Nobel Peace Prize 2005: ElBaradei and IAEA

Mohamed ElBaradei, the international diplomat who battled the Bush administration over the best way to bottle up the nuclear-weapons genie, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday.

Six decades after the United States obliterated two Japanese cities with the world's first atomic bombs, the peace prize committee bluntly cited lack of progress in banning the apocalyptic weapons as justification for awarding this year's prize to Mr. ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations watchdog he leads.

"That the world has achieved little in this respect makes active opposition to nuclear arms all the more important today," the committee said.

Naming Mr. ElBaradei as this year's Nobel Peace Prize recipient delighted many in the disarmament community.

"It's very pleasing," said Adele Buckley, chair of the Canadian Pugwash group.

"Essentially, the United States has abandoned support for the multilateral approach." she said yesterday.

Ms. Buckley said she hoped the prize might shine the spotlight of international attention on the growing dangers of proliferation and the tireless efforts of Mr. ElBaradei, whom she lauded as "not the 'Yes' man that the United States wanted."

So desperate was the United States to replace ElBaradei as head of IAEA that they even considered Alexander Downer as a possible replacement!

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