Obama accepts Nobel Peace Prize days after announcing troop surge
Thursday, December 10, 2009
President Obama accepted the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo today, acknowledging in his speech the hotly debated irony of receiving it as a wartime president.
According to a Times article today, Obama’s speech to the Nobel Committee defended his war stance, saying the pursuit of a “just peace” sometimes means more than simply refraining from violence.
The selection of Obama for the award has been controversial, coming less than a year into his first term and just days after he announced he would commit 30,000 additional U.S. troops to the war in Afghanistan.
Nobel Committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland suggested the award will encourage the president to achieve his goals.
And while he didn’t mention if he supported Obama’s military buildup, a video on the Nobelprize.org website with Geir Lundestad, secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, explained how the President’s prize follows the statutes of Alfred Nobel’s will.
Twitter users and readers have mostly been critical of the president's Peace Prize, but some at least admired Obama's address to the committee:
MEDixon215 (advisor to to Alabama Gov. Bob Riley) tweeted: Didnt agree with the President being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but I applaud his speech today. Sometimes war is req'd to achieve peace
lancole expresses enthusiastic patriotism: I am SO proud of our President! Beautiful speech. He won based on the calm that came over the world on Nov. 4. HOPE 4 peace!
JonPowles also applauded the speech: Am I the only person in the world who found Obama's nobel speech eloquent and persuasive? I am opposed to the wars, btw.
On the other end of the spectrum:
MorgaineChya tweeted: Obama Congratulations to Nobel for destroying the meaning of the Peace prize; it is now a joke.
andy w commented on the D.C. Now blog: This is crazy. Why does he deserve a Peace Prize. He has done nothing to change the horrible state of the nation. The same old crap Bush pulled. Obama extended the Patriot Act. Oh yeah he hasn't done crap to get us out to this global war on terror. Ask yourself these two question: is he really that different? where's the change we were promised? Upon some reflective thought, you might find he is just a puppet of an much larger olgarical system. A system that is doing everything it can to take away human liberties, destroy our economy, and install a one world government.
zfree complained: Pres Obama accepts Nobel Peace prize with a speech promoting war, humanity is broken can we have a new one?
Did the Nobel Committee make the right decision in awarding President Obama the Peace Prize in a time of war? Or does it contradict the mission of the Nobel Peace Prize, which has in the past been awarded to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.? Tell us what you think below.
-- Kelsey Ramos Photo: President Obama looks over his Nobel Peace Prize during ceremonies in Oslo today. Credit: Susan Walsh / Associated Press
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