Oslo, Dec 10 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Nobel Prize was awarded to the US President amidst a grand ceremony that was kicked off with an opera. The committee spoke warmly about the President’s endeavors and his passion for peace on earth. The ceremony was well attended by dignitaries from around the world. It also included an eclectic variety of people from the actor Will Smith with his family to Sir Richard Branson.

The US President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize 2009 with gratitude and humility. In his acceptance speech he also spoke about the controversy that this award had generated when he was awarded it. He spoke of the past winners like Schweitzer and King; Marshall and Mandela, and compared to them, his own accomplishments aren’t as grand. But then he put his foot and elaborated why he deserved the top peace prize because of the war that America is waging and the results there-in.

He spoke eloquently as the President of a nation at war, speaking of the trials and tribulations of war and the huge cost that it ultimately entails, in the way of so many lives lost whether they are of the soldiers or the hapless civilians. So he says that peace must be enforced at all costs and it is the primary endeavor of America. He also said that their efforts succeeded too, because there has been no World War III so far and the Cold War also ended.

He did say that he didn’t have any solid concrete fail-proof steps to combat all the wars and maintain peace. He said that this ‘will require the same vision, hard work, and persistence of those men and women who acted so boldly decades ago’.

He seemed inspired by the non-violence principles of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. But he did accept that he couldn’t be guided by mere examples alone, because he didn’t to maintain peace and solve the wars and the conflicts.

He divulged some practical steps towards eradicating violence and wars. To begin with, he believed that all the nations must adhere to standards that govern the use of force. He reinforced America’s commitment to global security again and again during the acceptance speech.

He refused to accept the sad and despair filled future that the wars will bring to the world. He quoted Martin Luther King, “I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the ‘isness’ of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal ‘oughtness’ that forever confronts him.”

He ended his speech with another affirmation that America and the world should strive for divinity, even though oppression might always be present in some form or the other, as it can’t merely be wished away.

He said, “We can acknowledge that oppression will always be with us, and still strive for justice. We can admit the intractability of depravation, and still strive for dignity. We can understand that there will be war, and still strive for peace. We can do that – for that is the story of human progress; that is the hope of all the world; and at this moment of challenge, that must be our work here on Earth.”