Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Bush & Blair nominated for Nobel Peace Prize: Do they deserve it?

Jesus Pimp · 02-01-2004, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Bush, Blair and EU nominated for Nobel Peace Prize as deadline closes

Sat Jan 31,10:28 PM ET

OSLO (AFP) - Nominations for this year's Nobel Peace Prize have flooded in ahead of Sunday's deadline, with the European Union (news - web sites), US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) all known to be on the list.

AFP Photo

"The nominations are streaming in," Geir Lundestad, the director of the Nobel Institute and influential secretary of the Nobel Committee tasked with selecting the Nobel laureate, told AFP.

"There are a lot of new names that have been proposed by presidents and heads of government, but also by people a little less eminent," he said, remaining tight-lipped on the names of the nominees.

The name of the laureate will be announced in October.

As tradition dictates, the Institute never reveals the identities of the candidates. However, those entitled to nominate for the prize -- including past laureates, members of parliament and cabinet ministers from around the world and some university professors -- are allowed to disclose the names they have submitted.

Bush and Blair are thus known to be on the list, having been proposed by Jan Simonsen, a member of the Norwegian parliament.

Formerly of the far-right Progressive Party but now an independent, Simonsen said that the duo ought to be honoured "for having dared to take the necessary decision to launch a war on Iraq (news - web sites) without having the support of the UN."

But given that the occupying forces have failed to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- the main reason the US and Britain gave for the war -- it seems unlikely that Bush and Blair would be honoured with the prestigious prize.

In addition, the Nobel Committee, comprised of five members elected by the Norwegian parliament, has made no secret of its disapproval of Washington's current foreign policy.

Meanwhile, the European Union has been proposed by former Norwegian prime minister Thorbjoern Jagland, who suggested that the bloc's enlargement from 15 to 25 members on May 1st would be the perfect opportunity to honour the European collaboration process, as yet unrewarded by the Nobel Committee.

Yet the chances of a prize to the EU also appear slim, as at least two of the Committee members are known eurosceptics.

Further, Norway has twice rejected membership in the EU in referendums, and awarding the bloc the Nobel Prize could be perceived as the Committee meddling in the country's internal affairs.

Other names either known or presumed to be on the list include former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who has been held hostage for almost two years by Colombia's FARC guerrillas, as well as the former governor of the US state of Illinois, George Ryan, who in 2002 granted clemency to all 167 inmates on the state's death row.

Yet other names include Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya, the AIDS (news - web sites) lobby group Treatment Action Campaign and its chairman Zackie Achmat of South Africa.

Last year, the Nobel Peace Prize, which consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a cheque for 10 million Swedish kronor (about 1.4 million dollars, 1.1 million euros), went to Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi.

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Do you guys think they deserve it? I don't.