Peace prize

A few weeks into his first term President Obama made what has been called an apology tour. Here is what he said in Europe. "In recent years we've allowed our Alliance to drift. I know that there have been honest disagreements over policy, but we also know that there's something more that has crept into our relationship. In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive. A few months later in Oct 2009 only ten months in office and nine months after his “apology tour” Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Five years later the retiring secretary of the committee Geir Lindestad said: Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama in 2009 failed to achieve what the committee hoped it would, its ex-secretary has said. Last week Vice President Vance went to Europe and told them they were losing their free speech rights and they needed to start paying for their own defense and he was roundly criticized. He won’t be receiving any prize.