Nobel Laureate Obama Owes Bush For Peace Prize

It's a pity that former President George W. Bush vowed to fade from view after leaving the White House and not publicly talk about his successor.

Because if anyone's true views would be fascinating to hear on this day when President Barack Obama was announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize it would be the 43rd U.S. president.

The awarding of the peace prize was clearly a repudiation of Bush's policies of unilateralism, particularly strong during his first four-year term, as well as the invasion of Iraq.

In a strange way, Obama owes Bush a debt because his predecessor's global unpopularity made it much easier for Obama to contrast his inclusive style with Bush's and to win over the world's hearts and minds.

Indeed, Bush's real and perceived failures not just internationally but domestically opened the door for Obama to be elected president in the first place since Bush had created just enough anger and impatience with just enough voters to set the stage for an African-American to become president.

 

We also wish we could be privy to the true views of the Clintons. Former President Bill Clinton did much more over his eight years to promote international peace than Obama has had the chance to do in only nine months.

There was the Northern Ireland peace initiative, his efforts in the Balkans and the negotiations he mediated between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. And that's not even mentioning his post-White House work for the world's dispossessed with the Clinton Global Initiative.

Despite all of that, it was Obama who was awarded the Nobel Prize, not Clinton.

Former President Clinton isn't one to ignore a slight, as we witnessed during last year's presidential campaign. So can you blame us for wishing we had access to his candid thoughts, right now?