Surprise!

Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for,

"his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

Heres more explanation of why he won:

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/eu...n/#cnnSTCVideo

Its hard to say who exactly the other nominees were, but here are some of the possible choices.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1312931/

Officially, the peace prize is awarded,

"to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

Obama was nominated for the award no later than 12 days after his inagauration.

 

From my perspective, the criteria for the Nobel Peace Prize greatly differs from the Nobel Prize in Physics which is generally awarded 20-30 years after the accomplishment so that the long term impact of the work can be fully understood.

For instance, Albert Einstein won the prize in 1921 based on a papaer he published in 1905. The 2009 winners invented fiber optics and the first digital-imaging sensor in the late 60's and early 70's.

The peace prize can be given for on-going efforts or for bringing attention to an important issue.

 

Hisham Qasim, Egyptian democracy and human rights activist, said he was "shocked" Obama won.

"He has achieved nothing. He's stumbling. He hasn't achieved any of his promises and nothing is working. He promised to close Guantanamo and now that's not going to happen, and the Arab-Israeli conflict looks like it's going to get very nasty."

Thank you Mr. Qasim

Now idk where I stand on the Gitmo issue, but I feel the rest of this statement is fairly safe and accurate

 

Off Topic - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY FTMFW!!!

We had Linus Pauling, the first person EVER to receive two nobel peace prizes in 2 seperate fields:
1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
1962 Nobel Peace Prize

I loved to walk into the Valley Library at OSU and see the displays set up we have of some of his works, it was cool to be face to face with some of the material from a man who was capable to receive 2 nobel prizes.

 

^ spam

 

Bush did plenty to strengthen international diplomacy!! He just did it with threats and bombs.

 

I find it funny that they gave it to him as he's deciding whether or not to send in more troops. Maybe there was something behind it.

 

I think its a joke. FAIL.

 

He was nominated for the prize not even 2 weeks after inauguration. It was a complete joke.

 

The committe mentioned Obama's pledge to abolish nuclear weapons from the globe as an important factor. This might help his chances at the Ms. USA pagaent, but a Nobel Peace Prize?

Its smells like a political endorsement.

I have never seen someone who has accomplished so little be praised so much as Mr. Obama.