Peace at any Prize

The news that Obama has already won the Nobel Peace Prize is staggering in its confirmation that this prize is, by and large, a hoax. Or -- possibly not so much a hoax as the world's top award for good intentions -- you know, the kind the road to Hell is paved with. Consider one previous presidential winner -- Woodrow Wilson, the guy who got us into World War I and who set the tone for all subsequent forms of American meddling in the affairs of other countries, including Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. For this you get a peace prize? Might as well give one to Napoleon. But yeah, I know -- and this is already being presented as the main motive -- it serves as an "incentive", supposedly. Give a guy the peace prize and just dare him to try and start any more wars, or escalate the ones that are already going on. It reminds me of the organization I used to work for, where they would give "outstanding" performance awards to people who were, basically, brain dead... expecting it would stimulate them to improve. Did it? Ever? Of course not. You reward failure, you get more failure. Now, Obama hasn't been in office long enough to either conclusively win or fail in the peace department -- although some (including me) would call his refusal to immediately withdraw from both Iraq and Afghanistan a failure. And right now he's considering the escalation recommendations of Gen. McChrystal, a guy who makes John McCain look like a peacenik.

Ah, but how about the Middle East? Obama and his team have worked day and night to "bring peace to that troubled region". For that, we have the refreshing candor of Lieberman -- "their" Lieberman, that is, not ours -- although, admittedly, it is hard at times to tell the difference -- who says that there is "no chance of a peace deal for many years" and that "Washington's goal of comprehensive peace (is) an illusion." Finally a dose of realism! As I've said before, how are you going to achieve peace in that region if no one really wants it? As things stand, Israel doesn't want peace, and neither do the Palestinians. And why is this? Because both sides still dream of unconditional surrender -- by the other side. No one wants a neatly divided up territory, per the original U.N. plan -- they all want the territory to be all theirs, and for the other side to disappear off the face of the earth. So, bottom line, no hope of peace, and at least we have one high Israeli official who is willing to admit this and recommend that we learn to live with it.

But if no one over there wants peace, why do we? This is the eternal question. Our foreign policy vis-a-vis Israel over the years has been stunning in its simplicity -- whatever they want, they get. But when they say, in so many words, that they don't want peace -- or are perfectly willing to wait years to get it -- why do we get all hot and bothered, and start murmuring? I'm sure I don't know. One could say that peace -- at least the concept of "peace" -- is a kind of fetish with us. But that's not true either -- not really. We have been involved in more wars over the last few decades than any other single country... we are involved in more wars now... we have armed forces stationed almost everywhere on earth... and we are getting ready to escalate a war that has already proven itself to be a lost cause. So no, "peace" is not really an American value at all -- or let's say peace on the home front is OK, but anywhere else it's to be avoided.

So why don't we just turn around and walk away, and shake the dust from our shoes? I have no idea. We're perfectly willing to dance to Israel's tune in all other respects, but when they as good as announce that they aren't interested in peace, we choose to ignore them. Maybe that's just their way of keeping us hooked, and keeping the money flowing; I don't know. A bill in Congress to "support Israel's wars" might have a slightly tougher time getting passed than one to "foster Near East peace". Whatever, the situation really is too inane for words. But hey, Obama has his prize now, so he can do whatever he wants.