Outstanding Selection

By all accounts, Shirin Ebadi is an inspired choice for the Nobel Peace Prize:

Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize Friday for her work defending human rights in an award aimed at inspiring democratic reform across the Muslim world.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Ebadi, one of Iran’s first woman judges before the Islamic revolution forced her to step down, for work focused on the rights of women and children.

Here is an old Christian Science Monitor article about Ebadi, and it appears that the Nobel committee used this selection to send a message to the Middle East:

“In my country, Iran, there is still a continued struggle for democracy and human rights,” she wrote this year.

“Iranian people want to reform their political and legal system,” she said. “They are protesting against the few people who have power.”

Nobel watchers say that the committee, which includes three women, probably chose Ebadi as a way of promoting change, rather than rewarding the ailing pope or to Havel for a lifetime of peace work.

They say the committee has been seeking to promote moderates in the Muslim world since the September 11 attacks on the United States to avoid stoking conflicts between religions after U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Nobel Committee’s own write-up is here. Seems to be a pretty decent choice.