I bet Joe Wilson had a seizure when he heard this. President Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
Obama becomes the fourth U.S. president receive the honor, and the second president, besides Woodrow Wilson, to receive it while still in office.
Nobel committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland reportedly brushed asides questions as to whether Obama might become "mired in a war in Afghanistan as Lyndon B. Johnson had been ensnared in Vietnam," according to the New York Times account.
"We are not awarding the prize for what may happen in the future but for what he has done in the previous year," Jagland said. "We would hope this will enhance what he is trying to do." Jagland, a former prime minister of Norway, stood by the committee's choice under questioning.
"The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world. And who has done more than Barack Obama?" The White House said the president was "humbled to be selected."
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