“I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry after hearing this announcement, especially regarding the Russian. The CBC announced (once again) that Navalny was Vladimir Putin’s “main opposition” when in fact he gets around 2 to 4% of the vote; the Communist Party always beating him out by far [20.2+ in Sept. 2021 election]. With Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg NATO’s ceremonial top dog, I suppose calling this the NATO-Nobel Peace Prize is not too much of a stretch….The Nobel Prize: just one more tool in imperialism’s tool kit. Commenter David Otness. October 8, 2021 at 15:33″
[9/20/21, Most of the defeated candidates, are Communists. “Members and supporters of the Russian Communist Party attend a rally to
protest against the preliminary results of the parliamentary election
in Moscow, Russia September 20, 2021. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File
Photo]
10/8/21, “Nobel Committee Gets Peace Prize Wrong Yet Again," David Swanson, Consortium News,
“The Nobel Peace Prize has devolved into a prize for random good things that don’t offend a culture dedicated to endless war, writes David Swanson.”
“The Nobel Committee has yet again awarded a peace prize that violates the will of Alfred Nobel and the purpose for which the prize was created, selecting recipients who blatantly are not “the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.”…
The trouble with the Nobel Peace Prize has long been and remains that it often goes to warmongers, that it often goes to good causes that have little direct connection to abolishing war, and that it often favors the powerful rather than those in need of funding and prestige to support good work….
The Nobel Peace Prize is so devoted to awarding powerful officials and avoiding peace activism that it is often awarded to the wagers of wars, including Abiy Ahmed, Juan Manuel Santos, the European Union, and Barack Obama, among others….
War Makers’ Propaganda
The prize has also been used to advance the propaganda of some of the world’s major war makers. Awards like this year’s have been used to denounce violations of human rights in non-Western nations targeted in the weapons-funding propaganda of Western nations.
[In 2016 alone Nobel Peace laureate Obama dropped three bombs every hour, 24 hours a day. Obama authorized 10 times more drone strikes than George W Bush].
This record allows Western media outlets each year to speculate before the prize announcement on whether it will go to favorite propaganda topics, such as Alexei Navalny. The actual recipients this year are from Russia and the Philippines, Russia being the primary target of U.S. and NATO war preparations,
including the primary excuse for the construction of new military bases in Norway….
Violations of the rights of antiwar journalism can be found around the world. The most extreme case of violating the rights of one of the most impactful antiwar journalists is the case of Julian Assange. But there was never any question of the prize going to someone
targeted by the U.S. and U.K. governments.
At a moment when the world’s largest weapons dealer, most frequent launcher of wars, dominant deployer of troops to foreign bases, greatest enemy of the International Criminal Court and the rule of law in international affairs, and supporter of oppressive governments — the U.S. government — is trumpeting a division between so-called democracies and non-democracies, the Nobel Committee has chosen to throw gas on this fire, declaring:
“Since its start-up in 1993, Novaja Gazeta has published critical articles on subjects ranging from corruption, police violence, unlawful arrests, electoral fraud and ‘troll factories’ to the use of Russian military forces both within and outside Russia. Novaja Gazeta’s opponents have responded with harassment, threats, violence, and murder.”
[In 2020 alone, US foreign interference group NED spent $10,778,481 US tax dollars sowing discord on the ground in Russia, a 70% increase from $6,347,976 it spent there in 2018. Instead of defunding NED,
(continuing): “Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon, and U.S. President Joe Biden will be delighted with this selection — Biden far more in fact than with the awkwardness of being ridiculously given the prize himself (as some suggested and was done with Barack Obama).”…
[10/4/1993, U.S. praised Russian Pres. Yeltsin for using violence to remove his political opponents. Yeltsin dissolved Parliament, sent military and tanks, attacked Russian Parliament to remove political opponents, Page One, NY Times:
Image: Oct. 1993, “Tanks firing at the Russian White House,” gwu archives
10/4/2018, “Yeltsin Shelled Russian Parliament 25 Years Ago [in 1993], U.S. Praised “Superb Handling”," National Security Archives, George Washington University, Edited by Svetlana Savranskaya and Tom Blanton, Washington, DC
NY Times image caption: “Part of a column of 40 armored vehicles speeding early this morning into Moscow,” AP photo]
(continuing): Also given the prize this year was a journalist from the Philippines already funded by CNN and by the U.S. government, in fact by a U.S. government agency often involved in funding military coups. It is worth noting that the Nobel Peace Prize was established to help fund peace activists in need of funding….
That there are numerous candidates who plausibly meet the criteria and could have been appropriately awarded a Nobel Peace Prize is established by the list of nominees published by Nobel Peace Prize Watch, and by the War Abolisher Awards which were given out two days ago to highly qualified persons and organizations selected from dozens of nominees. Three awards were presented. The Lifetime Organizational War Abolisher of 2021: Peace Boat. The David Hartsough Lifetime Individual War Abolisher of 2021: Mel Duncan. The War Abolisher of 2021: Civic Initiative Save Sinjajevina….
This year it has been awarded to another good cause that has little direct connection to abolishing war. Although virtually every topic can be tangentially connected to war and peace, the avoidance of actual peace activism intentionally misses the point of the prize’s creation by Alfred Nobel and the influence of Bertha von Suttner….
At times the prize has gone to opponents of some aspect of war, advancing the idea of reforming even while maintaining the institution of war. These awards have come closest to the purpose for which the prize was created, and include the 2017 and 2018 prizes….
This year it was awarded for journalism, last year for working against hunger. In past years it has been awarded for protecting children’s rights, teaching about climate change, and opposing poverty. These are all good causes and can all be connected to war and peace. But these causes should go find their own prizes….
The Nobel Peace Prize has devolved into a prize for random good things that don’t offend a culture dedicated to endless war.“…
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Added: In 2016 alone Nobel Peace laureate Obama dropped 3 bombs every hour, 24 hours a day. Obama authorized 10 times more drone strikes than George W Bush.
“In 2016 alone, the Obama administration dropped at least 26,171 bombs. This means that every day last year [2016], the US military blasted combatants or civilians overseas with 72 bombs; that’s three bombs every hour, 24 hours a day."
Jan. 19, 2017, “Map shows where President Barack Obama dropped his 20,000 bombs,” UK Independent, Harriet Agerholm
“As the world gears up for a seemingly more violent four years, it is worth reflecting on President Obama’s tenure.
According to newly released figures, President Obama had already upped the number of bombs on foreign countries.
US forces dropped over 3,000 more bombs in 2016 than 2015, taking the grand total of strikes for the year to at least 26,171.
This map by Statista shows you where they were….
The figures are likely to be an underestimate, since the only reliable data only comes from a handful of countries, and multiple bombs can be classed as a single “strike” under the Pentagon’s definition.
But of the confirmed bombings, the vast majority (24,287) took place in Iraq and Syria, according to analysis of official data by Micah Zenko, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.”…
[Jan. 5, 2017, “How Many Bombs Did the United States Drop in 2016?” cfr.org, Micah Zenko…"Note: This post was updated to reflect an additional strike in Yemen in 2016 [and one on Jan. 8, 2017], announced by U.S. Central Command on January 12, 2017.”…“The U.S. military conducted strikes…in central Yemen on Dec. 29 and Jan. 8.”]
(continuing): “His research concluded that the US dropped 79 per cent of all 30,743 coalition bombs in 2016.…
Mr. Obama leaves the White House having authorised ten times more drone strikes than George W Bush and having been at war for longer than any President in US history.”
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Added:
Jan. 9, 2017, “America dropped 26,171 bombs in 2016. What a bloody end to Obama’s reign," UK Guardian, Medea Benjamin
“President Obama…dramatically expanded the air wars and the use of special operations forces around the globe. In 2016, US special operators could be found in 70% of the world’s nations, 138 countries – a staggering jump of 130% since the days of the Bush administration.
Looking back at President Obama’s legacy, the Council on Foreign Relation’s Micah Zenko added up the defense department’s data on airstrikes and made a startling revelation: in 2016 alone, the Obama administration dropped at least 26,171 bombs. This means that every day last year [2016], the US military blasted combatants or civilians overseas with 72 bombs; that’s three bombs every hour, 24 hours a day.
While most of these air attacks were in Syria and Iraq, US bombs also rained down on people in Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. That’s seven majority-Muslim countries.
One bombing technique that President Obama championed is drone strikes. As drone-warrior-in-chief, he spread the use of drones outside the declared battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, mainly to Pakistan and Yemen. Obama authorized over 10 times more drone strikes than George W Bush….
What does the administration have to show for eight years of fighting on so many fronts? Terrorism has spread, no wars have been “won” and the Middle East is consumed by more chaos and divisions than when candidate Barack Obama declared his opposition to the invasion of Iraq.”…
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Added: “Death from Above:”
Jan. 14, 2017, “Obama’s Legacy: Chart Shows Number Of Bombs Dropped On Different Countries," The Federalist Papers