By Philip Yeung
Once again, Trump the warmonger, misses out on the Nobel Peace Prize. That leaves him hopping mad. He calls the decision to give the award to Navi Pillay, a former UN human rights chief "disgraceful and embarrassing". Remember, it was Pillay who chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and ruled that Israel had committed genocide. Also, as a former judge of the international criminal court, Pillay wants to dedicate the award to "survivors of international crime."
By awarding the Peace Prize to Pillay, the Nobel committee is sending out an unmistakable message that international rule of law is under attack and urgently requires protection. This decision is applauded by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as Pillay deserves it for demonstrating that "the force of law must prevail over the law of force."
Trump, in stark contrast, calls the ICC a rogue court. He lost no time in lashing out at Norway, threatening the Nordic country that "we will not forget", that is, he will make Norway pay for the committee's no-Trump decision.
In the history of the Nobel Peace Prize, no contender has so openly and shamelessly lobbied for the award—including calling the Norwegian president in a blatant attempt to sway the committee's decision in his favor. When they snubbed him, he flew into a rage and retaliated. Talk about demeaning the prize—trying to wangle it by hook or by crook, not exactly the noble behavior of a peacemaker, more like that of a spoiled, sweet-toothed child who has been denied his candy.
No one can believe the words that came out of Trump's mouth: "Iran will give us everything, or they won't exist any longer." That is bully speak, not peacemaker talk.
This year's winner, whom Trump calls a nobody, may have the last laugh. She jokingly said that perhaps if people clap loudly enough, she might share the prize with Trump, a cheeky swipe at the abject behavior of last year's winner from Venezuela, who flew to Washington to hand her prize over to Trump, who instantly pocketed it without fuss.
This is how low America has fallen under Trump. Hours after the Nobel committee announced its decision, Trump immediately slapped sanctions on the international criminal court. The sanctions will punish companies that provide services to the ICC, including banks, insurance companies, and even suppliers of computer software, in a naked move to cripple the court.
Then came the jaw-dropping news that the US Secretary of War has gleefully ordered the livestreaming of the public execution of a disabled man by firing squad. This is itself a barbaric behavior unworthy of a peace-loving, law-abiding nation. No country has ever televised public executions. The US itself hasn't authorized any public execution since 1936. None has ever been televised. This display of cruelty should automatically disqualify Trump from any future consideration for the peace prize. It is a sledgehammer strike against the dignity of human existence. It is not known whether the condemned man will challenge this barbarity in court.
The only country that sides with Trump is Israel, which has been stung by the decision of the ICC and the UN Commission of Human Rights that finds Israeli leaders guilty of genocide in Palestine. Israel said that "Joseph Goebbels (the dead Nazi butcher) is certainly applauding from hell." Whether Trump has been dragged into Israel's war and war crimes or whether he has simply joined his bedfellows, anyway you slice it, he will never come within sniffing distance of the Nobel Peace Prize. The lord of the jungle belongs to the jungle, and only to the jungle.
I shudder to think what Trump will do next year when the big bad bully is denied his coveted prize a third time. Will he go berserk and start another war just to spite Norway? With Trump, nothing is too far-fetched. Maybe the Nobel Peace Prize should be suspended for two years, until Trump goes back to the wilderness. We don't want to tempt fate and risk a new war just because Trump doesn't get his new toy.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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