There is a proverb in English. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. I was reminded of the proverb when watching on BBC television President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize In the august hall in Oslo, Norway on December 10. 2009.
The decision of the Noble Prize Committee to award President Obama the honour came apparently as a surprise to him, to much of the rest of the world, especially the Arab nations. After the speech, I wondered whether President Obama received the Nobel Prize for Peace or the Nobel Prize for Presentation Skills. From a Dharma standpoint, I found the Nobel Prize Committee in Oslo had engaged in an extraordinary degree of collective projection upon the President, a man clearly shackled to American history, American politics and an American view of the world. Never was so much expected of a man who can offer so little.
I watched the acceptance speech of the President at home, and found myself at time shaking my head from side to side. Here are extractions from the speech.
In his speech, President Obama began with a genuine humility
“Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Distinguished Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of America, and citizens of the world:
“I receive this honour with deep gratitude and great humility… It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations — that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice.
“I cannot argue with those who find these men and women — some known, some obscure to all but those they help — to be far more deserving of this honour than I.”
The President then went to remind us all that he is the “Commander-in-Chief of a nation in the midst of two wars. He went on: “The concept of a “just war” emerged, suggesting that war is justified only when it meets certain preconditions: if it is waged as a last resort or in self-defence; if the forced used is proportional; and if, whenever possible, civilians are spared from violence.
“America led the world in constructing architecture to keep the peace: a Marshall Plan and a United Nations, mechanisms to govern the waging of war, treaties to protect human rights, prevent genocide and restrict the most dangerous weapons. In many ways, these efforts succeeded.”
I shook my head. Opinion Business Research, a UK based corporate and market research company, conducted a major poll in Iraq in 2007. The company found evidence to show what surely amounts to genocide in Iraq since the American led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Data suggested 1,220,580 deaths since the 2003 invasion. Calculating the affect from the margin of error, OPR believe that the range is a minimum of 733,158 to a maximum of 1,446,063. These figures are greater than the Rwanda genocide in Africa in 1994. In December 2007, the Iraq government estimated from their research that there were more than 5,000,000 orphans in Iraq – half of the country’s children.
In his speech, the President then said: “We are the heirs of the fortitude and foresight of generations past, and it is a legacy for which my own country is rightfully proud.”
He then went onto applaud globalisation. “Commerce has stitched much of the world together. Billions have been lifted from poverty. The ideals of liberty, self-determination, equality and the rule of law have haltingly advanced.
Another shake of my head. Half the world lives on less than $2.50 per day. The poorest 40% of the world’s population live on 5% of the world’s income. More than 25% of all children in developing nations are undernourished or stunted. Close to half of all people in developing countries suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits. Africa has suffered terrible famines in recent decades while the West continues to arm these countries and exploit their natural resources.
The President went on: “Terrorism has long been a tactic, but modern technology allows a few small men with outsized rage to murder innocents on a horrific scale.”
Yes, sir, that is true. Please note you have recently ordered 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan to step up the offensive on the citizens of Afghanistan who resist the occupation. No Afghani citizens were involved in 9/11.Figures available for the numbers of death, maimed and wounded of Afghani men, women and children due to air bombings, ground attacks and use of drones on towns and villages in Afghanistan runs into thousands of deaths and many left to die from being maimed, wounded and without food water and medication. The number of deaths of US soldiers doubled from the previous year, and increased for other citizens from overseas as Afghani resistance to the occuaption grows.
“I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world,” said the President.
The American President seems to be telling us that the deaths and maimings of millions of others, genocide, wars and famine are irrelevant as long as the American way of life continues. It is hard to imagine how the American war on the people of Afghanistan and in Iraq is protecting and defending America. Is the President saying that the US army and its allies have pinned down Al Qaeda, and all the hundreds of terror organisations around the world that we hear about, to such a degree that they cannot spare one or two men, bent on suicide, to engage in some obscene acts of terror in the West?
Yes, Mr. President, evil does exist in the world. Look at your history, past and present.
Three days after taking office on January 20 2009, President Obama authorised the continued use of drones, launched from unmanned CIA aircraft controlled from operation rooms inside the US, to bomb homes, villages and towns in northern Pakistan where they suspect terrorists hide. The drone attacks take place roughly every week with some 50 attacks so far this year. Pakistan is a sovereign country. It is against all international law, and a violation of human rights, to make war on civilians of a sovereign country.
President Obama went on: “I do not bring with me today a definitive solution to the problems of war. What I do know is that meeting these challenges will require the same vision, hard work and persistence of those men and women who acted so boldly decades ago. And it will require us to think in new ways about the notions of just war and the imperatives of a just peace.
Mr President. Please start thinking about a just peace for the Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and other nations. Drones, bombs and guided missiles are acts of terror upon the poor. The survivors will never submit.
The President studied law but sadly has not studied the history of the 20th century. He sounded more and more defensive as he went on in his speech to persuade his audience of European royalty, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of America, and citizens of the world that America is the “standard bearer” in the conduct of war. Has the President already forgotten that USA dropped two nuclear bombs on two Japanese cities? Does he not know about the deaths of 1,100,000 people in the war in Korea? Does he not know about the deaths of more than 3.5 million civilians, including 58,000 US soldiers, in the American war on the people of Vietnam? Does he not know about the 4,000,000 deaths out of a population of 7,000,000 died in Cambodia between 1970 and 1980 due to saturation American bombing, famine and the Cambodian holocaust.
He added: “The United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms. We have borne this burden not because we seek to impose our will. We believe that their lives will be better if other people’s children and grandchildren can live in freedom and prosperity.
“I believe that the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war. That is what makes us different from those whom we fight. That is a source of our strength.”
After watching the acceptance speech of President Barack Obama for the Nobel Peace Prize, I switched the television off and went for a walk for a breath of fresh air. I had listened to a worrying level of self-delusion and depressing degree of i-d-entity of President Obama with America.