Kadafi
:dubious: I don’t think Alfred Nobel would have agreed with that.
Yes. After all, creating a framework for peace in the middle east, or negotiating an end to a war are certainly not what Nobel had in mind.
I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not, but I think a lot of people would agree that land mines DON’T have a legitimate use in war, that their negative side effects toward civilians and unfortunate tendency to make land unusable for generations far outweighs any benefit they might have during the actual conflict.
I’ve often thought that the idea of Pax Romana should rather be “subservience through brutal methods”. Does it count as peace if the populace is just cowed into obedience?
It does if you ask Thomas Hobbes. He says it’s the basis of peace, and what sets us apart from a state of nature, where there is ‘continuall feare, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish and short’. In order to stay out of that mess, all we can hope for is a powerful sovereign who imposes a strict rule of law.
And Mohammed Yunus? Why the hate? I admit it seemed like a weird choice at the time, given that he’s an economist, but if you believe that violence is a side effect of poverty (which I do think is the case a great deal of time), then you have to embrace a successful new method of lowering the poverty rate. Microfinance has come under some fire, and it’s not a perfect cure-all, but I’ve heard too many stories of it changing people’s lives for me to dismiss it as a flash in the pan. Grameen Bank has changed the lives of literally millions of people in Bangladesh; it operates what is practically a parallel government in a country with a weak and ineffectual “real” government.
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Md. Yunus has devoted his life to empowering women to create their own prosperity. Have you seen the poster of the child with the UZI and the caption, “People get cranky when they’re hungry.”
There is absolutely a connection between poverty and conflict. Right on Kyla.
Gently…now gently…put…the…keyboard…down…that’s right…now, just baaaaack away from the computer…that’s it…
I think you want to start a thread in GD or the Pit, or something. You are waaay too wound up in your protecting your humble President.
Now, we really need to get back to the OP.
Whether or not he is a godsend is not at issue here. Nor whether or not he is rightly traduced, or no.
It is whether or not he was a horrible pick for the Nobel Peace Prize.
I would have thought that OBL would be a winner by now since a. He hasn’t murdered anybody in years, and b. He took bold steps for peace when he offered a a framework for peace (I.e., everybody do what *he *says, and he will quit being a terrorist.)
Best wishes,
hh
[quote=“Kyla, post:44, topic:513252”]
They have a splendidly legitimate use in war. That is why they are made, and sold, and bought and used. They are, however, brutal, horribly, and vicious, and leave a sad legacy, but, that is why war is called war, and not ‘a great big party.’
Best wishes,
hh
Begin wasn’t a terrorist, he was a guerilla. His targets were always meant to be military. Arafat targeted innocent people.
Best wishes,
hh
I don’t see the complexities and personality issues being what offends people, I believe it is the murders, and the rocket attacks against civilian populations.
Best wishes,
hh
Moderator note:
Given that this thread was started based on a then-current event, nearly a year ago, this zombie is better left dead.