US President Barack Obama should not have been given the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon has said citing his "not so great" record on civil liberty and that he took too long to pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
"No way! I mean we are talking about the Nobel Peace Prize, not at all," the actress said during an interaction at International film festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, when asked if Obama deserved a Nobel.
Sarandon, 67, who won an Oscar for best acting in 1995, inaugurated the festival early this week. "I understand that they are encouraging him somehow to do more peaceful things and I think he managed to edge around Syria. But certainly if I was a parent to someone from Iraq or Afghanistan, I would be very disappointed. How long has he taken to get out of those countries."
She also alleged that Obama administration prosecuted more whistle-blowers than all the other American Presidents put together.
"So his record on civil liberty is not that great and my expectations from him are based on the records in the past and his association with insurance agencies and nuclear energy and a lot of other things," she said.
But she hailed Obama's efforts in the health-care sector.
"I think the health-care thing is good. I didn't have a high expectation like a lot of other people had from him. I think that he was amazing to activate so many disfranchised people.
"Obama was elected the first time or even the second time and the Republican choice of candidate was a disaster. I voted for Obama. I am happy he was elected. He accomplished a lot by being an African-American.
"I think the rest of the world thought we had lost it after two times with Bush. The second time I was in Spain and people said 'What is going on?' The first time can be a mistake but seriously, second time?'" she said.
"It was a very hopeful sign when the American people against all odds elected an African-American. That was a huge thing."
