OPINION:
Lanny Davis’ latest column, “Obama’s Nobel achievement” (Nation, Monday), makes no sense. Many Democrats and members of the media criticized or ridiculed the award, including Mark Halperin, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Cohen and Ruth Marcus. The Republicans whom Mr. Davis criticizes simply were doing what many Democrats were doing.
Mr. Davis notes only two cases of Peace Prizes for efforts that were not complete. First was the Peace Prize to Henry A. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho in 1973. The result of the efforts honored by the Nobel Committee was a holocaust in Cambodia and close to that in South Vietnam, as brutal Communist regimes took over in the wake of the “negotiations” they were carrying out. The other example is of Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat in 1994. Their efforts resulted in years of deadly attacks on Israel, culminating in the 2000 Intifada and terrorist attacks that continue to this day.
What will be the result of President Obama’s “incomplete” efforts? Surely Mr. Davis does not want another disaster of the magnitude of the two cases he cites.
ROLAND F. HIRSCH
Germantown, Md.
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