politics

OSLO, NORWAY - President Obama delivered an impassioned rationale for war in accepting the 2009 Nobel Prize for Peace on Thursday, a paradox that he acknowledged even as he defended America's record abroad in promoting human rights, individual freedom and global security.

Obama's remarks offered a lofty, ideological justification for his decision to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, and his audience reached beyond the vaulted ceilings of Oslo City Hall to electorates in the United States and Europe, where many believe the war is no longer worth fighting.

While the president invoked Martin Luther King Jr. and called himself "living testimony to the moral force of nonviolence," Obama also recalled the advance of Adolf Hitler's army during World War II to argue that, sometimes, only force can resolve injustice and protect civilian lives.

Obama also used the speech to acknowledge the criticism that, less than a year into his presidency, he is undeserving of a prize that has been given to "Schweitzer and King, Marshall and Mandela."

After receiving the award with "great gratitude and great humility," Obama reminded the audience that he is "at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage" and cited rights activists around the world who "have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice."

Obama spoke candidly to an audience full of officials representing countries deeply opposed to the Afghan conflict. He did not receive applause until more than halfway through his speech -- and even then not for his defense of "just war" but for his decision to close the military brig at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and prohibit torture.

Obama also explained that if there is a just war, there must also be a just peace. That, too, requires rules.

"First, in dealing with those nations that break rules and laws, I believe that we must develop alternatives to violence that are tough enough to change behavior -- for if we want a lasting peace, then the words of the international community must mean something," he said.

The same principles must apply to human rights, the president said, whether dealing with genocide in Darfur, rape in Congo or political repression in Myanmar, Zimbabwe and Iran.

First Lady Michelle Obama listened to her husband's words and showed tears by the end.

In the evening, the Obamas stepped onto their hotel balcony to wave to a crowd of thousands who had gathered. In the square below, there were chants of "Yes, we can" and "O-ba-ma" as scores of torches were held aloft. Nearby, up to 2,000 demonstrators protested, many carrying banners demanding the United States get out of Afghanistan.

Obama capped his evening with a sentimental toast at a candlelit dinner with Norwegian dignitaries, paying tribute to the influence of his late mother and the "largeness of her heart." And he spoke hopefully of the "extraordinary power" of the Nobel Prize to lift up those who might otherwise be forgotten.

The Nobel Prize for Peace consists of a diploma and a gold medal bearing the etched face of Alfred Nobel, the wealthy chemist and inventor of dynamite who endowed the prize more than a century ago. It carries a $1.4 million cash award, which the White House has said Obama will donate to charity.

At least some of the money, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has said, might go to a group focused on microfinance, the development specialty of Obama's mother.

The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Associated Press contributed to this report.