Read the excerpt from A State of War and Peace.As soon as his nomination was announced, President Obama's critics pointed out the irony of choosing this leader, who at the time was in the middle of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since he was conferred the prize in 2009, there have been calls for Obama to give back the Peace Prize, given his push to use force against Syria, with or without a U.N. Security Council resolution, and his drone use in the Middle East.