US President Barack Obama evoked the cause of a just war on Thursday, accepting his Nobel Peace Prize just nine days after sending 30,000 more US troops to war in Afghanistan but promising to use the prestigious prize to "reach for the world that ought to be."
Obama became the first sitting US president in 90 years and the third ever to win the prize--some say prematurely. He and his wife, Michelle, whirled through a day filled with Nobel pomp and ceremony in this Nordic capital.
Obama delivered a Nobel acceptance speech that he saw as a treatise on war's use and prevention. 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.
"I face the world as it is," Obama said, refusing to renounce war for his nation or under his leadership, saying 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-Qaida's leaders to lay down their arms," Obama said. "To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism, it is a recognition of history."
Obama laid out the circumstances where war is justified--in self-defense, to come to the aid of an invaded nation, or on humanitarian grounds, such as when civilians are slaughtered by their own government or a civil war threatens to engulf an entire region."The belief that peace is desirable is rarely enough to achieve it," he said.
He also spoke bluntly of the cost of war, saying of the Afghanistan buildup he just ordered that "some will kill, some will be killed.""No matter how justified, war promises human tragedy," he said.
Obama also emphasized alternatives to violence, stressing the importance of both diplomatic efforts and tough sanctions to confront nations such as Iran or North Korea, which defy international demands to halt their nuclear programs, or those such as Sudan, Congo or Burma that brutalize their citizens.AP
Invoking his 'heroes' Mahatma Gandhi and legendary civil rights leader Martin Luther King, US President Barack Obama received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize vowing to achieve a peaceful world where "war is sometimes necessary".
In his acceptance speech after receiving the Nobel Prize, the first sitting US President to get the coveted prize in 90 years, Obama said: "I know there is nothing weak nothing passive nothing na ve in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King." "But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their (Gandhi and Dr King) examples alone.
I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people," the 48-year-old President said.
The president acknowledged that many people feel he has not done enough to deserve the prize that he received in Oslo.
He also noted that he recently ordered another 30,000 U.S. troops to fight in Afghanistan. People must accept "the hard truth" that violence cannot be eradicated and nations sometimes must wage war to protect their citizens from evil regime or terrorist groups. He said a non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies and negotiations cannot persuade al-Qaida's leaders to disarm.
"...part of our challenge is reconciling these two seemingly irreconcilable truths that war is sometimes necessary, and war is at some level an expression of human feelings," the US President said.
Noting that terrorism has long been a tactic, Obama said modern technology allows a few small men with outsized rage to murder innocents on a horrific scale.
"Moreover, wars between nations have increasingly given way to wars within nations. The resurgence of ethnic or sectarian conflicts; the growth of secessionist movements, insurgencies, and failed states; have increasingly trapped civilians in unending chaos," Obama said as he pledged the USD 1.4 million prize to charity.
"In today s wars, many more civilians are killed than soldiers; the seeds of future conflict are sewn, economies are wrecked, civil societies torn asunder, refugees amassed, and children scarred," the President said.
Describing disarmament as a "centerpiece" of his foreign policy, Obama said he was committed to upholding the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and that he was working with Russian President Medvedev to reduce America and Russia's nuclear stockpiles.
"In the middle of the last century, nations agreed to be bound by a treaty whose bargain is clear: all will have access to peaceful nuclear power; those without nuclear weapons will forsake them; and those with nuclear weapons will work toward disarmament," Obama said.
He is the third sitting US president to win the award after Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Former US president Jimmy Carter won the prize in 2002.
Describing the nuclear non- proliferation treaty as a "centrepiece" of his foreign policy, US President Barack Obama on Thursday said nations with nuclear weapons will work toward disarmament.
He also said he was committed to upholding the treaty to seek a world without nuclear weapons. "...to seek a world without them. In the middle of the last century, nations agreed to be bound by a treaty whose bargain is clear: all will have access to peaceful nuclear power; those without nuclear weapons will forsake them; and those with nuclear weapons will work toward disarmament," he said as he received the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.
"I am committed to upholding this treaty. It is a centerpiece of my foreign policy. And I am working with President Medvedev to reduce America and Russia's nuclear stockpiles," the US President said.
The world may no longer shudder at the prospect of war between two nuclear superpowers, but proliferation may increase the risk of catastrophe, he said. The US President has vowed to achieve a nuclear-free world and has asked states which have not signed the treaty, including India, to sign it. PTI
