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December 11, 2009
By JEFF ZELENY
OSLO — President Obama, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize here on Thursday, acknowledged the age-old tensions between war and peace but argued that his recent decision to escalate the conflict in Afghanistan was justified to protect the world from terrorism and extremism.
“We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth,” Mr. Obama said. “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.”
In a ceremony at Oslo City Hall, Mr. Obama was formally welcomed into the ranks of Nobel laureates who have won the prize, which was established 108 years ago. He said he accepted the award with “deep gratitude and great humility,” conceding it could be seen as premature.
“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,” Mr. Obama said. “Compared to some of the giants of history who have received this prize — Schweitzer and King, Marshall and Mandela — my accomplishments are slight.”
He added, “But perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the commander in chief of a nation in the midst of two wars. One of these wars is winding down.”
Trumpets sounded when Mr. Obama walked down the long aisle of the soaring ceremonial room, where an audience of 1,000 people waited. The president walked alongside his wife, Michelle Obama, who took her seat in the front row, while he assumed his position on the stage not far from the king and queen of Norway.
It was a sober 36-minute speech by Mr. Obama. His remarks were only occasionally interrupted by applause, including when he said the United States “must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war.” He renewed his pledge to close the prison at the American base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
“We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend,” Mr. Obama said. “And we honor those ideals by upholding them not when it is easy, but when it is hard.”
The president conceded that there was “a deep ambivalence about military action today,” which he said was rooted in “a reflexive suspicion of America, the world’s sole military superpower.” But he offered a forceful defense of the United States, saying that the lessons of history should ease those suspicions.
“Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this,” Mr. Obama said. “The United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms.”
The Nobel chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland, opened the ceremony by explaining how the committee came to its decision two months ago. He said Mr. Obama’s leadership had been a “call to action for all of us.” As he invoked the story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the winner of the prize in 1964, he turned to Mr. Obama, saying, “Dr. King’s dream has come true.”
Mr. Obama pursed his lips and nodded gently as the audience applauded loudly. When he was presented his gold medal, he stood for well over a minute as he was honored by a standing ovation. His speech, which he was still writing and editing during his seven-hour flight here, called for the world to embrace a bolder vision of itself.
“Let us reach for the world that ought to be,” Mr. Obama said, “that spark of the divine that still stirs within each of our souls.”
In his remarks, the president did not dwell on his announcement last week that he would send 30,000 American troops to Afghanistan. But that decision, which is expected to stir an evening protest here Thursday, set the context for his address in which he sought to put today’s threats in the context of history.
“A decade into a new century, this old architecture is buckling under the weight of new threats,” Mr. Obama said. “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 outsize rage to murder innocents on a horrific scale.”
He added: “I do not bring with me today a definitive solution to the problems of war. What I do know is that meeting these challenges will require the same vision, hard work and persistence of those men and women who acted so boldly decades ago. And it will require us to think in new ways about the notions of just war and the imperatives of a just peace.”
The president said that the United States’ commitment to global security “will never waver.”
“But in a world in which threats are more diffuse and missions more complex, America cannot act alone,” Mr. Obama said. “This is true in Afghanistan. This is true in failed states like Somalia, where terrorism and piracy is joined by famine and human suffering. And sadly, it will continue to be true in unstable regions for years to come.”
Outside, a dark haze hung over the city, but people lined the roads to catch a glimpse of Mr. Obama before he made his way to the city hall. Not far away, a crowd chanted and held up a yellow banner, saying, “Obama you won it, now earn it.”
A few minutes after 8 a.m., Mr. Obama stepped off Air Force One into the crisp morning air of Oslo, after flying overnight from Washington. Mrs. Obama, along with a small group of friends and relatives accompanied him on a 26-hour trip to Norway.
He had been on the ground for only a few hours when a Norwegian reporter asked Mr. Obama how he could use the prize to counter criticism that the award was premature.
“I have no doubt that there are others who may be more deserving,” Mr. Obama said. “My task here is to continue on the path that I believe is not only important for America, but important for lasting peace and security in the world.”
The president said his goals of pursuing a world free of nuclear weapons, addressing climate change and stabilizing Afghanistan would ultimately define his success.
“The goal is not to win a popularity contest or to get an award — even one as esteemed as the Nobel Peace Prize,” Mr. Obama said. “The goal is to advance American interests, make ourselves a continuing force for good in the world — something that we have been for decades now.”
He added: “And If I’m successful in those tasks, 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.”
Kjell Terje Ringdal, a commentator and communications adviser to Norwegian political leaders, said Mr. Obama’s speech broadened the discourse that the ceremony normally elicits and undercut criticism that he was not a worthy winner.
“I think he did the Nobel Prize a favor,” Mr. Ringdal said. “I think the debate will continue about whether this year’s award was premature and so on, but I also think he stopped the negative feeling that there has been a devaluation of the award.”
Mr. Obama, who is scheduled to stay in Oslo for about 26 hours, has miffed some Norwegians by cutting short his participation in traditional events surrounding the Peace Prize ceremony, including a luncheon and a concert on Friday evening.
It prompted the largest-circulation newspaper in Norway, Verdens Gang, to conduct a survey asking whether people thought it was impolite of Mr. Obama to decline an invitation to a Nobel luncheon with the King. The poll of 1,000 Norwegians found that 44 percent said it was impolite, while 34 percent said they did not mind.
Mr. Obama, sensitive to the criticism, explained the brevity of his visit.
“I only wish that my family could stay longer in this wonderful country,” he told reporters, “but I still have a lot of work to do back in Washington, D.C., before the year is done.”
Mr. Obama is the third sitting American president to receive the award, which was endowed a century ago by Mr. Nobel, a wealthy chemist and inventor of dynamite. After accepting the award, Mr. Obama will watch a torchlight parade in his honor from the Grand Hotel, where a counterprotest by people opposed to the Afghanistan war was also scheduled.
The cover of a Norwegian newspaper, Dagbladet, showed a picture of Mr. Obama with a large headline, saying: “Krigs- Eller Freds-President?”, which is translated in English to, “War or Peace President?”
The president is scheduled to return to Washington on Friday.
Walter Gibbs contributed reporting.
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