Oslo braces to welcome 'war president' Nobel laureate

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 12/9/09 | Rita Devlin Marier

[NormsRevenge]

OSLO (AFP) – Helicopters buzzed through central Oslo's grey skies Wednesday as the city beefed up security on the eve of US President Barack Obama's visit to accept his controversial Nobel Peace Prize.

Two military choppers circled above Obama's hotel while others flew over the city centre, their sound reverberating throughout normally-peaceful Oslo as Norway laid on unprecedented security measures for the visit.

"All that noise we are hearing and everything we are seeing, it's a bit creepy," May-Britt Gundersen told AFP as she walked alongside barricades blocking the street facing the Grand Hotel, adding that for Norwegians such a display was "highly unusual."

"Terrorism is the word that comes to mind."

The security deployed for Obama's visit is the largest police operation ever in the Scandinavian country, costing the government around 92 million kroner (10.9 million euros, 16 million dollars) -- more than 10 times the prize money awarded to the Peace Prize laureate.

Barricades were placed along the sidewalks of Oslo's main avenues, between 2,000 and 2,500 police officers have been mobilised, the Schengen-member country reinstated border controls and anti-aircraft missiles were deployed near the airport and around Oslo to ensure the president's security.

"It's exciting to see a little bit of action," Gundersen's daughter Helle, walking with her child in a pram, told AFP.

The beefed-up protection was however not necessarily reflective of support for the choice of Obama as the 2009 Peace Prize laureate.

[NormsRevenge]

He's no second coming of MLK, that's for sure.

An image of U.S. President Barack Obama (R) is seen alongside one of Martin Luther King in an exhibition at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo December 9, 2009. Two leading international human rights groups gave U.S. President Barack Obama mixed reviews on his human rights record on Wednesday, a day before he is slated to accept the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International urged Obama to use his acceptance speech on Thursday to renew U.S. leadership on human rights after its position was undermined by abuses committed during the Bush administration's war on terrorism. REUTERS/Chris Helgren (NORWAY POLITICS SOCIETY)

[the invisib1e hand]

his shadow is definitely taller than he is.

he's gonna disappear in a *poof* eventually.

[NormsRevenge]

An image of U.S. President Barack Obama is seen in an exhibition at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo December 9, 2009. Two leading international human rights groups gave Obama mixed reviews on his human rights record on Wednesday, a day before he is slated to accept the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International urged Obama to use his acceptance speech on Thursday to renew U.S. leadership on human rights after its position was undermined by abuses committed during the Bush administration's war on terrorism. REUTERS/Chris Helgren (NORWAY POLITICS SOCIETY)

[Past Your Eyes]

Any idea of a way to keep him out of the country for good?

[MaxMax]

LOL War President!

[Sacajaweau]

What a farce. War President?? He’s “Present” and nothing more.

[max americana]

Obeyme will hand it later that night to his real daddy Soros. What a joke...white Euroweenies voting for this idiot who has done nothing except make speeches which mean absolutely nothing.

[NormsRevenge]

Legal?
No.

[darkside321]

the truth is nobody thinks he deserved this. (not even most of the left wing). fact is the idiots of this “commission” destroyed their own prize. they gave it to him because no one would have really thought that america would vote a black president. this was all. (europe would never do this but you know it´s so nice to see your self in the spotlight while teaching tolerance as long as you don´t have to practice it on your own).

[pnh102]

Heh... let the taxpayers of Norway get soaked to pay for this lunacy.

[joethedrummer]

What a joke.

[darkside321]

just the imagination is funny. a none white president in europe. this will never happen. i don´t even know an none white town manager. don´t let you fool you from some european politicians and the 5% radical left wing of europe. (we have this about 5-10% in every country). fact is the EU would do everything to harm the US. it´s all about global power. so would do the US government on the other side. “we” the people are caught between.

[Retain Mike]

Barack Obama does deserve and received the Noble Peace Prize as a gesture to his diplomatic initiatives approved by liberal constituencies. Here the best approaches to diplomacy reside within modern game theory for which John Nash and others received Nobel prizes. Supposedly, we simply talk to people and they realize the brilliance of Western conflict resolution.

Greg Lewis in the American Thinker offered another perspective in painting an uncharitable picture of Obama as displaying classic beta male behavior. The alpha male dog approaches directly, while the beta male displays acquiescent gestures signaling uncompromising submission.

Lewis saw submissiveness in offering conciliatory gestures to Sudanese leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir, in sending John Kerry to meet Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, in bowing to King Abdullah, in airy discussions with Hugo Chavez and David Ortega, and in generally ridiculing U.S. past actions whenever he appeared on an international stage.

Lewis’ assessment matches how despots grasp and retain their power. They defeat others on playing fields ruled by human cunning allied with animal brutality. For them an internal/external continuum exists where politics is war without bloodshed, and war is politics with bloodshed.

Why would a national leader abandon proven strategies, when a potential opponent exhibits behaviors they disregarded in their rise to dominion? Certainly, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s latest announcement about nuclear fuel enrichment shows his disregard for Obama’s initiatives.

[Bender2]

War... President?

Only in that he is at war... with the American People and their way of life

[Fireone]

Meanwhile...”Nobel peace prize: Norwegians incensed over Barack Obama’s snubs”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/09/obama-nobel-peace-prize-snub

[NormsRevenge]

UFF DA!

[darkside321]

to say it clear the only time the EU would be willing to help Obama would be if it´s in their own benefit. ok Afghanistan is the exception. this have been the people who wanted the taliban to get killed because out of solidarity. 9/11 was a shock for everyone in the western world. just for example when has “europe” ever send about 40.000 troops only to help america??? this has never happened. this have been the people living here this time. but don´t get fooled the EU is a rival. the people are not! but then again “we” have to live here.

[blackie]

The poseur messiah is an arrogant traitor!

Be Ever Vigilant!