Carter's life a contrast to US policies

THE irony of awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to former US Democrat president Jimmy Carter will not be lost on the party’s current representatives in Congress, who have shifted their position on Iraq to now row in behind President Bush.

The prestigious award acknowledges his peace mediation efforts and promotion of human rights, citing him for “decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”

In conferring the award, the chairman of the Nobel committee, Gunnar Berge, said it should be interpreted as a criticism of the line that the current administration has taken, and a kick in the leg to all that follow the same line as the United States.