“Pork is sometimes justified” – said at the Masjid. Yes…that is equal to ^..

You know, I really feel like a sucker.. *kicks self for not voting for Ron Paul*

Oslo, Norway (CNN) — President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize Thursday by talking about war and the limits of non-violence.

But he also praised the peacemakers of the past, and said the world can and should still strive for peace.

“Let us reach for the world that ought to be,” he told the 1,000-member audience at Oslo City Hall. “Clear-eyed, we can understand that there will be war, and still strive for peace.”

The Nobel committee’s choice of Obama as this year’s laureate sparked controversy, in part because he is a president waging two wars abroad. Obama said force is sometimes necessary, but said that is simply “a recognition of history, the imperfections of man, and the limits of reason.”

Read a transcript of Obama’s acceptance speech

“Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this: The United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms,” he said. “The service of our men and women in uniform has promoted peace and prosperity from Germany to Korea, and enabled democracy to take hold in places like the Balkans.”

Waging war is not a way of imposing the will of the United States on the world, he said, but a way of seeking a better future for its people.

“The instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace,” he said.

Force can be justified on humanitarian grounds, Obama said, because inaction can tear at the world’s conscience and lead to more costly intervention later.

But peace can be justified too, he said, and he outlined three ways to build a just and lasting peace in the world.

First, Obama suggested a better way to deal with nations like Iran and North Korea that break or ignore rules and laws.

“If we want a lasting peace, then the words of the international community must mean something,” he said. “Those regimes that break the rules must be held accountable. Sanctions must exact a real price.”

There should be consequences for countries that “game the system,” Obama said — and that may sometimes mean engagement.

But peace, Obama said, “is not merely the absence of visible conflict.” He said the world needs to seek a just peace based on inherent human rights.

Obama praised pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar, Zimbabweans who voted despite election violence, and pro-democracy protesters in Iran.

“It is telling that the leaders of these governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any nation,” Obama said.

Obama also defended engagement with such repressive regimes, mentioning President Nixon’s trip to China in the 1970s, Pope John Paul II’s trip to Poland, and President Reagan’s efforts on arms control and talks with the Soviet Union.

“There is no simple formula here,” he said. “But we must try as best we can to balance isolation and engagement, pressure and incentives, so that human rights and dignity are advanced over time.”

Another controversial aspect to Obama’s selection was the question of what he had done to deserve the prize. He had been in office for only days when he was nominated, and the prize recognizes his work toward peace for most of 2008, largely when he was still a presidential candidate.

Obama, who earlier in the day said he had “no doubt” that others were more deserving of the award, acknowledged those questions early in his acceptance speech.

“I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage,” he said. “My accomplishments are slight.”

He said he accepted the Nobel Prize with “great humility.”