[lbo-talk] Fwd: Bush, Blair Nominated for Nobel Prize for Iraq War

[joanna bujes]

>Bush, Blair Nominated for Nobel Prize for Iraq War
>Thu May 8,10:28 AM ET
>
>By Alister Doyle
>
>OSLO (Reuters) - A Norwegian parliamentarian nominated President
>Bush (news - web sites) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair
>(news - web sites) for the Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday,
>praising them for winning the war in Iraq (news - web sites).
>
>'Sometimes it's necessary to use a small and effective war to
>prevent a much more dangerous war in the future,' Jan Simonsen, a
>right-wing independent in Norway's parliament, told Reuters.
>
>'If nobody acted then Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) could
>have produced weapons of mass destruction and, in five or 10
>years, could have used them against Israel,' he said.
>
>An award to Bush and Blair would be a U-turn after the Nobel
>Committee awarded the 2002 prize to former U.S. President Jimmy
>Carter last October. At the time, the committee chairman called
>it a kick in the shins to Bush's Iraq policies as Carter had been
>calling for a diplomatic solution.
>
>Simonsen said the war had 'made it possible to create democracy
>and respect for human rights in a country which for so many years
>has been ruled by one of the worst dictators in modern times.'
>
>However, Geir Lundestad, the director of the Nobel Institute
>where the five-member committee meets, said Simonsen's proposal
>would have to wait for the 2004 award because the deadline for
>nominations for 2003 passed on February 1.
>
>The secretive five-member committee names the annual winner in
>mid-October. More than 160 people and organizations have been
>nominated for the 2003 prize, including Pope John Paul (news -
>web sites), Irish rock star Bono and Cuban dissident Oswaldo
>Paya.
>
>'I'm not especially optimistic that Bush and Blair will win but I
>think it's worth a try,' Simonsen said. He said he would
>encourage like-minded parliamentarians in other countries to also
>nominate Bush and Blair.
>
>Nobel committees have frequently honored the United Nations
>(news - web sites) instead of unilateral action by member states.
>The United Nations did not give an explicit mandate for the war
>amid opposition from countries including France, Germany and
>Russia.
>
>The 2001 Nobel Peace Prize went to the United Nations and U.N.
>Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites).
>
>Thousands of people around the world, including members of
>national parliaments, professors of history, law and politics and
>former laureates can make nominations for the prize. The
>nomination process is secret, but people sometimes publicize
>their choice.