The Nobel War Prize

Since the Nobel Peace Prize has become little more than a political choice without any real meaning, maybe the Nobel Committee should start giving out a war prize instead. After all, Alfred Nobel, along with inventing dynamite, was the owner of Bofors, a major armaments firm to this day.

Here are some possible nominees for a Nobel War Prize, for recent contributions & achievements in warfare. Like the peace prize, they'd be highly controversial.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa & the Sri Lankan military: for successfully crushing a long-running, powerful insurgency.

Hezbollah: for not only surviving a major Israeli offensive, but turning a tactical draw or defeat into a strategic victory, strengthening its position in Lebanon.

The U.S. Military: for firmly establishing the unmanned drone as a major system of modern warfare.

The Iraqi Insurgency: for firmly establishing the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) as a major weapon of asymmetric warfare.

Al Qaeda & the Taliban (joint award): for the ability of their top leadership to survive against a sustained assault by the greatest power on earth, and their continuing ability to fight and adapt.

General David Petreaus: for conducting a counterinsurgency campaign that radically altered the dynamics of the Iraq War, overcoming years of chaos and failure.

The Somali Pirates: for defying the world's navies, and demonstrating that all the weapons and power in the world are useless if you don't have the will to use them.

And then there are what I would call the negative nominees.

The Pakistani Military: for being one of the largest most powerful militaries incapable or unwilling to control its own national territory.

The Lords Resistance Army: for violating every known, assumed, and traditional rule of warfare, and generally being one of the most vicious, murderous collections of rabble we've seen in some time.

UN Peacekeeping Forces: for being worse than useless in many situations.

The Afghan National Army: for being a paper force after eight years, despite massive international aid & effort. 

I'm sure I missed some in both categories, but those are my nominees.