Posted on 12/10/2009 8:24:41 AM PST by myknowledge
US President Barack Obama has received the gold Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma in a lavish ceremony in Norway.
Mr Obama accepted the prize with "deep gratitude and great humility" but warned that war was sometimes necessary despite its "acute" human tragedy.
In his speech at the ceremony, Mr Obama said the United States must uphold moral standards when waging wars that are necessary and justified.
He said violent conflict would not be eradicated "in our lifetimes", there would be times when nations would need to fight just wars and he would not stand idle in the face of threats to the American people.
"Where force is necessary, we have a moral and strategic interest in binding ourselves to certain rules of conduct," he said.
"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."
Nine days after ordering 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan to break the momentum of the Taliban, Mr Obama acknowledged the criticism of those who have said it was wrong and premature to award the Nobel accolade to a president still in his first year in office and escalating a major war.
He said America's adherence to moral standards, even in war, was what made it different from its enemies.
"That is a source of our strength. That is why I prohibited torture. That is why I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed. And that is why I have reaffirmed America's commitment to abide by the Geneva Conventions," he said.
By pledging to close the Guantanamo camp for foreign terrorist suspects on Cuba, and moving to bring inmates to trial on US soil, Mr Obama has attempted to recover the moral high ground that critics of the United States accused his predecessor George W Bush of surrendering by waging a no-holds-barred 'war on terror'.
"We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend," he said.
"And we honour those ideals by upholding them, not just when it is easy, but when it is hard."
Sanctions must bite
Acknowledging "a reflexive suspicion of America, the world's sole military superpower", he said his country could not act alone in confronting global challenges in Afghanistan, Somalia or other troubled regions.
He said in seeking alternatives to force, it was necessary to be tough.
"Those regimes that break the rules must be held accountable. Sanctions must enact a real price," Mr Obama said in a passage that addressed North Korea's nuclear arsenal and US suspicions that Iran, too, seeks to acquire the bomb.
"It is... incumbent upon all of us to insist that nations like Iran and North Korea do not game the system.
"Those who seek peace cannot stand idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war."
At a news conference earlier, Mr Obama reaffirmed that US troops would begin transferring responsibility for Afghan security to local forces in July 2011 but said there would be no "precipitous drawdown".
Acknowledging the controversy surrounding his prize, he said "I have no doubt that there are others that may be more deserving. My task here is to continue on the path that I believe is not only important for America but important for lasting peace in the world."
He said that meant pursuing a world free of nuclear weapons and countering proliferation, addressing climate change, stabilising countries like Afghanistan, mobilising an international effort to deal with terrorism and addressing development issues.
Some of these initiatives were beginning to bear fruit, Mr Obama said.
"If I am successful in those tasks, then hopefully some of the criticism will subside, but that is not really my concern. If I am not successful, than all the praise and awards in the world will not disguise that," he said.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told journalists the prize was well deserved and "can contribute in itself to strengthening the efforts of the President to work for peace".
Oh, waaaahhhhhhh! Why does this warmonger in Afghanista, BHO the 'American' Antichrist, deserve a Nobel False Peace Prize? It's like awarding a high school diploma to a 12th grade student who failed his SAT exams, or awarding Adolf Hitler a Nobel False Peace Prize for starting WWII.
Class of 1984.....Ha ha......
"System?" What system?
There is not set of rules that anyone plays by anymore.
Far better to acknowledge that evil exists and needs to be destroyed than to suggest that someone is not playing by the rules when no rules exist.
***Mr Obama accepted the prize with “deep gratitude and great humility”***
See how humble I am? If there was a prize for humility—I bet I would get that too!
Picture looks like a little kid smiling after he receives an award in his kindergarten graduation. Only problem with that comparison is, that’s a shame to the 6-year-old; I have more respect for the kid.
Huh? Toughness is an alternative to force?
My Marine Corps community doesn't need that kind of organizing.
"Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery." - Malcolm X
Demonrat definition of a “just war”—one which they wage, usually for personal political purposes (ie Clinton’s “wag the dog” strategy)
“AYSO Soccer Participation Award”
I’m pretty sure the real reason they awarded this prize to Obama was for who he is, not what he’s accomplished.
They can’t admit it in public, but it’s only because they think America is deeply racist. They think he’s “finally” broken the “color barrier” in America.
Imagine the flack they’d get if they actually said America elected a black man, while ignoring the fact that he wouldn’t be in the white house unless a whole lot of white people gave him their vote.
Idjits.
He insults the king, in fact the nation.
He then at a peace prize award, speaking to people insulted and upset at the very thought of war, launches into a speech about the benefit of his war?
This is akin to preaching abortion, euthanasia and the benefits of homosexual life when given the pulpit at your baptism.
Of if a Catholic, at Mass.
Humility? Sensitivity and manners?
Obama gives speeches so we won’t forget he’s an idiot.
Nice pic of Il Douchebag.
Obama wonders Kenya dig it?.
It’s becoming a regular tradition for lying hypocrite leftist Demonrat EU-azz-kissing presidents to be awarded the Nobel Piss Prize, regular as clockwork. What a freakin’ joke and a travesty that so-called “award” is now, devoid of any meaning other sucking up to any American president who demeans America, weakens her, and betrays her honor to “the world”. Hussein won’t show respect to their traditional heads of state, but he’ll suck up to the America-hating portion of the European populations. What they don’t seem to realise is that he’ll sell them out as quick as he does his supposed own country, when it comes them or his Muslim cohorts. I hope they get a taste of his medicine real soon.
The only “accomplishment” he has in his whole career is that of dishonoring America, so if he was awarded the Nobel Piss Prize for any “accomplishment”, that’s what it was.
I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King said in this same ceremony years ago: "Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: It merely creates new and more complicated ones." As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. Kings lifes work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there is nothing weak, nothing passive, nothing naive in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.
What kind of Christian does not witness his faith and instead points to men who followed (and cited) Jesus Christ's path of non-violence but ignores Him?
2004 Interview: Obama Talks about Jesus, Heaven and Sin June 3, 2008 (CBN - Posted on Tuesday, October 21, 2008)
(GG is God Girl aka Cathleen Falsani) GG: Who’s Jesus to you?OBAMA: Right. Jesus is a historical figure for me, and he’s also a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means of us reaching something higher. And he’s also a wonderful teacher. I think it’s important for all of us, of whatever faith, to have teachers in the flesh and also teachers in history.
Even as a historical figure, Obama does not cite Him. But gee, ain't that Islam wonderful? It sure has made some contributions to history. Why I remember...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.