Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog agency he heads, won the 2005 Nobel Prize for Peace today.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee called ElBaradei "an unafraid advocate" for nuclear nonproliferation "at a time when the threat of nuclear arms is again increasing."...

...Nobel Committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes said the prize was not a veiled criticism of Washington, wire services reported.

"This is not a kick in the legs to any country," he told a news conference. A former chairman had described the 2002 prize to Carter as a "kick in the legs" to Bush. [And yet Carter still accepted, to his shame. -Sol]

One expert said the prize would have been less controversial if it had gone to the IAEA alone. ElBaradei's inclusion "is an implicit criticism of the United States," said Stein Toennesson, head of the Peace Research Institute, Oslo...

The IAEA won the Nobel Peace Prize? For what? Ignoring Iran’s nuclear intentions? Allowing Pakistan to sell nuclear knowledge across the world? To frown in North Korea’s general direction?...