Obama nobel peace prize speech universally praised - now what? (Video)

President Obama accepted his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway today, and delivered a speech that has unified citizens of the United States and beyond, regardless of their political party or religion, race, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status . 

President Obama speaking at he UN earlier this year (Photo: AP)

Perhaps the president should have won the coveted prized based on this speech alone, because it was the biggest high-wire act (dubbed by CNN) than any politician has pulled off in recent memory - a President receiving a prize for peace while advocating for war.

It was a probably the most important speech Obama has made so far during his term in office, and was obviously written to live on as part of his legacy. 

Obama began on a humble note, by admitting he was "surprised" by receiving the prize as a wartime President, acknowledging right up front that we was aware of the "considerable controversy" surrounding the decision to give him the prize.  He also acknowledged that among the "giants in history" who have received the award, his accomplishments were slight.  Then he recognized  the "unrecognized millions" of people in the world whose "quiet acts of courage and compassion" were far more worthy of the honor than he.

The President said,

We are at war, and I am responsible for the deployment of thousands of young Americans to battle in a distant land. Some will kill. Some will be killed. And so I come here with an acute sense of the cost of armed conflict - filled with difficult questions about the relationship between war and peace, and our effort to replace one with the other.

After a somewhat lengthy history lesson, Obama spoke of the notion of a "just war", which he defined as as one  "waged as a last resort or in self-defense; if the forced used is proportional, and if, whenever possible, civilians are spared from violence."  Then Obama spoke about the Marshall Plan and a United Nations, which were formed following World War II, to prevent another world war.

Then the President added, "A decade into a new century, this old architecture is buckling under the weight of new threats. The world may no longer shudder at the prospect of war between two nuclear superpowers, but proliferation may increase the risk of catastrophe. Terrorism has long been a tactic, but modern technology allows a few small men with outsized rage to murder innocents on a horrific scale." 

He said, "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."

Obama acknowledged that he did not have all the answers for preventing such modern wars, but that, "We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth that we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations - acting individually or in concert - will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified."

Photo:  CNN.com

Then the President got to the the heart of his speech:

I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism - it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.

He reminded the international audience that the world owes the United States a great debt, since we have "helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms."

"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," said the President.  "We must direct our effort to the task that President Kennedy called for long ago. 'Let us focus,' he said, 'on a more practical, more attainable peace, based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions."

But the President was quick to point out, " it is also incumbent upon all of us to insist that nations like Iran and North Korea do not game the system. Those who claim to respect international law cannot avert their eyes when those laws are flouted. Those who care for their own security cannot ignore the danger of an arms race in the Middle East or East Asia. Those who seek peace cannot stand idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war."

Obama continued, "Peace is unstable where citizens are denied the right to speak freely or worship as they please; choose their own leaders or assemble without fear. Pent up grievances fester, and the suppression of tribal and religious identity can lead to violence. We also know that the opposite is true. Only when Europe became free did it finally find peace. America has never fought a war against a democracy, and our closest friends are governments that protect the rights of their citizens. No matter how callously defined, neither America's interests - nor the world's -are served by the denial of human aspirations.

"As Dr. King said at this occasion so many years ago," he continued,  "I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the 'isness' of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal 'oughtness' that forever confronts him."

The President concluded by saying, "Let us reach for the world that ought to be - that spark of the divine that still stirs within each of our souls. Somewhere today, in the here and now, a soldier sees he's outgunned but stands firm to keep the peace. Somewhere today, in this world, a young protester awaits the brutality of her government, but has the courage to march on. Somewhere today, a mother facing punishing poverty still takes the time to teach her child, who believes that a cruel world still has a place for his dreams."

The President's speech has been praised by Democrats and Republicans alike.  Even Sarah Palin said she liked it..  That's evidence the President deserved a peace prize all by itself.

President Obama is the fourth American President in history to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, joining  Theodore Roosevelt in 1905, Woodrow Wilson (1919), and Jimmy Carter (2002).  Al Gore is the only American Vice-President to receive the prize for his efforts to  reduce global warming.

So what happens now, after the President has given the speech of a lifetime and outlined his reasons for "just war"?  Do you think the President did enough to address the home-grown terrorism (against religious and social minorities), and radical Islams's' attempts to recruit America's young people, which seems to be on the rise?   Let's hear it.  Leave a comment below to join the discussion.

For more information:

• Read the entire transcript of the President's Nobel Peace Prize speech

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