# Bush and Blair nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 9, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152 "2003-05-09T17:38:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/21 "2003-05-09T21:53:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bricker \* > President Bush either lied or relied on inaccurate information to gain support for his attack on Iraq. I think rewarding that sort of duplicity or carelessness with a Nodel prize would be a nightmare. Bush was given consistent and accurate information from all of the primary sources; the CIA, NSA, MI6, British Army, US military ……all the same message, and it’s all very well documented by the mainstream media. Oh, and there was also the UN. Bush ignored everything. Wouldn’t it be _interesting_ if they got a Nobel for acting against the will of the UN … ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/22 "2003-05-09T22:38:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bbonden \* > Or it could be because fewer Iraqi civilians (and perhaps fewer Iraqis generally) died during the war than during the average month of Saddam’s reign. Cite please. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/23 "2003-05-09T23:28:44Z")
Istara: I agree. Let’s also see what happens in Israel/Palestine before giving any awards. ---
**Author:** ![ElJeffe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ElJeffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElJeffe)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/24 "2003-05-10T00:23:35Z")
sqweels: > [@](#): > > Yes, and some of us are mighty cynical now, aren’t we? You won’t get me to deny that. 🙂 Jeff ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/25 "2003-05-10T02:07:00Z")
We have ways to make people like you deny cynicism! Bring in the comfy chair! {…evil chuckle…} ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/26 "2003-05-10T02:38:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dissonance \* > There have been some odd winners of the Nobel peace prize in the past, among them Henry Kissinger and Yasser Arafat. Tom Lehrer said that political satire became superfluous when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/27 "2003-05-10T03:56:07Z")
These nominations remind me of the novel “1984” and the slogan “War is Peace”.☹ ---
**Author:** ![RandySpears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/858c86/32.png) [@RandySpears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandySpears)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/28 "2003-05-10T11:34:01Z")
> [@](#): > > _Dissonance_ > Perhaps I’ll start a rant about Nobel in the pit some day, but suffice it to say that he made a lot of money off of Bofors, which exclusively manufactures armaments. Today Bofors Defence exclusively manufactures armaments (and are owned by american United Defense). Back in Alfred Nobels days it was a mixed affair. ---
**Author:** ![hildea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ebca7d/32.png) [@hildea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hildea)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/29 "2003-05-10T16:07:26Z")
There are a _lot_ of nominations for Nobel’s Peace Price - [about 150 or so this year](http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=492958). I doubt the Bush&Blair nomination will make it past the first triage. My guess is that this nomination is mainly aimed at Norwegian voters. Nesvik is a member of Parliament from the Progress Party, which is the only party in Norway which has been in favour of the war all the way through. [Most Norwegians](http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=499489) have opposed the war so far, but I guess the Progress Party hopes people are changing their minds now that the war is over. The nomination is a way to remind voters of their pro-war stance. ---
**Author:** ![RandySpears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/858c86/32.png) [@RandySpears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandySpears)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/30 "2003-05-10T16:48:40Z")
**hildea:** Aha, he’s from the progress party! It should be noted then that “the progress party” is by many regarded as a populist (and rightist) party. They originally rose to fame by preaching a more tough stance on immigration, and as far as I know this is still central to their agenda. The “Le Pens” of Norway in a way. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/31 "2003-05-11T13:04:24Z")
The story that **Skopo** linked to is from last year, but lo and behold, another member of the Norwegian parliament [nominated Bush and Blair again](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030508/pl_nm/iraq_nobel_dc) this year. In this case it’s Jan Simonsen, who _used_ to be part of the so-called “Progress” Party, until he got kicked out in one of their charming public squabbles. He’s, ahhh, an original. This isn’t the first odd nomination the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has received, and it won’t be the last. It isn’t even in the running for the oddest, really - Hitler was nominated repeatedly, and in fact during the Second World War the NPPC decided not to award the prize several times to keep the occupying Nazis from forcing their hand. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/32 "2003-05-11T13:13:03Z")
Is there a way for somebody’s Peace Prize to be rescinded if they wind up deliberately wrecking the achievement for which they were granted the prize in the first place? I’m thinking of David Trimble here. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/33 "2003-05-12T00:05:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flodnak \* > \*\*The story that **Skopo** linked to is from last year \*\* agh, you mean it’s 2003 already? :smack: Damn, i didn’t even consider that the story i came across was from last year–like i said, i saw this Norwegian legislator on CNN, did a search on BBC, found a story about a Norwegian legislator nominating B & B for the Nobel peace prize, and assumed it was the same story. I saw it was from February, but didn’t look at the year. Thanks for catching that, **flodnak**. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152/34 "2003-05-12T00:33:38Z")
Actually, the president Chirac has been nominated too, from what I heard, probably by people thinking exactly the opposite than their colleagues who nominated Bush and Blair. Amongst the people I heard about as nominees, my personnal favorite would be Vaclav Havel who is one of the very rare international personnality I’ve a great respect for. But there might be (there probably are, actually) less well known and much more deserving candidates I never heard about. Usually, I’m not impressed _at all_ by the recipients of the Nobel prize for peace. Giving it to such people as Kissinger, as previously pointed out, for instance…:rolleyes: Actually, I think that extremely few politicians would qualify, according to my standards, because, even if they manage to acheive something important at some point, their whole history often include some unsavory decisions and actions (see Arafat example above, once again). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-and-blair-nominated-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/174152.md?page=1)