HispanicBusiness

The Taliban and conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh found common ground today, blasting the surprise announcement that President Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Obama for creating a new climate in international politics through efforts such as engaging in multilateral diplomacy and trying to reduce the presence of nuclear weapons.

Obama is the fourth American president to receive the award, which has also gone to Jimmy Carter, Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt. (Carter received it after his presidency.)

Today's announcement drew "gasps of astonishment" from reporters covering the event, Reuters reported.

On Friday, Obama's senior adviser David Axelrod told Reuters that the White House was as stunned by the announcement as anyone.

The Taliban and Limbaugh were among several outspoken critics on Friday, many of whom said the selection was premature. But the words of the radical Islamic group and the talk show host were especially derisive.

"The Nobel prize for peace?" said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, speaking to Reuters by phone. "Obama should have won the 'Nobel Prize for escalating violence and killing civilians'."

Mujahid noted that Obama has intesified the war in Afghanistan by sending 21,000 extra troops there.

Limbaugh's words were every bit as strong, but for the opposite reason: he believes the award is a ploy to keep the U.S. militarily impotent.

"With this 'award' the elites of the world are urging Obama, THE MAN OF PEACE, to not do the surge in Afghanistan, not take action against Iran and its nuclear program and to basically continue his intentions to emasculate the United States," he said in an email to Politico. "They love a weakened, neutered U.S, and this is their way of promoting that concept. I think God has a great sense of humor, too."

In 1906, Roosevelt won the prize for drawing up a peace treaty between Russia in Japan. In 1919, Wilson was awarded for founding the League of Nations. In 2002, Carter accepted the honor for decades of efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts and for his advocacy for human rights.