No, Really

From the Contra Costa Times:

Bush, Blair, EU among nominees for 2004 Nobel Peace Prize - By Doug Mellgren - ASSOCIATED PRESS OSLO, Norway - President George Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the European Union were among known nominees for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize as the nomination deadline expired Sunday. The five-member Norwegian awards committee, which keeps the names of candidates secret, accepts nominations postmarked by Feb. 1. Last year there were a record 165 nominations for the prize, which went to Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi. Even though the committee keeps the nomination list secret for 50 years, those making the nominations often announce their candidate. Norwegian lawmaker Jan Simonsen of the right-wing Party of Progress has nominated Bush and Blair several years in a row, including this year. Simonsen wrote that by removing Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, they lessened the chance of a war using weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East and laid the foundation for the development of democracy...