On Sunday, the Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his pioneering program of giving micro-credit loans to the poor. In his acceptance speech, Yunus said that peace is inextricably linked to poverty and that poverty is a threat to peace. He also criticized the Bush administration’s so-called war on terror.

Muhammad Yunus: “’Til now, over $530 billion has been spent on the war in Iraq by the U.S.A. alone. I believe terrorism cannot be won over by military action. Terrorism must be condemned in the strongest language. We must stand solidly against it and find all the means to end it. We must address the root causes of terrorism to end it for all time to come. I believe that putting resources into improving the lives of the poor people is a better strategy than spending it on guns.”

Muhammad Yunus is the first Nobel winner from Bangladesh.