THE WORLD REACTS

"I liked what he said. ... I'd like to see President Obama follow more closely in the footsteps of George Bush and his passion for keeping the homeland safe." Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, below "It's one of those rare moments in public life where a statesman has a chance to really educate the public and ... he seized it in the most remarkable and impressive way." Boston College political science Prof. Marc Landy "I thought the speech was actually very good. And he clearly understood that he had been given the prize prematurely, but he used it as an occasion to remind people, first of all, as he said, that there is evil in the world." Former House speaker

Newt Gingrich, a Republican

"Barack Obama's acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize was a carefully reasoned defense of a foreign policy that differs very little from George Bush's." Walter Russell Mead, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, on Politico.com

"How does a rookie President, having been granted the Nobel Peace Prize, go about earning it? Well, he can start by giving the sort of Nobel lecture that Barack Obama just did, an intellectually rigorous and morally lucid speech that balanced the rationale for going to war against the need to build a more peaceful and equitable world." Joe Klein, below, left-of-center columnist for Time magazine

"President Obama delivered an exceptionally well-reasoned and appropriately humble address accepting a Nobel Prize for Peace that, in the words of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, was awarded 'a little early.'... Obama acknowledged both the absurdity of his circumstance with a grace that was as appealing as it was commendable." John Nichols, writer, the Nation "It seemed to me ... that I was listening to George Bush. His arguments did not differ much from the philosophy of his predecessor except for one fig leaf -- Obama condemned tortures." Fidel Castro, in an editorial in the Cuban newspaper Granma "Although Peace Action applauds him for stating a vision of a world without nuclear weapons and increasing diplomacy with Iran, we believe he has missed opportunities to advance nonmilitary solutions to conflict by dramatically increasing troop levels in Afghanistan and continuing the growth of the military budget. We challenge him to live up to the honor of being a Nobel laureate." Paul Kawika Martin, policy and political director of Peace Action

NEWS SERVICES