable sleeping with the enemy. But in the country that the world community has forgotten, Tsvangirai has truly suffered -- imprisonments, beatings, assassination attempt -- to bring freedom and democracy to his country, rallying Zimbabweans to assert their God-given rights when facing every imaginable obstacle. Tsvangirai, whose name was floated as a nominee, graciously congratulated Obama, saying he "deserved" it.
Another fantastic choice? Father Nguyen Van Ly, who has been a tireless leader for democracy and free speech in Vietnam despite serving years behind bars for his efforts.
As a president was awarded the prize for what his future accomplishments may be (or what the Nobel committee hopes they may be), let's not forget about those who labor and suffer for human rights and freedom in the farthest corners of the globe without the media spotlight.
More on the Nobel from other About guides:
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Comments
Nobody deserves the peace Nobel this year.Heavens would not fall if they don’t award it now and then for lack of a suitable person.It is better to skip it instead of giving it to those who make speeches(Obama) and those who sing songs (Bono).
There was someone who was nominated that funded hundreds of schools for women in Afghanistan to learn since they can’t normally be educated there. I don’t remember the name, but seems to me that person was nominated for a good reason.