Bradley Manning and Nobel Peace Prize

Well, this could spin off into a major controversy.

Courtesy Link.

I am willing to bet that this move may well irk some military higher ups and other people involved.

The whole Bradley Manning argument might well have reached a new level. Just what might happen if he is made a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize?

I don't think he'll be given the prize, but it certainly is interesting that the he's been nominated.

Mm. Clever.

He can still rot, but I grant, it's clever.

I was gonna make some commentary on this, but I'll refrain as I don't think the needle on my anger gauge should be this far in the red.

I will say this, though - I lost a lot of respect for the Nobel Peace Prize committee from this move.

Well, it's a brilliant move, politically. If he isn't nominated, they lose nothing, and if he is nominated, the next move is to paint the US as the big bad global empire that's just like China, holding Nobel Peace Prize winners in prison for political crimes and speaking out against its world-wide crusade for neoconservative, neocolonial corporatist expansionism.

So, as I said, it's quite clever. Irritating, to me, but clever, nonetheless.

A political move, but frankly a more principled move than nominating Obama. Whatever happens, I hope Manning gets out without too much trouble, and if this pressure leads to that all the better. Just dishonourable discharge the guy and let it be.

Nah, Manning did worse than earning a mere dishonorable discharge; he's earned some time in Leavenworth for sure.

Though I will agree the nomination of Obama was a complete crock. But, I'll leave this thread and avoid it, lest I fly off the handle.

edited 6th Feb '12 4:03:31 PM by MarkVonLewis

The fun thing is it would mean that one Nobel Peace Prize winner is kept in jail by another. The really fun thing is that both of them would have been awarded a Peace Nobel because of politically-motivated spite.

Mm. I'd be satisfied with him in jail for 10-15 years and then, obviously, a general blacklisting.

I doubt he'll win, nor do I think he deserves it (even if what he did isn't wrong, it wasn't really promoting peace), but since Obama won it I guess the award barely means anything anymore anyhow, so, oh well, I suppose.

Barely meant for some time now. Seems had a bit of a competition with Lit, luckily the hard sciences at least need to be somewhat objective.

I don't think he was actually nominated by the Nobel committee. A lot of political entities have the right to submit names for the committee to consider, and the final lists of candidates for each prize run in the hundreds every year (IIRC.)

The article in the OP says that a small Icelandic political party sent his name to the Committee. It's not at all certain that they (as in, the Nobel Committee) will devote any more than maybe two minutes to him.

edited 6th Feb '12 4:08:27 PM by BestOf

Mm. If this is from some random bullshit party out in Europe, and not the Committee itself, then it doesn't even matter, because it's going nowhere fast.

And here I thought this would be a big deal...

Aaah. Sorry. My bad.

This way there's still a lot of way for him. So basically, if he gets some "official" recognition, then I say Peace Nobel is, like, a joke. If he doesn't, then depending on who does, I'll say perhaps the Committee has regained some decency after that Obama thing.

edit reason: grammar and stuff

edited 6th Feb '12 4:14:52 PM by lordGacek

Hope he doesn't get it, he deserves to rot in Leavenworth for quite some time for what he has done.

Isn't Russia Today of questionable credibility? I've been told (on here) that it's basically the FOX News of Russia.

Fox News is just Murdoch jacking off and getting paid for it by fools. RT is the kinder gentler face of the Russian Government.

If Barry O can get the Nobel Peace Prize for doing basically the square root of sod all, then I see no reason why the Nobel Committee will not give Manning the Prize for stuffing up America's image at home and abroad something chronic.

If he does get the nomination, I hope it gets a number of those Glorious Leader Wannabes in the Republican Party a large number of aneurisms.

edited 6th Feb '12 6:43:48 PM by NickTheSwing

Update!

turns out Manning was not the only person nominated. Looks like not only is Manning up for the Nobel Prize, but him getting nominated would also result in Julian Assange getting the nomination too.

I do hope this development makes Rove's, the Koch Bros', and Norquist's heads all explode.

edited 6th Feb '12 6:47:45 PM by NickTheSwing

And Assange is being nominated?!\\

... I need a goddamn drink.

edited 6th Feb '12 6:49:49 PM by MarkVonLewis

Eh. Peace Prize was already worthless anyhow, so, no great loss, I suppose.

First off, a nomination's not the same as the actual prize. Also, seconding what people said about the Nobel Peace Prize in general. They've diluted its value somewhat.

All of my facepalms.

I don't get why people act as though the Nobel Peace Prize lost its credibility when Barack Obama got it; the credibility was lost long before that. See Yasser Arafat, Henry Kissinger, and Le Duc Tho.

Mm, that's probably true, silver.

I suppose it's more accurate to say that we actually figured it out as a generality that it's full of shit when Obama got it before he even did anything.

I like it as a statement, but I miss the Nobel Peace Prize being about peace specifically, rather than just "generic things we like" (anti-global warming, contributions to global development, human rights, being a US president who isn't Bush...and now, freedom of information). Are there so few genuine peacemakers in the world?

edited 8th Feb '12 2:30:28 PM by WarriorEowyn