Bush, Blair For Nobel Peace Prize

I just love this story.

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are among nominees for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize before a Sunday deadline for nominations despite failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

“Nominations are pouring in,” said Geir Lundestad, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. He said he gets letters and up to 1,500 e-mails a day from people either supporting or denouncing candidates.

Among nominees are the European Union to mark its expansion to include former East bloc states. Pope John Paul, the Salvation Army, former Czech President Vaclav Havel, Chinese dissidents are also among nominees.

“Bush and Blair definitely still deserve it,” said Jan Simonsen, a right-wing independent member of Norway’s parliament who nominated the two for the 2004 prize shortly after the U.S.-led war toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in April.

“Even though they haven’t found those weapons they got rid of a dictator and made the world more safe,” he told Reuters on Friday, sticking by the choice. “They got rid of a madman.”

Heh.