In last week’s Ford County Chronicle, columnist Alan Webber expressed his disappointment that President Donald Trump did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
The deliberations of the Nobel Committee are not made public. Still, it is worth examining some of the matters which may have influenced the committee.
Earlier this year, Trump stated that he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, and he recently claimed to have ended “eight wars in eight months.” In typical Trump fashion, his claim was riddled with lies and exaggeration.
Several of the “wars” were border conflicts lasting a matter of days, and one involved no fighting at all. The 12-day Iran conflict consisted of Israel and the U.S. bombing Iran, followed by no agreement and a de facto ceasefire.
After four days of border strikes between India and Pakistan, a ceasefire was reached, which Indian officials stated Trump had nothing to do with.
Trump clearly deserves credit for his role in achieving a ceasefire and return of hostages in the brutal Israel/ Hamas war. This peace is fragile, to say the least, and it is naive to expect Hamas to willingly disarm.
It is also naive to think the Nobel Committee would overlook that, up to the very end, Trump marched in perfect lockstep with Benjamin Netanyaho as Israeli forces killed 67,000 Palestinians, the majority being civilians, women and children — an act historians and the International Criminal Court deem to be genocide.
The committee had to be mindful that, at the same time Trump touted overseas peace, he was waging war at home. Trump has launched inhuman ICE raids followed by unrequested and unwarranted National Guard incursions into Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Memphis and Portland, triggering the very violence and chaos Trump claims to be combating.
The committee would be remiss to overlook that if it wasn’t for his reelection, Trump would be in prison for orchestrating the Jan. 6 insurrection, for hoarding classified documents and for repeatedly obstructing justice.
Who can forget that Trump followed this by granting blanket clemency to nearly 1,600 persons convicted of or awaiting trial or sentencing for invading our Capitol, including 14 members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, all part of Trump’s brazen attempt to rewrite history.
Trump is now seeking $230 million in taxpayer dollars to pay himself for defending against investigations into his crimes. This will be decided by the Justice Department which Trump controls.
Recently joining the never ending list of criminals Trump has pardoned are former GOP Rep. George Santos and Changpeng Zhao, the creator of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Zhao and his firm Binance have been key supporters of the Trump family’s crypto enterprises.
Finally, the committee undoubtedly considered the matter of character. It is fair to assume the committee would seek honorees who possess humility, empathy, compassion, grace and dignity.
Trump’s utter failure on this score is best displayed by his just-completed demolition of the entire East Wing of the White House and his plans to erect a grotesque, 90,000-square-foot monument to himself. The Nobel Committee’s finest decision was its choice of who not to award.
TONY LEE
Paxton