Obama Given Peace Prize

President Obama receives Nobel Prize for Peace

BARACK Obama humbly accepted his Nobel Peace Prize today but defended the need to go to war.

The American President said the fight against the Taliban and the hunt for al-Qaeda was vital for longer term global peace.

He flew to Oslo to scoop the gong just days after ordering 30,000 more US soldiers to go to Afghanistan.

The troops push coincided with the order for a new wave of 500 hero Brit forces.

The war-time president told delegates in the Norwegian capital that the "instruments of war have a role to play in preserving the peace".

He said that sadly military action was some times the only answer and was "morally justified".

But one day he hoped that worldwide peace would replace conflict.

He said: "I am responsible for the deployment of thousands of young Americans to battle in a distant land. "Some will kill, some will be killed.

"And I come here with an acute sense of the cost of armed conflict.

"Filled with difficult questions about the relationship between war and peace, and our effort to replace one with the other."

Supporting past wars he said military might was the only way to stop Adolf Hitler.

And the same is the case for the fight in the Afghan badlands after 9/11.

He added: "A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies.

"Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms."

The 48-year-old won the Nobel award just NINE MONTHS into his presidency.

But amazingly, he'd been in the White House for only TWO WEEKS when the deadline for nominations came.

The shock announcement in October sent Twitter into meltdown as the world debated the controversial appointment.

He beat off a record 205 hopefuls including Zimbabwe's PM Morgan Tsvangirai.

Despite gratefully welcoming the prestigious accolade, even he said others perhaps deserved it more.

And the President said he didn't feel in the same league as past winners like Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela.

He added: "I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labours on the world stage.

"Compared to some of the giants of history who have received this prize, my accomplishments are slight." TheSun