Blair and Bush nominated for Nobel prize

dahamsta

Thursday May 8, 03:21 PM

Blair and Bush nominated for Nobel prize
By Alister Doyle

OSLO (Reuters) - A Norwegian parliamentarian has nominated Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush for the Nobel Peace Prize, praising them for winning the war in Iraq.

"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 on Thursday.

"If nobody acted then Saddam Hussein 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 organisations have been nominated for the 2003 prize, including Pope John Paul, 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 honoured the United Nations 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.

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 publicise their choice.

In other news, The Onion has just completed a reverse takeover of Yahoo!...

adam

Imposter

Should this not be in Humour? :cool:

Sparks

The only forum this belongs to is Believe It or Not...

Éomer of Rohan

Definitely don't believe it. I mean George W. Bush has kept a hundred men locked up in Cuba in direct defiance of their human rights under just about every such charter one cares to name - whether or not they were guilty of a crime is irrelevent - the fact is there was no conclusive proof nor was there even and impartial judge or jury. Regardless of this Norwegian Right Wing idiot and claims that the US and UK stopped a major war 'some time in the future' - and to be honest he was very nebulous about this, though that is no surprise given that he has nothing to support his claims - George Bush needs to be examined for the executive breach of human rights. Tony Blair needs to have his head examined simply for throwing British troops into Iraq after American ones and ignoring overwhelming public opinion.

Victor

Just because someone is nominated does not mean they have any standing or are likely to be awarded the prize.

bugler

The Nobel peace prize reduced itself to self-parody long ago. Henry Kissinger won it (!). Hitler was nominated in 1938. My nominee is former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed
Saeed al-Sahhaf. Laughter is the best medicine (and its a good job too considering the sanctions).

sanvean

Apparently, in the same year Hitler was nominated, Ghandi was too, but it went to the Nansen International Office of Refugees. Somebody said that when Henry Kissinger got it, it was the day satire died.

Oh, and let's not forget Jimmy Carter won it last year, didn't he? All in all, Bush and Blair will probably feel very comfortable with the other winners.

ednwireland

god help us

davelerave

i think it's been devalued lately the peace prize

Biffa Bacon

Bush would get my vote.

Éomer of Rohan

Yeah we know. I would like to see you justify it in great detail though.

davelerave

he's up for the literature prize as well

Biffa Bacon

Originally posted by Éomer of Rohan
Yeah we know. I would like to see you justify it in great detail though.

He's liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban. He's brought peace to Iraq. He's ridding the world of Islamofascist terrorists. He's stopped the flow of funds going to Palestinian murderers.

Basically, he's done more for human rights and peace than all the anti-war marchers put together.

Éomer of Rohan

Ah the phrase, tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth comes to mind Biffa.

He's liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban

Not to mention seriously damaged what little infrastructure there was in the country, allowed it to fall into the hands of the Northern Alliance who are just as bad, allowed the Taliban to begin to reconquer the place, spilling more blood than ever, reneged on his promise to rebuild Afghanistan - to civilise it in fact. In sum total killed more people in Afghanistan than the Taliban have.

He's brought peace to Iraq

It remains to be seen whether or not the Pax Americana stays in place though. With the return of Ayatollah Hakim, I am rather looking forward to the withdrawal of American troops - or maybe they won't withdraw and some excuse will be drawn up to allow a US occupation, suspension of the would-be democracy, and so in order that the muslims don't change Iraq into a working and tolerant theocracy as preached by the Sunni and Sha'ria.

He's stopped the flow of funds going to Palestinian murderers.

So on top of having to endure concentration camps at the hands of a nation who usurped their lands, these people now have to sit down and accept the situation which the US and the Israeli's look perfectly happy to allow tro continue?

swiss

Originally posted by Biffa Bacon:

Basically, he's done more for human rights and peace than all the anti-war marchers put together.

Riiiight.

George Bush, IMO, is a child trying to play an adult game. Either he believes his own propoganda and is convinced that anyone that is opposed to the US in any way.... philosophically, militarily etc is the "bad guy", or he's using it as a front to impose his own form of US hegemony on the world.

"Peace" and "freedom" are relative terms. If it's freedom to buy US produce and generally uphold US interests, then the treatment of your own people appears to be a tertiary consideration. I mean, if GWB is so interested in peace and stability, he wouldn't be doubling his nuclear arsenal now, would he?