Dr David Cortright, of the University of Notre Dame,
Indiana, argues US President Barack Obama has changed
American policy for the better. Photo by Linda Robertson.
In New York, peace activists yesterday carried mock
coffins through the streets to protest President Barack Obama
receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
More than 14,000km away in Dunedin, respected United States
peace advocate Dr David Cortright was far more supportive,
saying while he and others did not agree with Mr Obama's
decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, Mr Obama's
progressive thinking on peace strategies meant he deserved
the medal.
"I think the Nobel committee was right to recognise what a
dramatic step forward his election was for the US and for the
world. He has dramatically changed American policy.
"He is working with the United Nations on peacekeeping, on
sanctions issues, on the peace-building commission, and on
human rights policy.
"He has consciously reached out to the Muslim world and tried
to build a bridge between these differences and animosities
which have built up.
"He has committed the US to reducing and eliminating nuclear
weapons. That is profoundly important for the peace movement
and unprecedented for an American president."
Dr Cortright, who is one of the guest speakers at a peace
conference at the University of Otago, is director of policy
studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
at the University of Notre Dame, in Indiana.
He became a vocal opponent of war while serving for three
years in the US army during the Vietnam conflict.
He was never deployed to Vietnam, something he puts down to
his outspokenness on the issue.
In the years since, he has lectured, written 15 books and
provided peace research services to several foreign
governments and UN agencies.
While the difference between Mr Obama and his predecessor
George Bush was "night and day", Dr Cortright said peace
advocates believed Mr Obama's stance on Afghanistan was wrong
and wanted him to stick to his promises and begin withdrawing
troops by the middle of 2011.
"Some security forces are definitely needed there and our
position is not for immediate withdrawal. But I also doubt a
war strategy is ultimately going to win. We favour a
humanitarian surge, rather than a military surge."
allison.rudd@odt.co.nz
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