Berchmans hits the nail right on the head. He suggests that the Norwegian Nobel Committee may have selected President Obama for its 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in an effort to guide the president's thinking (and moral suasion) on the American wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
It's a bold political move, one that will resonate for a long time.
Yet one has to question whether the committee is risking losing credibility by conferring this prize to a sitting American president, particularly one who is commanding the efforts of these two wars. His choices concerning the American military presence in Afghanistan may indeed run counter to the spirit of the prize.
In accepting the prize, Obama's response was both graceful and shrewd. Here's a key example:
It's a bold political move, one that will resonate for a long time.
Yet one has to question whether the committee is risking losing credibility by conferring this prize to a sitting American president, particularly one who is commanding the efforts of these two wars. His choices concerning the American military presence in Afghanistan may indeed run counter to the spirit of the prize.
In accepting the prize, Obama's response was both graceful and shrewd. Here's a key example:
And even as we strive to seek a world in which conflicts are resolved peacefully and prosperity is widely shared, we have to confront the world as we know it today.
I am the commander in chief of a country that's responsible for ending a war and working in another theater to confront a ruthless adversary that directly threatens the American people and our allies.
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