Maybe this is a little premature?

He is still fighting two wars and has not had much luck with Israel, Iran, or North Korea so far.

I hope and expect he will have tremendous success throughout his presidency both at home and abroad. But lets recognize that success when he actually achieves it.

Were there no other more suitable candidates this year?

I am extremely proud of our President. His calm, open, yet strong global leadership has already changed the course of international relationships toward peace and welfare. He has opened doors to Islam, reinstated diplomacy as the preferred method of resolving differences, and brokered enhanced relationship among the world's heads of state. Bravo, Mr President.

What a pleasant surprise. I am pleased. suzannewayne asks if there were no other more suitible candidates this year. Do you know of Greg Mortenson's work in Pakistan and Afghanistan? Read Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time. Mortenson may not be more suitible, but surely his own version of boots on the ground deserves significant international recognition.

While I respect and support our president, the awarding of a peace prize after less than a year in office is premature. He's trying to take diplomacy into new and potentially more fruitful directions. But trying and succeeding are too different things. He's less than 1 year into a first term and his accomplishments are not yet settled enough to be judged. By making the prize contingent on intention rather than accomplishment, the prize loses respect. It becomes a symbol of the ability to talk rather than play a good game.

Now, the Pope must amend the cannonization laws that will permit awarding sainthood to living persons, and declare Obama as the first living saint. Hail Saint Obama!

More PR excess at this point as the Rock Star image continues. Still mostly talk with no visible results. And considering the other Peace Laureates in recent years, the committee in Sweden generally has been making narrow political statements without much substance. Can we stand another Jimmy Carter type?

I can't help wondering what on earth President Obama has ever done to the Nobel Prize Committee to deserve this embarrassment. How completely inappropriate, unseemly, and grotesque this is. If I were in his position, which God forbid, I'll have the committee killed in a way that made it look like the work of Al Qaeda or Vladimir Putin or some other truly offensive entity.

Well, no, I suppose I really wouldn't. But I'd certainly think about it. Then I'd do the dignified thing and decline the award.

Is it possible that the Nobel people are so politically tone-deaf, so completely obtuse, so utterly blinded by their own parochial world-view, that they think they're doing President Obama a favor? With friends like this . . .

Another sign of the apocalypse. I think the Mayans predicted this.

I think Obama is a wonderful man, but I agree, it's way too soon. And I'm inclined to agree with dank48, too; this may impede his effectiveness in international diplomacy, and certainly won't help him gain consensus and cooperation in domestic matters.

I believe the President is being hailed not for his successes -- which obviously haven't happened yet -- but his approach. Not willing to throw more young bodies into war he is focusing instead on diplomacy, which is something we haven't seen out of the White House in a long, long time. I think he was as surprised as anybody to be woken up this morning by this news, but we should all be proud of him and his continuing efforts to save American lives.

adeshane, the deadline for Nobel Peace Prize nominations was 12 days after Mr. Obama took office. What approach worthy of international recognition did he take in the first 12 days of office? I recall from the news several basketball games, a Super Bowl party in the White House, smoked a few packs of cigarettes, threw a couple of parties, etc.,... so a Nobel-really?

a fait accompli.

I am happy that the rest of the world is paying attention...Suzannewayne said: "Maybe this is a little premature?"...yes, perhaps in terms of accomplishments since President Obama has only ocupied his position for a few months...but the efforts are certainly there as was mentioned in the announcement...and I think that there is hope that the new attitudes and civil approaches to some of the longstanding problems will produce positive, tangible results in the near future...if nothing else, they initiate new perspectives on the issues...and this is very refreshing!I hope this gesture encourages the president to continue to pursue better understanding among people in our own society and the wider world.

Alas, Hope is now a method. I am distressed over this for its signal. Nobel's intent, in short, was to reward those who have already achieved great things. His goal was to acknowledge, not to instigate. I find this akin to an "activist supreme court" in the sense that the committee has chosen a loose construction of Nobel's guidance. They are attempting to influence events rather than acknowledge and reward. In awarding the president in the Hope that he will achieve something (which I Hope he does), they have exceeded what I consider to be their charter. And if, for the sake of argument, his efforts come to naught in 3.5 years? What then? If they begin award it based upon a person's potential and grand vision, there are alot of dissapointments to be had in the future.

What did the man accomplish between 1200p EST January 20, 2009 and February 1 to merit getting the Peace Prize? He certainly did nothing prior to that period. But I am forgetting. The Prize has gone to Arafat, Jimmy Carter, Algore and Rigoberto Menchu. The Peace Prize committee has done everything in its power to diminish the award. The Literature Prize will be next when it honors the collected works of Al Franken.

When people complain as if they know Obama really did nothing to deserve this great honor, then how seriously should anyone take their claims to be part of honoring this award? Folks, if humanity needs to honor the winner of a peace prize, it is in order to counter such cynicism, by helping establish that giving hope, on the scale Obama has done, is a real achievement.

Obama matches the model of an excellent teacher. He is calm and not intimidated by opinions not like his own. He knows they must be heard. He is able to "continue the class" without allotting too much time to the sidebar critic; without letting emotional rhetoric pump or pinch the logical point.
Why haven't we had an experienced academic in the White House before? LBJ, who taught first grade is the closest we've come.