Obama accepts Nobel Peace Prize with nod to criticism

latimes.com

Made popular 1255 days ago in Opinion

latimes.com — The president acknowledges the irony of winning while the nation is at war. he calls his own accomplishments slight in comparison to those of past winners.

Reporting from Oslo, Norway - President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize here today, acknowledging the irony of winning it as a wartime president and calling his own accomplishments "slight" in comparison to past winners.

But in his speech to the Nobel Committee, Obama spoke of the concept of a "just war" and the pursuit of a "just peace," which he said sometimes depends on more than simply refraining from violence.

Lauding the commitment of past Nobel laureates to nonviolence, Obama said that - as a head of state and commander-in-chief of a military at war, sworn to protect and defend his nation - he cannot follow their examples alone.