Nobel Peace Prize

Obama's Nobel Speech: Seeking Peace, While Explaining The Reality Of War

Eric Kleefeld | December 10, 2009, 9:41AM

President Obama accepted his Nobel Peace Prize earlier today in Oslo, Norway, with a speech in which he addressed both the yearning for peace and the importance of pursuing it -- and the responsibility of fighting necessary wars.

Obama acknowledged the criticism that it is too early for him to receive this honor -- and said that the skeptics are right:

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. And then there are the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice; those who toil in humanitarian organizations to relieve suffering; the unrecognized millions whose quiet acts of courage and compassion inspire even the most hardened of cynics. I cannot argue with those who find these men and women - some known, some obscure to all but those they help - to be far more deserving of this honor than I.

One line in particular -- in which Obama recognized the implications of accepting a peace prize at the same time as he is escalating a war in Afghanistan -- should be regarded as especially important because of what he says about America's other war:

But perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the Commander-in-Chief of the military of a nation in the midst of two wars. One of these wars is winding down. The other is a conflict that America did not seek; one in which we are joined by forty three other countries - including Norway - in an effort to defend ourselves and all nations from further attacks.

By identifying Afghanistan as "a conflict that America did not seek," the obvious implication is that the Iraq War is a war that America did seek -- that America was the aggressor, violating the laws of war that have developed through the centuries.

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Nobel Peace Prize

Obama To Use Afghanistan Decision In Nobel Speech

Christina Bellantoni | December 7, 2009, 11:08AM

President Barack Obama

President Obama on Thursday will talk about his decision to send 30,000 more troops to fight the war in Afghanistan when accepting his Nobel Peace Prize.

A White House aide gave TPMDC a little preview of Obama's speech in Oslo when he accepts the award the Nobel committee surprised the world with when granting it to the new president in October.

"The president will talk about what it means to receive a Nobel Peace Prize in the wake of his Afghanistan decision," the aide said. "He will also focus on ways in which the international community can more effectively prevent needless conflict and promote peace across the globe."

The speech comes in the week following Obama's final decision of sending the surge of troops to Afghanistan, and as global climate negotiations kick off in Copenhagen.

What's still to be determined is what Obama will do with the $1.4 million in prize money. As we have reported, Obama will give it to more than one charity but we don't know much beyond that - yet.

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