Obama Accepts Nobel Peace Prize

This past Thursday, December 9, President Obama accepted his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. When it was announced that Obama was the recipient of the prize this year, people were outraged. Obama had only been in office for 12 days by the time nominations were due. What had he done to receive such a prestigious award? The Norwegian Nobel Committee said they honoring Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Despite this, many people still disagree with the committee's choice. A Gallup Poll, from October 16-19, 2009, showed that 61% of Americans think that Obama did not deserve to win the prize (the poll had a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points).

In his acceptance speech on Thursday, Obama acknowledged the controversy surrounding the committee's decision, saying that part of it was caused by his short time in office so far and the slightness of his accomplishments. The other issue creating controversy is the fact that he's the commander in chief of a country fighting two wars. He said the war not winding down is "a conflict that America did not seek" one in which we are joined by forty-three other countries [...] in an effort to defend ourselves and all nations from further attacks." When speaking about the wars, he talked about the idea of a "just war" - a war "waged as a last resort or in self-defense." Obama's discussing of "just wars" could be considered "crafted talk." There is not much support for the war, so Obama is trying to point out that it is justified and that we wouldn't be there if it wasn't a necessity. If Obama's crafted talk works, his speech will garner more support for the war, and maybe even decrease the number of people that disagree with him winning the Nobel Peace Prize.