Well, at least by my count, it has been awarded to politicians 19 times since 1959 (some years had multiple winners), twice to peace-makers in Northern Ireland, once to peace-makers in Israel/Palestine and once to a military force.    At least twice they apparently couldn't find anyone worth getting the award and rolled the money over.

Far be it from me to try to second-guess the Nobel Committee, but the choice of Mr. Obama is far better than some of the previous selectees, even if it is only for preliminary efforts. I do find the idea expressed above that they gave it to him because he'll be killed before he finishes what he has strarted to be rather depressing. May he carry on as he has begun.