Am reproducing the full-text of Obama’s Nobel Speech sourced from Associated Press. It would be great to get reader feedback on this. Particularly the theme of the “Just War.”  It would be great if, apart from considering the ethics of going to war at all, in any circumstance, we could also consider the specificities of the issue – i.e. Is unconditional and immediate withdrawal the only thing that a President, who inherits he a war he doesn’t support, do? Is there a logic to “securing the peace” as it were?

Am still reading this, but would be interested in comments.

a.

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Distinguished Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of America, and citizens of the world:

I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations — that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice.

And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated. In part, this is because I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage. Compared to some of the giants of history who have received this prize — Schweitzer and King; Marshall and Mandela — my accomplishments are slight. And then there are the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice; those who toil in humanitarian organizations to relieve suffering; the unrecognized millions whose quiet acts of courage and compassion inspire even the most hardened of cynics. I cannot argue with those who find these men and women — some known, some obscure to all but those they help — to be far more deserving of this honor than I.
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