Torstein Viddal

Dear Sirs / Madams,

while the Norwegian Nobel Committee emphasizes the Nominee’s vision of a world free from nuclear arms as its main motivation for awarding the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Hussein Obama, and cites his appeal that «Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges», it seems to me that these arguments are in clear breach of the very first paragraph in the Statutes for the Nobel Foundation – §1 – and its very first sentence, which reads:

«The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind.»

My emphasis is on the words «during the preceding year», which in this case was the year 2008. All the five Nobel Prizes for 2009 are correctly awarded for work done in 2008 – except, it seems, for the Peace Prize, as we shall see.

Firstly, the announcement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee talks about «Obama as President» and lists what the Nominee has done for the cause of peace «as President». However, the Nominee only became US President on January 20, 2009, so these motivations are in fact not valid.

Secondly, the announcement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee talks about the Nominee’s vision of a world free from nuclear arms. But again, this motivation is in fact not valid, as the Nominee’s vision was announced as late as September 24, 2009, just days before the announcement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

And thirdly, the Nominee’s appeal that «Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges» also fails to qualify as a motivation for the Nobel Peace Prize, as these words were first uttered by the Nominee at the United Nations on September 23, 2009.

Conclusion: As the motivations of the Norwegian Nobel Committee for awarding the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to the Nominee – as stated in its announcement of October 9, 2009 – are all invalid as per the very first sentence of the very first paragraph in the Statutes for the Nobel Foundation, I hereby urge you to annul the October 9 announcement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee and award the Peace Prize for 2009 to someone who in 2008 actually has done a great job for peace, and who actually has conferred the greatest benefit to mankind.

Sincerely,
Torstein Viddal
Oslo, Norway.

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Source: http://viddal.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/formal-complaint-about-the-awarding-of-the-nobel-peace-prize-to-barack-obama/