Comments on: Congratulations, Al Gore! 2007 Nobel Peace Prize

By: Erol

Erol — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 10:48:55 +0000

Al Gore does have something to say about Iraq. In his latest book, “The Assault on Reason”, Gore describes the current political environment in the United States and argues that the marketplace of reasoned debate the US was founded on is being endangered by a variety of allied forces: the use of fear and the misuse of faith, the distractions of the entertainment culture, and the concentrations of power in the national media and the executive branch.

A quote from Chapter 1: “History will surely judge America’s decision to invade and occupy a fragile and unstable nation that did not attack us and posed no threat to us as a decision that was not only tragic but absurd.”

http://www.amazon.com/Assault-Reason-Al-Gore/dp/1594201226

By: RandallJones

RandallJones — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 07:33:18 +0000

Here is an article about the environment in Iraq.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4425562.stm

The UN Environment Program has trained Iraqi specialists in detoxification, but says any clean-up could cost up to $40m (£23m).

Chemical spills, unsecured hazardous material and pollution by depleted uranium are among the issues.

Without clean-up, heavy metals can poison ground water, causing illness.

By: RandallJones

RandallJones — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 07:31:51 +0000

Here is an article that talks about depleted uranium. http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0515/p01s02a-woiq.htm
There are debates about how dangerous it is. I’ll just quote part of it here

The Pentagon says that, since DU is “depleted” and 40 percent less radioactive than normal uranium, it presents even less of a hazard.

But DU experts say they are most concerned at how DU is transformed on the battlefield, after burning, into a toxic oxide dust that emits alpha particles. While those can be easily stopped by the skin, once inside the body, studies have shown that they can destroy cells in soft tissue. While one study on rats linked DU fragments in muscle tissue to increased cancer risk, health effects on humans remain inconclusive.

By: RandallJones

RandallJones — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 07:23:00 +0000

Here is an article about the U.S. using chemical weapons in Iraq.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1642831,00.html

By: Dawoud (Bahrain/Japan)

Dawoud (Bahrain/Japan) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 06:54:27 +0000

They don’t use chemical weapons and depleted uranium is inert. A person, even Mr. Gore, cannot solve everything. Choose the battles you have a fighting chnace at making inroads with and then move on to the next. For him to apologize for the Iraqi War would be like me and other Americans walking around doing the same thing. It just so happens he is a former VP.

By: RandallJones

RandallJones — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 01:03:50 +0000

There is something really sad and disgusting that Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize and has nothing to say about the genocide his country is committing in Iraq.

If he doesn’t care about the about the innocent Iraqis killed by the U.S. invasion, at least he should talk about how the United States has damaged the environment with its bombings, and use of chemical weapons and depleted uranium.

By: Dawoud (Bahrain/Japan)

Dawoud (Bahrain/Japan) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 00:43:25 +0000

I don’t think it does either (improve or lessen). The fact of an enviromental crisis that affects all of us, which can potentially lead to other crisis (fighting for scarce resources; migration of people to areas of elevated land and clashes with the original peoples, to name a few) or further enflame current crisis would be the aftershock felt. One can see this in history, for example the migration of nomadic steppes people from western China escaping from other nomadic peoples towards the west in search of newer grasslands.

By: MyTwoCents

MyTwoCents — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 00:33:25 +0000

Many past winners have been genuine heros (and heroines) of human progress, others not quite so much: some winners have been nearly the opposite! Over the last two decades there’ve been too many of the “others” and it’s somewhat cheapened the prize, in my opinion.

Does the award to Gore/IPCC improve or lessen the status of the award in your eyes?

By: Dawoud (Bahrain/Japan)

Dawoud (Bahrain/Japan) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 18:33:35 +0000

I understand you, and I can see your point. The fact is, Mr. Gore had no part in the decision process on the panel who decides who gets what. As far as sacrifices go, I don’t think anybody can make a true assessment on how a person made sacrifices and how their actions impacted the world until, ahem… after they are no longer with us. Who are we to say that Mr. Gore may feel compelled to put more action to the notion? I can imagine that as a Nobel Peace Prize winner, that is a heavy card to carry and it goes without saying the world does look towards those individuals and says,”Ok… Now what?!” Either push one and make greater inroads or do as some have done, rested on their laurels. I am sure you know the type, just as I do. You know, the ones who have all of their achievements placed on their “I love me” wall. The ones who are quick to tell you of their past achievements when you ask them what are they doing today. I pray Mr. Gore pushes on and makes us all more aware and lead us into action on fixing some of the things we keep passing on to the next generation. In response to the negativity that has come out of his winning the Nobel Peace Prize, he states that he is ready to push further along, and who knows… maybe he and Ms. Maathai will work together with other prominent leaders in helping arrest and lessen the impact of global warming and climate change, resulting in future conflicts held in abeyance.

By: PeacefulVanguard

PeacefulVanguard — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:02:01 +0000

It’s always after the fact that people become so critical of others and their works.

And btw, if you read my comments, I don’t criticize Gore’s movie, I actually support it and am glad it is in the public sphere. However, I do reject the notion that it deserves the world’s foremost prize for peacemaking in a world where people make enormous sacrifices on behalf of others, and which Al Gore has yet to do.