{"id":14720,"date":"2012-10-13T20:21:38","date_gmt":"2012-10-13T20:21:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/usa\/?p=337"},"modified":"2012-10-13T20:21:38","modified_gmt":"2012-10-13T20:21:38","slug":"nobel-hypocrisy-wins-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/nobel-hypocrisy-wins-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Nobel Hypocrisy Wins Again"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/usa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/TOM_Libya-European-Union.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-341\" title=\"TOM_Libya-European-Union\" src=\"http:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/usa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/TOM_Libya-European-Union.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"490\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a>Call it a rite of fall. Nobel hypocrisy shows up annually. It came again this year. The only surprise was which disreputable honoree would win.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>A surprise of sorts indeed. War criminals often become Peace Prize winners. This year a political\/economic union won. Perhaps honoring Wall Street and neoliberal\/war mongering organizations awaits. Or maybe Republicans and Democrats for causing so much harm globally.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Expect anything from Nobel Committee members. They represent wealth, power, privilege, imperial lawlessness, and war, not peace. Perhaps they believe war is peace. They\u2019ll have to explain why scoundrels regularly win their highest award.<\/p>\n<p>Their <a href=\"http:\/\/nobelpeaceprize.org\/en_GB\/laureates\/laureates-2012\/announce-2012\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">announcement<\/a> said in part:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2012 is to be awarded to the European Union (EU). The union and its forerunners have for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the inter-war years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee made several awards to persons who were seeking reconciliation between Germany and France.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince 1945, that reconciliation has become a reality. The dreadful suffering in World War II demonstrated the need for a new Europe. Over a seventy-year period, Germany and France had fought three wars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday war between Germany and France is unthinkable. This shows how, through well-aimed efforts and by building up mutual confidence, historical enemies can become close partners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201dThe Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to focus on what it sees as the EU\u2019s most important result: the successful struggle for peace and reconciliation and for democracy and human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe stabilizing part played by the EU has helped to transform most of Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Apparently Nobel Committee members never heard of NATO. Its member states infest the continent. The North Atlantic Alliance functions as an imperial tool.<\/p>\n<p>It was always for offense, not defense. Post-WW II, Western states had no enemies. East\/West war never threatened. Hitler ravaged Soviet Russia. It didn\u2019t regain normalcy until long after Stalin.<\/p>\n<p>NATO was formed as an alliance for war, not peace. Cold War hyperbole incited fear. An arms race followed. So did permanent wars with or without NATO. From Truman to Obama they raged. They still do. NATO\u2019s dirty hands operate in multiple theaters.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a killing machine. America runs it. Leading EU member states include Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In total, 21 EU nations are NATO members.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re allied for war, not peace. They\u2019re a dagger pointed at humanity\u2019s heart. NATO has global ambitions. It includes ravaging countries everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe Nobel Committee members don\u2019t pay attention to what\u2019s ongoing. Perhaps turning a blind eye colors their thinking.<\/p>\n<p>Their tradition is long and inglorious. Consider past war criminal winners. Henry Kissinger may qualify as the worst of the lot. His resume includes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>three to four million Southeast Asian Vietnam War deaths;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>the bloody overthrow of Chile\u2019s Salvador Allende; Augusto Pinochet\u2019s reign of terror;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>support for some of the worst global despots;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Indonesia\u2019s Surharto was one; Kissinger backed his bloody West Papua takeover; he also encouraged his East Timor genocide;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>support for Cambodia\u2019s Khmer Rouge, its rise to power and reign of terror;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>backing of Pakistan\u2019s overthrow of Bangladesh\u2019s democratically elected government; a half million deaths followed;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>his 1974 National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM 200) advocated genocide; he called it forced world population control; he wanted worthless eaters removed; he recommended eliminating 500 million people by 2000 and millions more annually; and<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>numerous other global crimes against humanity were committed during his tenure as Nixon and Ford\u2019s National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. He served as administration Svengali.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In 2001, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the world body won. It was \u201cfor their work for a better organized and more peaceful world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Throughout his tenure, Annan violated the UN Charter\u2019s mandate. It\u2019s to \u201csave succeeding generations from the scourge of war\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead, he supported imperial lawlessness. He spurned peace. He never condemned or tried to end devastating Iraq sanctions. They killed around 1.5 innocent men, women and children. He stood by, watched, and did nothing.<\/p>\n<p>He never denounced America\u2019s lawless 2003 war. He was silent while Washington-led NATO ravaged Afghanistan. He supported the worst of Israeli crimes.<\/p>\n<p>He said nothing about America\u2019s failed attempts to oust Hugo Chavez or success removing Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Like NATO, he\u2019s an imperial tool. He resurfaced in Syria.<\/p>\n<p>His so-called peace plan was cover for regime change. He\u2019s complicit in war crimes. He\u2019s a world class scoundrel. His record is testimony to failure, betrayal, and criminality.<\/p>\n<p>His sole achievement was spurning peace for war.<\/p>\n<p>Three former Israeli prime ministers also got Nobel Peace Prizes. In 1978, Menachem Begin won. In 1994, so did Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.<\/p>\n<p>All three are war criminals. They and other Israeli leaders reigned terror on Palestinian civilians for decades. Netanyahu continues their deplorable viciousness. He\u2019s Israel\u2019s worst ever leader. He\u2019s a world class thug. Expect Nobel Committee members one day to honor him. It wouldn\u2019t surprise.<\/p>\n<p>In 2007, Al Gore won. He put politics over principle. He was pro-business, anti-union, pro-war, anti-peace, and no friend of the earth.<\/p>\n<p>His \u201cEarth in the Balance\u201d book was more theater than advocacy. His so-called \u201cgreen\u201d credentials were used to further his pro-corporate\/anti-populist\/imperial agenda.<\/p>\n<p>Numerous others like him comprise the Nobel Committee\u2019s hall of shame. Four US presidents stand out. In 1906, Theodore Roosevelt won. He once said he\u2019d \u201cwelcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He was honored for sponsoring the Spanish\/American war and Philippines genocide. In May 1902, Senator George Hoar denounced him on the Senate floor, saying:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have sacrificed nearly ten thousand American lives \u2013 the flower of our youth. You have devastated provinces. You have slain uncounted thousands of the people you desire to benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201dYou have established re-concentration camps. Your generals are coming home from their harvest bringing sheaves with them, in the shape of other thousands of sick and wounded and insane to drag out miserable lives, wrecked in body and mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou make the American flag in the eyes of a numerous people the emblem of sacrilege in Christian churches, and of the burning of human dwellings, and of the horror of the water torture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Having done that and more, perhaps he deserved two Nobels. He wanted Pax Americana enforced through the barrel of a gun.<\/p>\n<p>In 1919, Woodrow Wilson was honored. He broke his campaign pledge to keep \u201cus out of war.\u201d He wanted involvement in WW I. In April 1917, he established the Committee on Public Information (CPI or Creel Committee).<\/p>\n<p>Its mission was enlisting public support for war and undermining opposition sentiment. It worked as planned. It turned pacifist Americans into raging German haters. The rest is history.<\/p>\n<p>Wilson\u2019s resume also includes the 1913 Federal Reserve Act. For nearly a century, it let bankers wage financial war on humanity.<\/p>\n<p>In 2002, Jimmy Carter won. He got Argentine death squad leaders involved in training Nicaraguan contras. He supported Salvadoran fascists. He helped Khmer Rouge killers. He backed despots like South Korea\u2019s Chun Doo Hwan.<\/p>\n<p>He armed Suharto after his East Timor genocide. He began covert operations in Afghanistan. He enlisted mujahedeen fighters against Soviet Russia. He supported neoliberal harshness. In 2002, he won the award he wanted for years.<\/p>\n<p>In 2009, Obama became the fourth US presidential recipient. He\u2019s the worst of the lot by far. Nobel Committee members said it was for his \u201cextraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObama\u2019s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He \u201ccreated a new climate in international politics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He supports efforts to strengthen \u201cdemocracy and human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world\u2019s attention and given its people hope for a better future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He was less than nine months in office. He was learning his trade. His crimes of war, against humanity, and genocide were just beginning. His war cabinet assured it. One observer called it a \u201ckettle of hawks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neocons said McCain couldn\u2019t have chosen better. He\u2019ll continue where Bush left off. He did that and more. He\u2019s still at it. Maybe he\u2019ll become a double honoree.<\/p>\n<p>Nobel Committee members reward warriors. They deplore peace. Their awards show what they value most. It reflects Alfred Nobel\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n<p>He got rich inventing dynamite and manufacturing weapons. He was a 19th century war profiteer. Late in life he reinvented himself. He established awards bearing his name.<\/p>\n<p>One was for peace he deplored. His business depended on war. There was plenty around then. There\u2019s more than ever now. Nobel\u2019s legacy legitimizes wars and leaders who wage them.<\/p>\n<p>Honoring EU nations shouldn\u2019t surprise. They\u2019re waging hot wars and financial ones on humanity. Committee members recognized their achievement. Perhaps they\u2019ll be encouraged to do more.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong> Stephen Lendman<\/strong> lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> His new book is titled \u201cHow Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/Lendman.html\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/Lendman.html<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.progressiveradionetwork.com\/the-progressive-news-hour\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.progressiveradionetwork.com\/the-progressive-news-hour<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>source<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Call it a rite of fall. Nobel hypocrisy shows up annually. It came again this year. The only surprise was which disreputable honoree would win. A surprise of sorts indeed. War criminals often become Peace Prize winners. This year a political\/economic union won. Perhaps honoring Wall Street and neoliberal\/war mongering organizations awaits. Or maybe Republicans [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14720","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-analysis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}