Earth Science News  
AFRICA NEWS
Drones, wars, genocide: Tainted legacy of Nobel Peace laureates
By Pierre-Henry DESHAYES
Oslo (AFP) Dec 8, 2020

A "champion of peace" doesn't normally threaten to show no mercy before carrying out an attack that sparks a humanitarian crisis. Yet Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is not the first Nobel Peace Prize laureate to go to war.

Officially, the guns in Tigray have been silenced: On November 28, Abiy, who won the 2019 Peace Prize, declared victory after three weeks of fighting in the northern region.

The exact death toll is not known but the International Crisis Group (ICG) has estimated several thousand were killed. Civilians have fled the country in droves and the UN has warned of a large-scale humanitarian crisis.

Abiy's aura has been tarnished.

"Whatever the rights and wrongs of the current confrontation, it is certain that his reputation as peacemaker will be severely damaged," the Financial Times wrote in an editorial on November 11.

"For the Nobel committee there is a lesson here. When in doubt: wait."

Such patience would also have been a good idea on several other occasions, historians note.

Ten years before Abiy, Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize just nine months after taking office as US president -- according to his recent autobiography even he was asking: "For what?"

- Three bombs an hour -

Days before accepting his award in Oslo, Obama decided to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. In his acceptance speech, he defended the right to go to war, a word he uttered 35 times -- compared with 29 times for the word peace.

"To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism -- it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason," he said.

Not only did Obama fail to put an end to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan during his two mandates, but he also stepped up controversial drone strikes.

In 2016, US forces hit seven countries with more than 26,000 bombs -- or three bombs an hour -- according to the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

Former Nobel Committee secretary Geir Lundestad once told AFP the expectations placed on Obama were "totally unrealistic".

"It was impossible for anyone to meet (the) expectations," he said.

In 1973, the Peace Prize was awarded to US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese leader Le Duc Tho for negotiating an armistice.

The peace did not hold and Le Duc Tho, who orchestrated the final offensive against South Vietnam two years later, declined his half of the prize.

Kissinger also offered to return his half, in vain, and his legacy is one of a cynic guided by US foreign policy aims rather than respect for rights.

"Not only did he continue the war in Vietnam but he gave the green light to Indonesia for the invasion of East Timor," recalls Norwegian historian and Nobel expert Asle Sveen, referring to the 1975-76 invasion and annexation of the former Portuguese colony.

Kissinger is also known for bolstering the power of South American dictators who were friendly to the US.

- Nobel and 'genocide' -

Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin shared the 1978 Nobel with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat for their Camp David peace deal signed that year. But Begin's hands are also tainted with blood, according to Sveen.

"Begin went on to, among other things, order the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and the (siege) of Beirut, and that indirectly led to the massacre of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps," Sveen says.

A number of other Peace Prize laureates have also seen their aura fade over time, without necessarily having been particularly belligerent.

Aung San Suu Kyi stands out in that category.

Her passivity as the military cracked down on Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya -- termed a genocide by UN investigators -- has led to numerous calls for her 1991 award to be revoked.

The Nobel statutes do not allow for that and the prize committee normally refrains from commenting on developments regarding a country or person that has won the prize.

And yet, that's exactly what it did in a rare move on November 16, when it said it was "deeply concerned" about developments in Ethiopia and appealed for an end to the fighting -- though it still defended its choice of 2019 laureate.

This year, the committee seems to have gone with a safer and more consensual pick: the World Food Programme, which will accept its prize on Thursday.


Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


AFRICA NEWS
Pygmies, soldier killed in clashes over DR Congo park
Bukavu, Dr Congo (AFP) Dec 2, 2020
Three Pygmies and a soldier were killed in clashes near DR Congo's Kahuzi-Biega National Park, military sources and local officials said Wednesday, as calls grow for protection of the country's indigenous peoples. The national park, which celebrated its 50th anniversary on Monday, is a haven for critically endangered gorillas but faces an emerging threat from a conflict between rangers and local Pygmies, who claim they were robbed of ancestral lands when the park was extended in the 1970s. The c ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

AFRICA NEWS
Lab-grown meat to go on sale in Singapore in world first

African cocoa producers unleash PR offensive on chocolate giants

W.Africa facing worst food insecurity in decades: experts

Pesticide ban hammers French sugar beet harvest

AFRICA NEWS
Pacific Islands Forum to hold virtual climate summit

Caribbean coral reefs under siege from aggressive algae

An escape route for seafloor methane

India Set to Launch 'Deep Sea Mission' for Exploration of Energy, Minerals

AFRICA NEWS
Venus figurines offered a model for surviving climate change, new theory says

UN chief slams 'suicidal' failure to combat global warming

New Zealand's Ardern declares 'climate emergency'

Climate change biggest threat to natural World Heritage sites

AFRICA NEWS
Outdoor solar testing maybe the IoT for Photovoltaics

Early, steady investment in wind, solar best way to decarbonize economy

Slimming down solar cells

Guiding the way to improved solar cell performance

AFRICA NEWS
Biodiesel made from discarded cardboard boxes

Turning Straw Into Gold

Battered by virus and oil slump, biofuels fall out of favour

Catalyzing a zero-carbon world by harvesting energy from living cells

AFRICA NEWS
Facebook changing 'race-blind' hate speech policy

Can-do attitude: Wuhan virus lockdown captured in craft beer

China jails 53 for deadly factory blast

Thanksgiving Feed-the-Troops meals to be delivered 'grab-and-go style'

AFRICA NEWS
Climate goals need 6% yearly fossil fuel cuts, UN says

Denmark to end North Sea oil and gas production by 2050

Climate groups take on Shell in landmark Dutch case

Rome, Tripoli sign defence deal over hospitals, training

AFRICA NEWS
Asian markets fluctuate after rally, eyes on US stimulus talks

China factory activity sees fastest growth in decade: survey

Biden set to revamp US trade tactics -- but not policy

China edges past US as Europe's top trade partner









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.