Opinion Journal has some interesting
thoughts on the Nobel Peace Prize:
Pope John Paul II, teaching us as much about life as he approaches the twilight of his own as he did throughout his 25-year ministry, would be an excellent choice. In any other year, he of course would stand as poor a chance as Mr. Payá, for similar reasons. He is a religious leader, which means he runs around doing all that uncool moralizing.
But this year no less a figure than Stein Toennesson, director of the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, who watches the Norwegian Nobel Committee very closely, told the Associated Press that he would give the prize to the pontiff: "The main reason is his outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq." This, supposedly, rests on the reading that a continuation of Saddam Hussein's rule would amount to peace for Iraqis.
Mr. Toennesson is not officially connected with the committee that awards the prize, but his thinking gives you a taste of the morals that prevail in these Oslo circles. Twenty-five years of fighting communism, materialism and any other ism that subjugates the human spirit wouldn't deserve the prize, but opposing a U.S. war to liberate Iraqis would. For all the wrong reasons, then, the pope may get the prize in perhaps the last year of his life.
UPDATE: CNN has the the name of
the Peace Prize winner. Looks like they chose a good one.
