Why the Nobel Peace Prize is worthless

By Tom DeWeese
web posted November 19, 2001

Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Prizes with profits made
from his invention of dynamite. It is said he felt guilty because of
the deaths and destruction his creation had caused. Guilt. The
great uniting force of the Left.

It has long been obvious, however, that the Nobel Prize for
Peace is little more than a sham, granting prestige to recipients
who did not deserve it.

Let's look at a few recent examples. In 1973 the Nobel Prize
was awarded to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and
North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho, for bringing peace to that war-
torn nation. The prize was awarded a little early, however. Two
years later South Vietnam was over-run, destroying its free
market way of life. There was, of course, no peace for the
millions of South Vietnamese enslaved by the communists to
whom Kissinger had capitulated. Such is the legacy of the Nobel
Peace Prize.

In 1993 South African terrorist Nelson Mandela was awarded
the prize for bringing peace to that nation. It was easy for
Mandela to accomplish that feat since it was his group, the
African National Conference, (ANC) that had caused the unrest.
Never mentioned in Mandela's award was the fact that the
ANC's favorite peace method was called "neck lacing." ANC
justice was carried out on black citizens by forcing a rubber tire
around their necks and over the shoulders so they couldn't move.
Then gasoline was poured over the tire and set on fire. The
screams only lasted a short while and then there was peace.
Mandela won an award, the world applauded, and the Nobel
committee felt good about themselves.

This year the prize for peace has been awarded to Kofi Annan
and the United Nations for "their work for a better organized and
more peaceful world." To the nearly uncontrollable cheers of his
staff, Secretary General Annan gushed that the prize couldn't
come at a "better time." It was awarded just weeks after the
United States was attacked and mobilized the civilized world to
stop terrorism.

While the champagne glasses tinkled and the cheers resounded
at UN headquarters, women in Afghanistan continued to live in
terror, reduced to little more than sub-human slaves to the ruling
Taliban. The UN had never made any effort to help these
victims. Only the United States, an independent, sovereign
nation, will bring an end to the horror the Taliban has inflicted.

What purpose drives the UN if not to respond to such horror?
What more important mission requires its attention? Since its
inception, the UN has been witness to a world of ceaseless wars
and horrors. Not one dictator has been brought to justice since
the U.S. defeated Hitler. Not one war has been ended in
complete victory since the United States defeated Japan. Every
war or conflict since the intervention of the UN has failed to
bring resolution. The world has become an ugly place as despots
of every description were repeatedly given legitimacy by the UN.

What ever possessed the Nobel committee to give it a prize for
peace?

After the United States was attacked, the UN passed another
meaningless resolution condemning terrorism. Where was the
international declaration of war? Where was the determination to
end the threat? The UN's most direct response to the U.S. war
on terrorism was to place a terrorist outlaw nation, Syria, on the
UN Security Council. It dispossessed the United States of its
chair on the Human Rights Commission where it had served
since its inception.

Perhaps the one positive outcome of the brutal attacks on
September 11th and the United States' response to the terrorist
threat will be to show, once and for all, how utterly worthless the
United Nations is as an instrument of world peace. The United
States will do what it has always done, liberate the oppressed
and bring real peace and justice to the world. Of course, we just
won't get a peace prize for it.

Tom DeWeese is the publisher/editor of The DeWeese Report
and is president of the American Policy Center, a grassroots,
activist think tank headquartered in Warrenton, VA. The Center
maintains an Internet site at www.americanpolicy.org.

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