U.S. commander in chief gets ‘peace’ prize
(As I see it column)
BY BEN JOYCE
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced October 9 that its Peace Prize recipient for 2009 is U.S. president Barack Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
The committee chose to bestow this honor upon the commander in chief of the world’s most powerful imperialist armed forces—as he is deepening a multitheater war with an expanding front in Central Asia involving more than 60,000 troops in Afghanistan and regular aerial drone attacks in Pakistan. Obama has been awarded a $1.4 million prize for his work in “the abolition or reduction of standing armies” while his administration is leading the drive for stiffer economic sanctions against Iran and North Korea.
The reaction of many upon first hearing news about the committee’s choice was that it is a joke. After all, the prize is named after Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who was one of the world’s biggest armaments makers. On the face of it, the decision may seem at least contradictory. However, since the inception of the Nobel Peace Prize, nearly all of the recipients have been, with few notable exceptions, prominent representatives of or apologists for the capitalist system of class exploitation and imperialist domination.
U.S. president Woodrow Wilson was given the prize for 1919 after Washington and its allies had smashed its rivals in the first imperialist world slaughter in which millions of workers died. In 2007 Al Gore was chosen for his work in “climate change,” less than a decade after leaving the administration of President William Clinton that orchestrated brutal military assaults against Iraq, Somalia, and Yugoslavia. And in 1988 the prize committee even went as far as to grant the award to the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces—a “standing army” of imperialist allies.
BY BEN JOYCE
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced October 9 that its Peace Prize recipient for 2009 is U.S. president Barack Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
The committee chose to bestow this honor upon the commander in chief of the world’s most powerful imperialist armed forces—as he is deepening a multitheater war with an expanding front in Central Asia involving more than 60,000 troops in Afghanistan and regular aerial drone attacks in Pakistan. Obama has been awarded a $1.4 million prize for his work in “the abolition or reduction of standing armies” while his administration is leading the drive for stiffer economic sanctions against Iran and North Korea.
The reaction of many upon first hearing news about the committee’s choice was that it is a joke. After all, the prize is named after Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who was one of the world’s biggest armaments makers. On the face of it, the decision may seem at least contradictory. However, since the inception of the Nobel Peace Prize, nearly all of the recipients have been, with few notable exceptions, prominent representatives of or apologists for the capitalist system of class exploitation and imperialist domination.
U.S. president Woodrow Wilson was given the prize for 1919 after Washington and its allies had smashed its rivals in the first imperialist world slaughter in which millions of workers died. In 2007 Al Gore was chosen for his work in “climate change,” less than a decade after leaving the administration of President William Clinton that orchestrated brutal military assaults against Iraq, Somalia, and Yugoslavia. And in 1988 the prize committee even went as far as to grant the award to the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces—a “standing army” of imperialist allies.
The selection of Barack Obama also registers the political convergence between sections of the U.S. and European ruling classes. The social layer that Obama represents—the “enlightened” meritocracy and cosmopolitan elites at the tops of “nonprofits,” NGOs, foundations, and other institutions committed to the maintenance of capitalist social relations—is converging politically with their counterparts in Europe, found in the leadership of various Social Democratic and “Socialist” parties that hold power in imperialist governments across the Atlantic.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, in its majority made up of representatives from this layer, has made an attempt to shore up Obama’s image at a time when his administration faces increasing difficulties at home and abroad.
The “peace” that the Obama administration, his European counterparts, or any other wing of the ruling class are interested in obtaining is one based on the subjugation and deepening exploitation of toilers around the world.
As the worldwide capitalist depression deepens, the ruling classes in each of the imperialist countries are preparing for fiercer competition against each other, spreading imperialist wars, and increased social and political unrest as working people react to the deteriorating conditions being imposed on them. In preparation for this, Obama has extended many of the attacks on our rights, such as domestic spying programs, militarization of the borders, and arbitrary detention.
The only way to achieve peace is to take political and military power out of the hands of the war makers. It’s only by the conquest and exercise of state power by the working class against the most violent force in history—the capitalist class—and the rebuilding of society from top to bottom along lines of social solidarity and the needs of the majority, that lasting peace is possible.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, in its majority made up of representatives from this layer, has made an attempt to shore up Obama’s image at a time when his administration faces increasing difficulties at home and abroad.
The “peace” that the Obama administration, his European counterparts, or any other wing of the ruling class are interested in obtaining is one based on the subjugation and deepening exploitation of toilers around the world.
As the worldwide capitalist depression deepens, the ruling classes in each of the imperialist countries are preparing for fiercer competition against each other, spreading imperialist wars, and increased social and political unrest as working people react to the deteriorating conditions being imposed on them. In preparation for this, Obama has extended many of the attacks on our rights, such as domestic spying programs, militarization of the borders, and arbitrary detention.
The only way to achieve peace is to take political and military power out of the hands of the war makers. It’s only by the conquest and exercise of state power by the working class against the most violent force in history—the capitalist class—and the rebuilding of society from top to bottom along lines of social solidarity and the needs of the majority, that lasting peace is possible.
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