Martin Luther King Junior won it for his non-violent civil rights struggle, Willy Brandt for his Ostpolitik, Mohammed Amwar Sadat for his efforts to reach peace with Israel, Mother Teresa for her work in Calcutta, Aung San Suu Kyi for her struggle for democracy, Yitzhak Rabin for his efforts to reach peace with the Palestinians, Shirin Ebadi for his struggle for human rights and democracy. But why exactly has Barack Hussein Obama won it? I am here obviously referring to the awarding of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to the US President!

Mr Obama has been in office for around eight months now. During these eight months violence in Afghanistan has increased, the success rate of the Taliban is fast reaching shocking proportions, the battle against terrorism is no closer to being won, US economic figures are abysmal at best with unemployment reaching sky high proportions while the Obama-led White House is now sending billions of dollars to fund pro-abortion campaigns and abortion clinics.

And what about the international scene? What has the Obama-Clinton foreign policy achieved? Is the United Nations in any better position when it comes to Iran or is Iran still running wildly out of control and possibly moving a step closer day by day to its dream of eradicating Israel or as it calls it, "the Zionist enemy"? Is the UN in any better position with North Korea or is it still a yo-yo game of ups and downs with the Communist Korean regime? Is Zimbabwe today in any better position than it was in the pre-Obama days?

So, again one asks, why exactly has Barack Hussein Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize? He promised Americans a change they could believe in, yet eight months down the line no change has been forthcoming; eight months down the line the winds of change of a Democrat White House have been non-existent both in the US and outside it.

Some may praise Mr Obama for giving hope to many Americans. Others may praise him for seeking to reduce the importance of nuclear armaments and for seeking to strengthen international cooperation. As they say in Italian, however, tra il dire e il fare c'è di mezzo il mare; it's one thing speaking of a reduction of nuclear armaments and another thing achieving it and clearly countries such as the US itself, Russia, UK, France and the club are still very much armed. What exactly has the Obama policy on international cooperation achieved? Can anyone mention any particular achievement? As for hope to millions of Americans, he was just lucky enough to be the successor of George W. Bush who was largely controversial and in the end hugely unpopular.

The awarding to Barack Obama of the Nobel Peace Prize is nothing short of a prize being given for international bootlicking. What a shame!