THREE TIPPED FOR 2005 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

US President Theodore ("walk softly but carry a big stick") Roosevelt received the Peace Prize in 1906.
He was best known for leading the charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba in 1898.

Yasir Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin shared the prize in 1994.

Henry Kissinger of the USA and Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam shared it in 1973.

With former recipients like that, is it any wonder that the Nobel Peace Prize committee would consider a retired US Army general like Powell for the honor? With former recipients like that, he's in good company.

In my opinion, the two most publicized Nobels -- the Peace Prize and the Prize for Literature -- have become colossal jokes over the years. People who have spent their entire lives waging wars get the Peace Prize. Authors like Pearl S. Buck and Boris Pasternak get recognized for extremely pedestrian efforts just because they are in the public eye. Or, conversely, authors that 90 perecnt of us have never heard of get recognized because it's PC to choose representatives from third world countries.

Keeping in mind that Alfred Nobel's one great contribution to civilization was the invention of dynamite, it shouldn't be surprising, I guess.

Andrew - I completely agree with your opinion that it's a joke. Mainly because of Arafat.

Sounds like it's time for some emphasis on the "peace" aspect of the award: I'd like to see someone like Margaret Hassan receive it, in recognition of her work with the Iraqi people. Posthumously, obviously.