(09-28-2005) Peace Prize Guessing Begins -- Aftenposten*

[dsmith2904]

Peace Prize Guessing Begins

The annual sport of Nobel Peace Prize predicting has begun, though the selection committee remains as mute as ever, with the mystery to be revealed on Friday, October 7.

Only two of the many global wars and conflicts have neared a solution in the past year, but clear candidates have not emerged from the work done to bring peace to Sudan or Indonesia's Aceh province.

Director Stein Tønneson at the International Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) said that Finland's former president Martti Ahtisaari's peace-brokering role in Aceh must make him a prize favorite, though this is complicated by the fact that the agreement in Aceh is so new that the withdrawal of Indonesia has barely begun.

PRIO also considers Irish rock artist Bono of U2 and American senators Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn to be favorites for the prestigious award. Bono has been a tireless campaigner for the victims of third world debt, while senators Lugar and Nunn have spent recent years working to secure nuclear material from the aging ex-Soviet fleet.

This year there are a record number of 36 organizations nominated and Save the Children and Oxfam may be recognized for their high profile efforts after the tsunami in Southeast Asia last Christmas.

Among the most famous names nominated for the 2005 prize are German prime minister Gerhard Schröder, former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Ukraine president Viktor Yuschenko and Georgia president Mikhail Saakashvili. Regular nominees like Vaclav Havel, Mordechai Vanunu and the Salvation Army are again on the list.

Absolute outsiders include unusual nominees such as the Pakistan border city Peshawar, Iraqi shia leader Ali al-Sistani and imprisoned American gang leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams, who is sentenced to death.

--Aftenposten English Web Desk/NTB

 

[ShellBeThere]

Colin Powell?! That's another funny one...I mean, I respect him, really, but how do you win a peace prize after sitting at the UN claiming that the only way to move forward is to bring in the bombs?! Whatever else you think of that whole scene, "peace" doesn't come to mind...

That's really sorta the same, if not even sillier really, as giving the prize to arafat the "ex"-terrorist for breaking down and shaking hands with his sworn enemies...

I think it would be a weird year for Bono to get it...not that I don't think he deserves it, but the Live8 thing was so visible this year, that it would seem to some perhaps that he got it for helping to organize a concert, as opposed to the more constant and less glam work he does. It would also likely spawn a major rash of crap from music people and fellow celebs, oy can you imagine?

But who knows maybe if lots of people came out and pulled the old-story hey-he's-only-doing-all-that-work-for-the-attention stuff, some other celebs would be trying for the prize in future? It would be more interesting and certainly better for the planet than vying for the best-dressed prizes or the most outrageous pissed-at-the-papp routine. Maybe it would make "peace" kinda cool!

cheerio!

 

[jobob]

This is the perfect year for Bono to get the Nobel Peace Prize.

He lead campaigns which got the first world, the World Bank, and the IMF to forgive billions of dollars in third world debt this summer and fall.

Bono was a candidate for the World Bank presidency earlier this year. Not because he's a rock star, but because he's a leading authority on African issues and poverty issues.

Bono convinced Bob Geldolf to stage Live 8 when Geldolf swore he'd never ever do another Live Aid show. And not only did Bono open Live 8, he met with world leaders at that little Scottish golf course. to get them to talk about about poverty and debt reduction.

Bono's spreading messages of world peace, human rights, and poverty reduction through the Vertigo Tour.

Bono's the only Nobel Peace Prize nominee who's written four songs about three other Nobel Peace Prize recipients.

And if Bono ever gets the prize, he would be the only Nobel Peace Prize recipient who could (and probably would) headline his own Nobel Peace Prize concert. Yes, kids, there is a Nobel Peace Prize concert as part of the ceremonies for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Am I buggin' ya? I don't mean to bug ya. I just want to see Bono get the Nobel Peace Prize.

Love and the Nobel Peace Prize or Else, man.

 

[Jono]

This is the perfect year for Bono to get the Nobel Peace Prize.

Am I buggin' ya? I don't mean to bug ya. I just want to see Bono get the Nobel Peace Prize.

Love and the Nobel Peace Prize or Else, man.

Sweet!!
You sound like a veteran fan jobob, fan since 80 here~
Awesome delivery/points, and this IS the year. I'm sure more posts to come on the fact that a rock star could never win the prize. On as side note, if John Lennon was still with us he'd vote for Bono!