Thoughts after the massacre in Norway

Number24

This is a far darker subject than what we normally get in this forum, but I felt like writing some words. The bomb near the goverment buildings and the horrible shootings on Utøya was a terrible shock to all Norwegians. This act of terrorism can be compared to the Oklahoma bombings, but the shock was probably even bigger. We were/are in a sense "inocents". A comedian asked his friends what they liked best about living in Norway. Here are some of the answers:

Politicians only pretend to disagree to make debates less boring.

De-frosted pizza is the most popular dinner

The vice-speaker of Parliament is born in Pakistan and drives a bus on his off hours

The police normally don't carry firearms

We smile when the sun comes out

A single murder is national news

You can meet ministers of the government in the COOP cue completely unguarded

The Crown Prince was the DJ at the Ministry of Foreign affairs' Christmast party

Everyone is middle class

The Prime Minister once presented himself at a party like this: "My name is Jens. I'm Camilla's brother."



How much of this strange country have we lost now?






"We are so few in this country, every fallen is a brother or a friend"

(from the poem "17th of May 1940" written by the poet Nordahl Grieg after the German attack on Norway that year

thesecretagent

I've been to Norway a couple of times with the British army on arctic warfare training and liked both the people and the place. Some places you go can take time to make up your mind on both. Norway certainly wasn't one of those. I remember very tall, blonde, gorgeous women who could drink more beer than myself, and could also afford to. The people were polite to a load of rough-cut squaddies, and the country is about as beautiful as it gets - like Scotland or Canada, although it was very white when I was there.
Like most I can't believe someone could do that, especially to such soft targets. I understand terrorism and what motivates them into what they see as a war, but this is very different. This was an inferior, bitter, shameful, inadequate individual who shows no regret, killed unarmed people yet lacked the guts to make a fight with the armed and well-trained security forces or take his own life.
However, he will be alive to see how little overall damage his actions have done. He won't have changed a single policy, beaten people into thinking differently, allowed his actions to leave people in fear. All he will see is how he has united people, strengthened their resolve and acheived nothing. And he'll have a longtime locked away to think about this.

0073

For what it's worth:






I'm sorry for what happened.









TSA said it right.

Number24

Thanks. He seriously miscalculated what the effect of his actions would be. The young people at Utøya were the future political elite in Norway, several prime ministers and other ministers were past leaders of Labour Party Youth. He wanted to weaken them, but new members of LPY and other political youth organisations have gone up since his murders. He has also allmost destroyed the debate about about the possible threat of Islam. A friend of mine who harbours many of the same beliefs about islam as he does (but not about what should be done), has stopped voicing his views. i believe this true for many, including "Fjordman" who was Breivik's blogger hero.

Napoleon Plural

I suppose in the same way - though to a far worse extent of course - that Enoch Powell made all discourse on the subject of immigration off limits for a generation or more.

At first it was thought to be Muslim extremism, then others are saying, why is this guy described as a lone nutter and not a terrorist, whereas Muslim radicals who kill are 'terrorists'? But to be fair, it's because despite whatever this guy claimed, his aim doesn't seem part of a wider active movement. It's not racism, rather this seems more like Columbine, which you wouldn't call terrorism either. Now, the Red Army Brigade in West Germany were terrorists and described as such, and were of course white, but that was a political style movement of sorts. Now you do get Al Quaida types just acting alone, but it is also part of a wider movement of sorts.

That said, I do wonder about this bloke hiring a Labour party guy as his defence lawyer, seems like he wants to enjoy this guy's discomfort really, the irony that he had to make a case for this guy.

Napoleon Plural

A surprising piece by Tony Parsons in today's Mirror tabloid reflects the worries of Number24.

Tony Parsons in the Mirror

smudgedude

it's absolutely disgusting. i certainly hope that this doesn't change anything for anyone up there.

thesecretagent

What about more recent events in Norway? A huge polar bear killed one Brit and mauled two others. One of the lads lives pretty close to me. Luckily one of the injured lads got to the rifle and shot the beast, killing it. Many companies and organisations are suspending their activities in the area. A shame really, because the bear is dead and they are always a known risk, so it's like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted. I hope this doesn't affect Norway in the north, in the wake of what's happened in the south...

Napoleon Plural

Come come, secretagent, everyone else managed to avoid bringing up the polar bear... Not really the same is it, unless ex polar bear was one of the gunman's much touted Knights Templar network...

thesecretagent

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Come come, secretagent, everyone else managed to avoid bringing up the polar bear... Not really the same is it, unless ex polar bear was one of the gunman's much touted Knights Templar network...

Yeah, it should have been a separate thread, I suppose. 8-)