More Anti-US Bashing From Nobel Laureates At PeaceJam

**Update: video of Dalai Lama:

"Sometimes I describe myself as a half Buddhist, half Marxist."--[light applause and laughter]

"War is out of date."

Tell that to the jihadists. Funny how these comments made it past the intelligence filters at the Rocky Mountain News who provided the written piece below.

Only the Dalai Lama refrained from heaping attacks upon the United States:

Ten Nobel Peace Prize laureates called for world peace Saturday and took direct aim at the United States, asking an enthusiastic crowd of 7,000 youth to demand the U.S. pull back its military, spread its wealth and offer aid to developing countries.

''After the painful events of September 11, I wish that America would have built a school in Afghanistan in the name of every victim,'' said Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian judge and 2003 Peace Prize recipient. ''When someone claims he has a vision from God to bring war to Iraq, this is a kind of terrorism.''

Only the Dalai Lama, whose speech during the first public event of a three-day event at the University of Denver was interrupted when a fire alarm went off, didn't take a direct jab at the U.S.

Instead the Dalai Lama called on the world to open itself to religious tolerance.

. . .

One after the other Saturday night, the laureates thanked the crowd that rose to its feet before and after each speech, and then called on Americans to do something about their government's foreign policy. From efforts to close the border with Mexico, to Iraq, to arms exports, the Nobel laureates had words for the U.S. government.

''Stand up. Take action,'' said Jody Williams, the 1997 recipient for her work opposing land mines, and the only American to take the stage. ''Don't try to bring democracy to people you don't understand through the barrel of a gun and leave them with civil war.''

Even the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who praised the United States for its fight against South Africa's apartheid and its history of justice and democracy, had stern words for the Bush administration.

''You taught us about the rule of law,'' he said. ''You taught us no government worth its salt can subvert the rule of law. We believed you. That's part of what you have as a gift for the world. Then how can you commit Guantanamo Bay? Take back your country.... How about exporting some of your generosity instead of your bombs?''

With all the threats directed at the Pope this weekend over comments he made in a speech, to the similar uproar unleashed earlier this year over cartoons, to the various bombings that have been carried out by Muslim extremists throughout the world over the past decade and a half following the fall of Communism, one might think that an appropriate topic would be their terrorism. Or perhaps the failure of dictators like those gathered in Cuba to feed, educate, and generally help their people, instead of preying upon them. Or the complete disaster that is the United Nations, with its inadequacies and corruption and inability to protect the innocent in the Balkans, Rwanda, and now Darfur.

More Nobel opprobrium for the United States, Bush, and the West in general:

The largest gathering of Nobel peace laureates ever on U.S. soil took a sharp political turn Saturday when several prize winners denounced U.S. foreign policy and President Bush while urging U.S. and Israeli leaders to open lines of communication with terrorist groups.

"You are some of the most incredibly generous people," Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa told an audience of 7,000 at the University of Denver's Magness Arena. "Your philanthropy is fantastic. How about exporting your generosity instead of your bombs?"

The man who helped abolish apartheid in his native country echoed advice offered earlier in the evening by fellow laureate Betty Williams, who sought to end the violence in Northern Ireland: "Take your country back!"

As part of this weekend's PeaceJam youth conference, the Nobel winners unveiled a United Nations-style "global call" to fight what they identified as the core evils of the world - poverty, racism, a lack of clean water, the degradation of the environment and the obsession with nuclear weapons.

The failure to address those evils, they said, are the root causes of suicide bombers and hijackers of airplanes.

Nope, that would be the Islamofasciscts, Muslim extremists, or whatever the nom de jour for jihadis is these days—they exploit those conditions to recruit, demonize the other (the West, Christianity, the United States, take your pick), and foment violence.

Many of the laureates criticized the American government for spending so much on "instruments of destruction" instead of building schools or feeding the poor in other countries - ignoring more serious threats to humanity as it focuses on the war against terrorism.

. . .

Williams, the Northern Ireland peace activist, paused during her talk to single out a PeaceJam participant sitting near the arena's rafters: a Peruvian girl working to eradicate hunger at an orphanage.

"A child of 11 has more intelligence than the president of the United States," she said, drawing cheers.

Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian judge who was the first Muslim to win the Nobel Peace Prize, said she was "very sorry about the sad events of Sept. 11" but wished that the United States had built a school in Afghanistan for each victim instead of going to war.

Ebadi also took issue with the idea that the world is in the midst of a clash of civilizations based on religion. She said political disputes are to blame, "the result of the wrong policies of politicians."

"Fundamentalism does not only belong to Islam, it exists in all religions," she said through an Farsi interpreter. "When someone claims that he has a mission from God to bring war to Iraq and kill the people of Iraq, this is a kind of terrorism and a kind of fundamentalism."

“Bush the terrorist” again. Like Rosie O’Donnell, the “extremists” lurking in other religions are waiting for their chance to explode (yes, that word is intentional) onto the world stage. They just haven’t yet. Just you wait. Sometime soon. Or not.

The sole American among the group, Jody Williams, recognized for her work to ban and clear land mines, said in an interview that Americans were told it was treasonous to ask "why" after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The U.S. government has created a "no-win situation" in Iraq, Williams said. If troops withdraw, terrorists can claim victory, yet continued occupation is pointless, she said.

"They're both bad, but withdrawing the troops is probably the better of two horrible options," Williams said. "We never should have been there in the first place."

Perhaps she joined the 9/11 “truth activists” in seeking out government duplicity about the attacks and positing complicity in the events of September 11th.

The last Nobel laureate to arrive in Denver, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, said at a news conference Saturday that it was time for U.S. and Israeli officials to open up a dialogue with terrorism groups.

Mr. Arias, dialogue is difficult with katyusha rockets, homicide bombers, and rioting/arson/beheadings as the political currency of terrorists. It is hard to do more than either resist or submit when one side of the table is pointing guns at you.

"I regret that there is not the courage or the political will to sit down and negotiate," said Arias, who won the prize for promoting peace in Latin America.

Arias criticized the U.S. and Israeli governments for saying security precludes peace when it is "just the opposite." Their logic gives power to fanatics such as suicide bombers, he said.

"The United States has declared war on terrorism ... but that is not the only threat," he said. "We are not dealing with the basic threats of humanity."

Peace precludes security, Mr. Arias--not quite sure of the reasoning. If the United States are expected to take no action in safeguarding their liberty and their security, then I'm quite sure we are not interested in your brand of freedom.

As Nobel laureates they are obligated to lob insults, insinuate that the U.S. government's actions are tantamount to terrorism, that it is America who is the real cause of disempowerment, cultural malaise, and hatred in the developing world.

With the exception of the Dalai Lama (for tact), why on Earth were these idiots given a Peace Prize?

---

technorati: peacejam nobel prize peace mairead maguire betty williams adolfo esquivel desmond tutu dalai lama rigoberta menchu jose ramos-horta jody williams shirin ebadi oscar arias aung san suu kyi denver