Nominations for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize have drawn to a close.

Among the nominees for… Nominations for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize have drawn to a close.

Among the nominees for the prize, to be awarded in October, include President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, for their efforts in the Iraq war.

They join such nominees as Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, and could join winners such as Palestinian president Yasser Arafat and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

What, exactly, are the criteria for being nominated for or awarded the Peace Prize?

Bush and Blair were nominated by Jan Simonsen, a member of Norway’s Parliament, who said that getting rid of Saddam Hussein made the world a safer place.

It’s unarguable that Hussein was a crazed dictator and that deposing him was important. However, it was an action that required violence and loss of life. It was an action that took, in a word, war.

Isn’t “war” the opposite of “peace?”

How can two architects of war — regardless of whether said war was just or not, regardless of the true motives for going in — be nominated for the highest peace prize in the land?

Some excellent examples of humanity have been awarded the prize in years past. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, won the prize. Nelson Mandela, president of the African National Congress and anti-apartheid crusader, won the prize. The organization Doctors Without Borders won the prize.

These winners have in common a desire for peace, a value for human life and fairness above any political or partisan goals. It seems that these should be the deciding criteria in being awarded a peace prize — not achievement of a goal that may or may not eventually lead to a hard-fought “peace,” complete with great loss of human life.

These winners also share another common characteristic. The prize itself probably meant little to them — they are the kind of people who would gladly toil in obscurity to achieve their noble goals. Their actions were the true rewards for these humble, peaceful people. Don’t be surprised to see the Bush camp touting the nomination in re-election advertising.

It is unlikely that Bush or Blair will take the honor — both are too steeped in controversy. Bush has led hundreds of American troops and Iraqi soldiers and civilians to their deaths — hardly peaceful.