Obama defends war as he accepts Nobel Peace Prize

PRESIDENT Barack Obama entered the pantheon of Nobel Peace Prize winners yesterday with humble words, acknowledging his own few accomplishments while delivering a robust defence of war and promising to use the prestigious award to “reach for the world that ought to be”.

A wartime president honoured for peace, Obama became the first sitting US president in 90 years and the third ever to win the prize – some say prematurely. In this damp, chilly Nordic capital to pick it up, he and his wife, Michelle, whirled through a day filled with Nobel pomp and ceremony.

And yet Obama was staying here only about 24 hours and skipping the traditional second day of festivities. This miffed some in Norway, but reflects a White House that sees little value in extra pictures of the president, his poll numbers dropping at home, taking an overseas victory lap while thousands of US troops prepare to go off to war and millions of Americans remain jobless.