Obama praises peace, while defending war in Nobel Peace Prize speech
Obama praises peace, while defending war in Nobel Peace Prize speechUS President Barack Obama entered the pantheon of Nobel Peace Prize winners yesterday with humble words, acknowledging his own few accomplishments while delivering a robust defense of war and promising to use the prestigious award to "reach for the world that ought to be".
A wartime president honoured for peace, Obama became the first sitting US president in 90 years and the third ever to win the prize some say prematurely.
In this damp, chilly Nordic capital to pick it up, he and his wife, Michelle, whirled through a day filled with Nobel pomp and ceremony.
Just nine days after ordering 30,000 more US troops into battle in Afghanistan, Obama delivered a Nobel acceptance speech that he saw as a treatise on the use and prevention of war.
He crafted much of the address himself and the scholarly remarks at about 4,000 words were nearly twice as long as his inaugural address.
In them, Obama refused to renounce war for his nation or under his leadership, saying defiantly that "I face the world as it is" and that he is obliged to protect and defend the United States.
"A nonviolent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms," Obama said.
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"To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism, it is a recognition of history."
