奥巴马当上美国总统一年有余，可谓是"马"不停蹄地跨过一道道沟壑、淌过一片片沼泽，直到这位"战争时期的总统"获了诺贝尔和平奖，他所面对的沟壑、沼泽与其它潜在的挑战一点儿也没减少。
没做总统前，奥巴马和美国黑人不是"宾拉登"的敌人；当了总统，所有"美国的敌人"就会视你为死敌，不管你是什么肤色、不论你是谁得后代！
可是，事实证明了奥巴马是个极其出色的"冲浪总统"---风浪越大，他搏击得越欢；危险越大，他越感到刺激；对手越凶恶，他的口才就越凌厉；话题越复杂，他的阐述就越有层次！
在奥斯陆接受这个和平奖时，奥巴马的演说如履薄冰，因为他既不能为暴力摇旗呐喊，又无法对客观的战争与冲突视而不见。但是，他至少要给诺贝尔评委和所有反对他获奖的人"一个说法"，就是我，奥巴马，知道这个奖的涵义，我也不是辜负这样的荣誉！
这篇演说和竞选时的那篇针对美国黑白两大种族的悠久矛盾与隔阂的大胆演讲有一拼，敏感，复杂多重，没有真知灼见的人是无法触及其深度的。
奥巴马刚刚为阿富汗增兵，无疑是骑虎难下的总指挥，但他的演说没有被困在硝烟的战壕里。
整篇文章抑扬顿挫，好似一个人的交响乐，从争议、沮丧(人类战争)到对人类灵魂中最美好的音符的肯定，那就是"爱"--- 做为总统和政客，可能没有人能这么自然地、不肉麻地说出自己的理念。
演说原文节选及翻译：
But perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the Commander-in-Chief of the military of a nation in the midst of two wars. One of these wars is winding down. The other is a conflict that America did not seek; one in which we are joined by 42 other countries -- including Norway -- in an effort to defend ourselves and all nations from further attacks.
围绕我获取这个（和平）奖的最大争议性话题也许是因为我是一个被两场战争困扰的国家军队总指挥。这其中的一场战争正偃旗息鼓。而另一场战争是美国被逼无奈而为之；42个国家和美国一道，包括挪威，加入了这场为保护我们和全世界免受更大的袭击的战争。
Still，we are at war，and I'm responsible for the deployment of thousands of young Americans to battle in a distant land. Some will kill，and some will be killed. And so I come here with an acute sense of the costs of armed conflict -- filled with difficult questions about the relationship between war and peace，and our effort to replace one with the other.
然而，我们（美国）在打仗，我对派出千千万万的美国青年到远方负责。他/她们所面对的是你死我活的战场。我来到（奥斯陆）这里，深感战争冲突所带来的惨重代价，也深深被战争与和平的关系和我们努力选择其中之一等问题困扰。
Of course，we know that for most of history，this concept of "just war" was rarely observed. The capacity of human beings to think up new ways to kill one another proved inexhaustible，as did our capacity to exempt from mercy those who look different or pray to a different God. Wars between armies gave way to wars between nations -- total wars in which the distinction between combatant and civilian became blurred. In the span of 30 years，such carnage would twice engulf this continent. And while it's hard to conceive of a cause more just than the defeat of the Third Reich and the Axis powers，World War II was a conflict in which the total number of civilians who died exceeded the number of soldiers who perished.
当然，综观历史，我们知道"正义战争"这一概念几乎没有被看到过。人类所能想出的互相残杀(的方式)没有止境，正如我们仇视那些不同肤色、对不同上帝祈祷的人们的能力一样。军队之间的战争成为国家之间的战争---作战人员和平民百姓一样，被混淆了身份，在（这样的）全面战争中丧生。30年的战火中，残酷的生灵涂炭（两次大战）两次吞噬了这片大陆！虽然我们难以否定击败纳粹轴心国和(希特勒)第三帝国的正义(原因)，可是，在第二次世界大战中所丧生的平民却多于所有作战人员的总和。
We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth: We will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations -- acting individually or in concert -- will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.
我们要首先面对冷峻的现实：在我们有生之年不会彻底制止暴力冲突。总会有国家在将来，独自或联盟，找到必要的甚至道义的理由去发动战争。
I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King Jr. said in this same ceremony years ago: "Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones." As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King's life work，I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there's nothing weak -- nothing passive -- nothing naive -- in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.
我说这话是谨慎的，(因为)多年前马丁·路德·金就在这个领奖台上说过："暴力永远不会带来永久的和平。暴力无法解决社会问题：它只会制造新的、更复杂的社会问题。"今天，我能够站在这里就是金博士终生所追求的理念的直接结果，我是（他的）非暴力道义力量的证明。我清楚，在甘地和金博士的非暴力宗旨里没有任何消极、懦弱和天真的成份。
But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation，I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is，and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. To make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism -- it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.
但做为一国首脑，我曾宣誓要保护和捍卫我的国家，我不能单独追随他们的例子。我面对的是今天的世界，当美国人民被威胁时我不能袖手旁观。毋庸置疑：这个世界上存在着恶魔。(因为)非暴力运动也无法阻挡希特勒的军队。谈判不能让基地组织放下他们的武器。强调战争有时是必要的不等于叫嚣犬儒主义--这是认清历史，（包括）人类的不完美和（人类）有限的理性。
So part of our challenge is reconciling these two seemingly inreconcilable truths -- that war is sometimes necessary，and war at some level is an expression of human folly. Concretely，we must direct our effort to the task that President Kennedy called for long ago. "Let us focus," he said，"on a more practical，more attainable peace，based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions." A gradual evolution of human institutions.
所以，我们的挑战之一是如何解调两个水火不容的事实--战争有时是必要的，而战争很大程度上所表达的是人类的愚蠢。我们必须实质性地朝很久以前肯尼迪总统所号召的努力。他说"我们要专注于建立更实际，更能维持的和平，而不能靠对人类本性的突然革命，而要依靠人文 (人性)原则的逐渐演变和进化。"人文（人性）原则的逐渐进化。
Adhering to this law of love has always been the core struggle of human nature. For we are fallible. We make mistakes，and fall victim to the temptations of pride，and power，and sometimes evil. Even those of us with the best of intentions will at times fail to right the wrongs before us.
人性斗争(冲突)的核心问题总是和捍卫这个"爱的法则"有关。因为我们人类不是不可战胜的。我们会犯错，在骄傲、权力和恶魔的引诱下会成为牺牲品。即使是那些在我们中间怀有最高尚的意志的人们也无法改正我们的错误。
But we do not have to think that human nature is perfect for us to still believe that the human condition can be perfected. We do not have to live in an idealized world to still reach for those ideals that will make it a better place. The non-violence practiced by men like Gandhi and King may not have been practical or possible in every circumstance，but the love that they preached -- their fundamental faith in human progress -- that must always be the North Star that guides us on our journey.
Let us reach for the world that ought to be -- that spark of the divine that still stirs within each of our souls. (Applause.)
但是，我们不能以为我们的人性是完美的，所以，人类生存现状才能改变。我们不必(等到)生活在一个理想的世界里才去为改变这个世界而争取。也许在很多环境中甘地和金博士所教诲的非暴力不可能也不实用，可他们所传播的爱，既他们最基本的人类进程理念，必须是指引我们进步的北极星。
让我们为这样一个（充满人性）的世界而努力 --- (去发现)人性灵魂中正在闪耀的光芒！[掌声]
作舟（意译）
