I believe that Obama deserves to win the Nobel Peace Prize… about three years from now. Because honestly, he hasn’t done anything yet! I hope that Obama will rise to become the world’s foremost harbinger of peace someday. This is one of my deepest wishes. But he did not deserve to win the Prize this year. He hasn’t earned it, while plenty of other people have.
Why didn’t Morgan Tsvangirai win? He has striven for peace in Zimbabwe for years, trying to overthrow despotic president Mugabe and end civil rights abuses in his nation with a message of nonviolence. Tsvangirai has faced imprisonment, torture, and multiple assassination attempts because of his message of peaceful overthrow of the current tyrannical government. What about Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest who has been peacefully opposing and protesting the despotic Communist Vietnamese government and its abuses against human rights and civil liberties. He has faced almost 15 years in prison for his peaceful, pro-democratic beliefs and actions. Wei Jingsheng, another possible recipient, is a Chinese dissenter whose outcries against Communism, the Chinese prison system and Tibet’s freedom earned him over fifteen years in prison and eventually deportation. Or even Helmut Kohl, the ex-Chancellor of Germany who was one of the main architects of the German reunification and one of the founders of the European Union. These men have earned the Nobel peace prize. They have sacrificed immensely to bring about peace and civil liberty in their home countries. What has Obama done to put him above these embodiments of peace?
However, I do admire how Obama handled the award. He did not claim he deserved it. He even admitted that he hasn’t done anything to deserve it yet. "I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee," Obama said. "I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century." This is a very noble outlook on his winning of one of the most prestigious awards in the world, and I hope he is truly called to action and that he goes on to truly deserve the great honor awarded to him so prematurely.
