SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
War and Peace Prizes
Oct 10, 2009
I was dismayed when I heard Barack Obama was given the Nobel peace prize. A shock, really, to think that a president carrying on two wars would be given a peace prize.
Until I recalled that Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Henry
Kissinger had all received Nobel peace prizes. The Nobel committee is
famous for its superficial estimates, won over by rhetoric and by empty gestures, and ignoring blatant violations of world peace.
Yes,
Wilson gets credit for the League of Nations - that ineffectual body
which did nothing to prevent war. But he had bombarded the Mexican
coast, sent troops to occupy Haiti and the Dominican Republic and
brought the US into the slaughterhouse of Europe in the first World
War, surely among stupid and deadly wars at the top of the list.
Sure,
Theodore Roosevelt brokered a peace between Japan and Russia. But he
was a lover of war, who participated in the US conquest of Cuba,
pretending to liberate it from Spain while fastening US chains on that
tiny island. And as president he presided over the bloody war to
subjugate the Filipinos, even congratulating a US general who had just
massacred 600 helpless villagers in the Phillipines. The Committee did
not give the Nobel prize to Mark Twain, who denounced Roosevelt and
criticised the war, nor to William James, leader of the
anti-imperialist league.
Oh yes, the committee saw fit to give a
peace prize to Henry Kissinger, because he signed the final peace
agreement ending the war in Vietnam, of which he had been one of the
architects. Kissinger, who obsequiously went along with Nixon's
expansion of the war, with the bombing of peasant villages in Vietnam,
Laos and Cambodia. Kissinger, who matches the definition of a war
criminal very accurately, is given a peace prize!
People should
be given a peace prize not on the basis of promises they have made - as
with Obama, an eloquent maker of promises - but on the basis of actual
accomplishments towards ending war, and Obama has continued deadly,
inhuman military action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The
Nobel peace committee should retire, and turn over its huge funds to
some international peace organization which is not awed by stardom and
rhetoric, and which has some understanding of history.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 The Guardian
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922 - January 27, 2010) was a historian, playwright, and activist. Howard authored many books, including "A People's History of the United States," "Voices of a People's History" (with Anthony Arnove), "A Power Governments Cannot Suppress," and "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History."
I was dismayed when I heard Barack Obama was given the Nobel peace prize. A shock, really, to think that a president carrying on two wars would be given a peace prize.
Until I recalled that Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Henry
Kissinger had all received Nobel peace prizes. The Nobel committee is
famous for its superficial estimates, won over by rhetoric and by empty gestures, and ignoring blatant violations of world peace.
Yes,
Wilson gets credit for the League of Nations - that ineffectual body
which did nothing to prevent war. But he had bombarded the Mexican
coast, sent troops to occupy Haiti and the Dominican Republic and
brought the US into the slaughterhouse of Europe in the first World
War, surely among stupid and deadly wars at the top of the list.
Sure,
Theodore Roosevelt brokered a peace between Japan and Russia. But he
was a lover of war, who participated in the US conquest of Cuba,
pretending to liberate it from Spain while fastening US chains on that
tiny island. And as president he presided over the bloody war to
subjugate the Filipinos, even congratulating a US general who had just
massacred 600 helpless villagers in the Phillipines. The Committee did
not give the Nobel prize to Mark Twain, who denounced Roosevelt and
criticised the war, nor to William James, leader of the
anti-imperialist league.
Oh yes, the committee saw fit to give a
peace prize to Henry Kissinger, because he signed the final peace
agreement ending the war in Vietnam, of which he had been one of the
architects. Kissinger, who obsequiously went along with Nixon's
expansion of the war, with the bombing of peasant villages in Vietnam,
Laos and Cambodia. Kissinger, who matches the definition of a war
criminal very accurately, is given a peace prize!
People should
be given a peace prize not on the basis of promises they have made - as
with Obama, an eloquent maker of promises - but on the basis of actual
accomplishments towards ending war, and Obama has continued deadly,
inhuman military action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The
Nobel peace committee should retire, and turn over its huge funds to
some international peace organization which is not awed by stardom and
rhetoric, and which has some understanding of history.
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922 - January 27, 2010) was a historian, playwright, and activist. Howard authored many books, including "A People's History of the United States," "Voices of a People's History" (with Anthony Arnove), "A Power Governments Cannot Suppress," and "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History."
I was dismayed when I heard Barack Obama was given the Nobel peace prize. A shock, really, to think that a president carrying on two wars would be given a peace prize.
Until I recalled that Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Henry
Kissinger had all received Nobel peace prizes. The Nobel committee is
famous for its superficial estimates, won over by rhetoric and by empty gestures, and ignoring blatant violations of world peace.
Yes,
Wilson gets credit for the League of Nations - that ineffectual body
which did nothing to prevent war. But he had bombarded the Mexican
coast, sent troops to occupy Haiti and the Dominican Republic and
brought the US into the slaughterhouse of Europe in the first World
War, surely among stupid and deadly wars at the top of the list.
Sure,
Theodore Roosevelt brokered a peace between Japan and Russia. But he
was a lover of war, who participated in the US conquest of Cuba,
pretending to liberate it from Spain while fastening US chains on that
tiny island. And as president he presided over the bloody war to
subjugate the Filipinos, even congratulating a US general who had just
massacred 600 helpless villagers in the Phillipines. The Committee did
not give the Nobel prize to Mark Twain, who denounced Roosevelt and
criticised the war, nor to William James, leader of the
anti-imperialist league.
Oh yes, the committee saw fit to give a
peace prize to Henry Kissinger, because he signed the final peace
agreement ending the war in Vietnam, of which he had been one of the
architects. Kissinger, who obsequiously went along with Nixon's
expansion of the war, with the bombing of peasant villages in Vietnam,
Laos and Cambodia. Kissinger, who matches the definition of a war
criminal very accurately, is given a peace prize!
People should
be given a peace prize not on the basis of promises they have made - as
with Obama, an eloquent maker of promises - but on the basis of actual
accomplishments towards ending war, and Obama has continued deadly,
inhuman military action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The
Nobel peace committee should retire, and turn over its huge funds to
some international peace organization which is not awed by stardom and
rhetoric, and which has some understanding of history.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.