Barack Obama received the Nobel peace prize in Oslo today, where he defended the U.S.'s involvement in Afghanistan, and his recent escalation of 30,000 more troops as just, stating: "Where force is necessary, we have a moral and strategic interest in binding ourselves to certain rules of conduct. And even as we confront a vicious adversary that abides by no rules, I believe that the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war."
Despite perhaps continuing the war and terror rhetoric of the Bush administration, Obama has made significant measures with regards to war tactics, most notably closure of Guantanamo Bay and the truncation of torture methods.
The President cited Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. as tenants of non-violent leadership, but acknowledged that occasionally force is necessary. "I face the world as it is," he said.
Crowd support was positive for the most part, with only a small amount of demonstrators, some of whom declared the message: "Obama you won it, now earn it."
Regards his reception of the award this early in his term, Obama said, "“I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated. In part, this is because I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage. Compared to some of the giants of history who have received this prize–Schweitzer and King, Marshall and Mandela–my accomplishments are slight.”
The timing, though, was substantiated by Nobel chairman, Thorbjørn Jagland, who declared Obama had done more for peace this year than anyone, referencing his new agreement on nuclear weapons with Russia.
Obama added modestly, but wisely: “And If I’m successful in those tasks [promotion of peace], then hopefully some of the criticism will subside, but that’s not really my concern. And if I’m not successful, then all the praise and the awards in the world won’t disguise that fact.”
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Photo: ex_magician's Flickr photostream/Creative Commons
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