It's not the Nobel "Pacifism" Prize

Some have criticized the awarding of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to a commander in chief of a nation that has just announced an escalation of one of the two wars in which his nation is involved.

President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for renewing America's commitment to diplomacy, the rule of law, and a decreased emphasis on the use of military force, not for pacifism

Few Nobel Peace Prize winners have been  pacifists. Many were military commanders or political leaders of nations at war.

President Theodore Roosevelt's 1906 prize was for his diplomatic work in ending the Russian-Japanese War. President Roosevelt had built his career on his record as a war hero in what was an unjust war of aggression and conquest, the Spanish-American War, and believed in the aggressive use of military force.

President Wilson's 1919 prize was for his diplomatic efforts after World War I to prevent future wars. As commander in chief he just presided over the American military's decisive contribution to the defeat of Germany and its allies.

General George C. Marshall's, the American Army's chief of staff in World War II and a major architect of the Allied victory, won the Peace Prize in 1953 for his post war reconstruction work in Europe.

The 1973 prize Henry Kissinger shared with his then North Vietnamese counterpart for negotiating the end to the war in Vietnam may have been to most disturbing and least deserving of any. Along with what has generally been judged to be the unjust use of excessive force in Vietnam, Henry Kissinger's policies set off the chain of events that directly contributed to the Khmer Rouge's massacre of millions of their fellow Cambodians.

Rather than an acknowledgment of anyone's accomplishments, the 1973 prize was perhaps more a collective sigh of relief that the Vietnam War appeared to be reaching a conclusion.

Both of the 1978 winners for their diplomatic work, Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime minister Menachem Begin had dubious histories of terrorism. During World War II, Anwar Sadat was imprisoned by the British for his efforts to work with Nazis against the British in Egypt. Menachem Begin was part of an organization that committed terrorist attacks against both the British and Arabs in Palestine before Israeli independence.

The 1989 winner, the Dalai Lama, does not claim to be a pacifist and supports the just use of force, perhaps because he sees that as among the options to achieve his goals for Tibet. From the late 1950s until the mid 1970s, the Dalai Lama was publicly silent about the CIA supported guerilla war the Tibetans waged against the Chinese. When as part of the process of normalizing relations with China, the CIA withdrew support for the Tibetan guerrillas, the Dalai Lama called on the Tibetans to cease the war, implying that he long had some authority over the fighters.

The 1993 Prize was shared by leaders who after a prolonged period of waging war against each other, agreed to peace, South African President F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela.

Ironically in some ways the accomplishments of these South African practitioners of armed force may have been greater that those of the iconic pacifist of the 20th century, Mohandas Gandhi. After independence, India descended into a maelstrom of  Hindu versus Muslim violence with up to one millions deaths. British Indian broke into two then three nations that have repeatedly warred with each, two of which have armed themselves with nuclear weapons.

In contrast, South Africa achieved a much less violent end to Apartheid without civil or racial war or a break up of the nation. South Africa also dismantled its incipient nuclear weapons program.

The 1994 prize was awarded to three leaders who had long waged both conventional and terrorist wars with each other, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli leaders Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin

The 2002 prize was awarded to Navy veteran and former President Jimmy Carter for his post presidency diplomatic and humanitarian work

Vietnam War Army veteran and former Vice President Al Gore shared the 2007 for his environmental work.

For more information:

Diplomacy That Will Live in Infamy by James Bradley, New York Times, December 6, 2009. The author writes that rather than acting as a neutral mediator of the Russian-Japanese War, President Roosevelt was a supporter of Japan and sought an end to the war on terms favorable to Japanese dominance in Asia.

All Nobel Laureates

Afghanistan and the lessons of history

The history of Vietnam is not the only source of historical insight into Afghanistan.

Because of the threats from violent racist ideologues , Republican President Eisenhower used Federal troops and U.S. Marshalls to protect African-American children as they attended integrated schools to obtain a quality education.

In Afghanistan, violent religious extremists who oppose the education of women have thrown acid into the faces of little girls attending school.

One of President Obama's goals is provide support and training for Afghan police and soldiers so they will protect Afghan girls attending schools.

The violent racist ideology that threatened American children is still active but is marginalized, isolated, and mostly ineffective. In a similar way, another goal is to help create conditions in which Afghan society can isolate and marginalize those who opposed the education of women.

Why Tiger Woods is a public issue

What is publicly known continues to suggest that domestic violence may be involved. Years of consciousness raising has made domestic abuse a community issue. That doesn't change because celebrities are involved or a male may have been the victim.

Endorsements are a major source of Tiger's fortune. Where does that money come from? Do products such as Gillette razors include a Tiger "endorsement surcharge"? Many buy such products because of  long years of use and not because of Tiger's relatively recent endorsement.

Is another source the continued underpayment of the workers who manufacture the products Tiger endorses, such as Nike? Instead of paying workers fairly, is Nike paying a fortune to Tiger?

When Tiger sold an entire image package of not only the greatest golfer but nice guy and family man, Tiger sold his privacy.

For more information

Danish Comsumer Council's report on working conditions at a Nike factory in Vietnam

Disturbing White House security breach

The New York Times reported  uninvited guests got past security into the state dinner with the Prime Minister of India..

Coming two days after the 46th anniversary of the Secret Service's failures which contributed to the death of President Kennedy, this is seriously disturbing.

No matter what the cause, security breaches like this cannot be allowed with the threat level against President Obama.

46th anniversary of the assasination of President Kennedy

Today on the 46th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy, I'm reading Brothers in arms:The Kennedys, the Castros, and the Politics of Murder, by Gus Russo and Stephen Molton.

The authors researched recently released archival material. The cover up which has fueled conspiracy theories was not of who killed President Kennedy but the extensive U.S. war against Cuba. Oswald acted alone but was motivated by a desire to retaliate for the attempts to assassinate Fidel. The authors found evidence that Cuban intelligence had been in contact with Oswald and may have known of his plan.

Are among the reasons that relations with Cuba are not normalized the lingering bitterness towards the Castro because of the Cuban intelligence service's relationship with Oswald?

On a related note, I hope the Secret Service learned from their incredible failures on that day to improve security for our president today.

What lesson can conservatives learn from the resignation of Van Jones?

Some Republicans and conservatives are celebrating the resignation of Van Jones. They misunderstand the significance of what just happened.


By marginalizing a 9/11 truther, mainstream Democrats took a step towards restoring civility and rationality to our national discourse. In her column today, progressive African-American Atlanta Journal Constitution writer Cynthia Tucker agrees.


Responsible conservatives and Republicans now need to do the same to the conspiracy theorists and other extremists in their own camp: the birthers, deathers, tenthers, and those who openly carry firearms at political rallies or make other suggestions of violence. 


Two recent actions provide tiny rays of hope.


Mainstream Idaho Republicans quickly condemned fringe Republican gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell for joking about buying a license to hunt President Obama.


In an act of courage and integrity, former educator and former First Lady Laura Bush condemned  the attacks on President Obama’s back to school pep talk and decried the increasing polarization of the nation.


What is unfortunate is that neither her husband or father-in-law, the two living former Republican presidents, joined her.

What are Birthers, Deathers, and Tenthers?

In my previous post, I referred to birthers, deathers, and tenthers. Someone asked for definitions.


Birther: Someone who despite all the overwhelming evidence, questions if President Obama was born in U.S. and therefore questions if he meets the Constitutional requirements to be president. The anger and persistence of some implies a racist agenda, questioning how an African-American could have been elected.


Deather: Someone who claims that President Obama's health care reforms include hastening the death of the elderly and people with disabilities through rationing or denial of health care or euthanasia. This is conscious misinformation by opponents of not only reform but of almost everything President Obama does, which again suggests some racist motivations.


Among the proposed reforms is a guarantee of Medicare reimbursement to a physician for regular end of life discussions with their patients. The discussions would be voluntary and would include options such as hospice and palliative care, and the preparation of advanced directives.


President Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel’s brother, Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, has written articles discussing questions such as the appropriateness of aggressive chemotherapy for a very elderly person with terminal cancer. This has been distorted to imply he is advocating withholding care or euthanizing the elderly.


Among the “Deathers” is former Alaska governor Sarah Palin who while governor actively encouraged Alaskans to prepare advance directives.


Tenthers: Someone who claims the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits the Federal government from doing anything regarding health care.


The Tenth Amendment states:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The tenthers ignore that a significant portion of health care is already provided by the Federal government through Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans Administration, care for active duty military personnel and their dependents, and the provision of private insurance for Federal employees.


The Tenth Amendment has been inappropriately cited over the year to oppose such Federal actions as enforcement of civil rights which adds to the suspicion of racist motivations.


The tenthers ignore years of Supreme Court decisions that have settled this issue.