From RT:
Bradley Manning for Nobel Peace Prize?
“Bradley Manning, the US soldier accused of passing secret materials to Wikileaks, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The nomination was proposed by The Movement of Icelandic Parliament, which asserts that revelations produced by the documents Manning allegedly exposed “have helped to fuel a worldwide discussion about America’s overseas engagements, civilian war casualties, imperialistic manipulations, and rules of engagement.”
RT spoke to one of the members of The Movement, MP Birgitta Jonsdottir.
She said the group “wanted to raise awareness about the situation with Private Bradley Manning, whom way too few people know of.”
“It is extremely important that we honor the whistleblowers of our world,” she said, so people will not be silenced from performing their civic duty “by reporting on crimes, be it corporate, state or military.””
This is big news. Let’s say he won. Would the US still put him in prison? Surely the nomination will bring more attention to his case. I was glad to see the reporter let the activist talk for awhile. I kept expecting him to cut him off but he let him finish his thoughts.
I think this is a lot more admiral a nomination than Obama’s. Nominating a president (and having him win) for the Nobel Peace Prize before he’s even done anything? That was ridiculous. Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks so.
From the Associated Press:
Nobel peace prize jury under investigation
“Nobel Peace Prize officials were facing a formal inquiry over accusations they have drifted away from the prize’s original selection criteria by choosing such winners as President Barack Obama, as the nomination deadline for the 2012 awards closed Wednesday.
The investigation comes after persistent complaints by a Norwegian peace researcher that the original purpose of the prize was to diminish the role of military power in international relations.”
With the war drums beating for Iran currently I don’t think Obama is much interested in diminishing “the role of military power in international relations”.