US President Barack Obama will receive the Nobel Peace Prize as a ‘war president’, and his acceptance speech would figure the recent decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, the White House has said.
Asked whether the President would accept the prize as a war president, White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs replied saying “Exactly”. He is accepting the Nobel Peace Prize as a war President.”
When asked if the President will mention Afghanistan and the troop increase during his speech accepting the Nobel Peace Price, Gibbs said “Yes”.
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Gibbs said Obama “will address directly the notion that many have wondered which, is the juxtaposition of the timing for the Nobel Peace Prize and his commitment to add more troops into Afghanistan.”
That’s obviously something that he will address, the White House spokesman said on Tuesday.
Obama is scheduled to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 2009 at Oslo later this week.
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The Nobel Peace Prize Committee on October 9 announced that Obama had won the award for the year 2009 for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
Humbled by the prize, Obama said in a statement which he read from the Rose Garden of the White House that he would accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.
“To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honoured by this prize, men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace,” Obama had said.
The White House has said Obama plans to donate the prize money of about USD 1.4 million to charities.