Obama's Nobel Speech Appeases Some, Frustrates Others

During his Nobel peace prize acceptance speech on Thursday, President Barack Obama remained humble, acknowledging his own limited accomplishments while vehemently defending U.S. involvement overseas.

In particular, Obama refused to denounce the concept of war just nine days after ordering 30,000 more troops into battle in Afghanistan.

"Evil does exist in the world," Obama said, quoted by the Associated Press. "A nonviolent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms."

"To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism," he added. "It is a recognition of history, the imperfections of man and the limits of reason."

Although Obama’s speech received acclaim from some notable Republicans including Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, others were bothered that he received the honor so early into his reign as a world leader.

Representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) expressed frustration with the president receiving such an award while refusing to prosecute alleged war criminals, according to the Huffington Post.

"I think that there is an obvious tension between what the president is saying about the commitment we’ve got to human rights and the work we’re doing inside the U.S.," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project.

"We’re frustrated by the gap in the Obama administration’s rhetoric on accountability and reality," he added.