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By Andrew P. Peck
The Nobel Prize Committee's decision to honor former President Jimmy Carter with its Peace Prize is a peculiar one at this critical point in history. It would be more prudent at this unstable juncture to recognize an effort in dire need of moral and financial support than to honor a noted philanthropist.
The Nobel Prize for Peace could have been used as a valuable tool for disarming the nuclear arsenal of the former Soviet Union lest it lands in the possession of death-crazed terrorists. U.S. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana was also nominated for the award and his threat reduction program, co-directed by Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, is in dire need of the attention the prestigious award could have offered.
Carter is a worthy recipient. His humanitarian efforts over the past two decades have been felt throughout the world. However, Carter could have been honored at anytime during his succession of magnanimous acts, and with terrorist groups posing a more viable threat to world order than ever before, he could have been obliged to wait a while before being handed the Nobel's eminent piece of hardware.
It isn't as though the Nobel Committee is slighting Lugar himself. The extensive press coverage and global admiration he has been given is not an issue. What Lugar is doing is so critical to the future of humanity that it simply cannot be allowed to be under appreciated. The results of such an oversight could be more disastrous than any of the events that have rocked this country over the past 13 months.
Enemies of peace-loving nations will stop at nothing to ensure that death and destruction are inflicted upon the free world. It is known that Osama bin Laden and other noted terrorists have attempted to siphon the nuclear arsenal stockpiled by our former Cold War adversary and now in the hands of a shaky Russian government. The Russian regime is probably incapable of keeping these weapons of mass destruction safe from organized crime outfits intent on distributing them for profit.
According to Lugar's official Web site, the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program has deactivated 5,990 nuclear warheads, 479 ballistic missiles, sealed 194 nuclear test tunnels, and assigned more than 22,000 scientists formerly employed in weapons of mass destruction programs to peaceful endeavors.
Yet, on Oct. 1 the U.S. government halted funding for this program. A bill that would give permanent waiver authority to President Bush to continue funding the program is currently in a House-Senate conference committee.
Wider coverage of this halt in funding for the program could have been more visible to citizens who have the opportunity to urge their representatives in Congress to vote for this bill.
But Carter got the nod over Lugar and for a few days, his noble and praiseworthy image was present on national newscasts along with appropriately glowing speeches by public figures about his endeavors. Then the nation's attention quickly turned to a deadly sniper rampaging through the suburbs of the District of Columbia.
It is true that support for the Lugar-Nunn program and an award for Lugar's tireless work would do little to end the horrifying daily experience of the sniper's possible targets. But the mere presence of that unseen menace is a terrifying reminder of the unique threat with which the free world is currently at war.
This, unfortunately, is an opportune time to address that danger. The world's biggest prize for peaceful efforts should have been used to make a statement in that regard.
The IUPUI Sagmore
October 21, 2002
Lugar More Deserving of Nobel Prize
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