When I first saw a blog headline referring to President Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace prize, I thought it was a joke. Indeed, I like the president and find him a refreshing leader after eight years of George Bush in the White House, but the Nobel Peace Prize? It's way, way too early for that.
Obviously, the Nobel committee's decision was a slap at Bush. While Bush's foreign policy wasn't a total disaster, his bull-headedness on getting us into Iraq and his decision to detain hundreds of terror suspects definitely will stain the United States for many years to come.
Ironically, this award is coming at a time that Obama's direction on Afghanistan is unclear. In fact, it's possible (although appearing less likely than it did a few weeks ago), that he'll intensify U.S. involvement in that conflict and dig us further into a sinkhole.
But where Obama has shined is in his decision to recognize that the United States has no business continuing the policy of rounding up suspects off the streets of Kabul or wherever and throwing them into a prison in Cuba without so much as a promise that the justification for imprisonment will be face some sort of an objective review. And as someone who believes in our Constitution, I find it embarrassing the way Congress has responded: It's time we take some responsibility for what we've done, and if that at the very least requires us to bring them on U.S. soil for a trial, then so be it. These deserve at least that much dignity. For those who provably have committed terroristic acts, let them be punished as appropriate; for the others, it's time to grant them the dignity of freedom.
Obama doesn't deserve this award — yet. But if it inspires Obama, Congress and Americans to do more in the causes of peace and justice, then perhaps it will be have a gamble worth taking by the Nobel committee.
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