Approaching other nations in peace, while taking national security into account --

The Norwegian Nobel Committee could be forgiven if it became tempted to give up on peace altogether.  But every year the Nobel group operates on optimism and names another person of peace.  Every day some one dies in a war.  Being a civilian does not always protect from the ways of war.  Nations might experience abject poverty and still find ways to remain at war.  At the other end of the spectrum, rich nations too often spend inordinate amounts of money on wars via their military-industrial complexes.  And it is always in the name of national security or an ideology.  I believe President Obama is trying to find a third way, as did the Nobel Committee. 

What do other nations think about President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize?  Al Jazeera headlines, "Obama: I do not deserve the Nobel prize," and the article carries a good bit about the variety of reactions from significant others.  Another article elaborates on both praise and criticism from the Middle East and elsewhere: "Doubts over Obama Nobel win."  President Obama must surely a few mixed feelings about the honor.  Lots of people now have heightened expectations about  about the possibility of eventual peace between the Israelis and the Palestinian, to name just one of several major conflicts.

Tension, terrorism and terms are the current marks of the Israel/Palestinian conflict.  The way to peaceful resolution of the decades long war/standoff in the region seems a long way off when reading the following story.  According to a recent Huffington Post article, The Palestinian Authority has withdrawn its support for the United Nations Goldstone report accusing Israel of failing to cooperate with the UN Gaza war crimes investigation.  Israel and Hamas are both accused of possible war crimes during Israel's bombardment of Gaza at the the beginning of the year.  The U.S. and Israel forced the postponement of action on South Africa Judge Goldstone's report until March 2010.  The report, which could have reached the International Criminal Court, was possibly  suppressed because of Israel's threats to withdraw permission for a second cellular telephone company to be established in the West Bank.  A Palestinian Authority minister has resigned over the matter and Palestinians of all stripes are angry at their leaders.  Al Jazeera published the key points of the Goldstone report.

The United States did not fight wars in the name of ideology until the Iraq war in 2002.  That civil war is winding down now and we are back to fighting in Afghanistan in the name of national security.  What a delicate dance that will be forour peace prize winner.

Bonus -- Bits and pieces from my Email newsletter about national security, written by David C. Morrison for Congressional Quarterly (10/9/09):

• Chasing the dime:  Exploiting the mercenary vacuum left by the semi-implosion of Blackwater (now Xe Services), a group of Russian ex-military privateers pitches itself as “a kinder, more culturally sensitive alternative to other security firms,” Danger Room spotlights.
• Over there: President Obama’s national security team is reframing its war strategy by emphasizing the campaign against al Qaeda in Pakistan while arguing that the Taliban pose no direct threat to the United States, The New York Times surveys. Hundreds of hardcore Arab al Qaedaites have fled the AfPak region, mostly to Yemen to bolster an Islamist insurgency targeting Saudi Arabia, CBS News spotlights — while The Washington Times has Pakistan mounting “an ambitious blitz to rout the Taliban.” German intel has unearthed a new Islamist cell operating from Hamburg — from whence the 9/11 attacks arose, The Independent informs — while Bloomberg has Berlin police raiding jihadis suspected of plotting terror attacks in Russia. A terror suspect accused of being a key al Qaeda financier was named as Mohammed al-Ghabra by the U.K. Supreme Court, The Times of London tells.

Posted via email from Southwest Postings