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[Grakelin]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/europe/at-least-80-killed-in-norway-shooting-police-say/article2106259/

Earlier today, when I first heard the news and nobody was sure what had really happened (and the death toll at the camp was estimated at about 'ten'), one thing was clear. The shooter was a tall blond male. Naturally, speculation continued to be directed at an Al Qaeda orchestrated plot, and the strangely unintellectual comment sections of all news media websites were rife with people lamenting the West's lax attitude on Muslims and how we should all close our borders. You can generally tell which ones the evil Muslims are because of their blond hair.

There is no tl;dr, because you should really take the time out of your day to look up the news and not rely on us here on the forum. Also, I provided a link.

Discuss.



(Yeah, Cap'n'tastic, I ended the post with "Discuss". Suck it.)

[PsyberianHusky]

I think it is two soon to call this anything but horrible. Nothing has been released on the culprit and it is too early to speculate his motives are an act of terrorism.
There is something particularly wrong to me about a 32 year old man who goes on a killing spree at a childrens camp of all places.

[alway]

Actually, there has been info released on the culprit.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43857267/ns/world_news-europe/
By the looks of things, it would appear he was a right-wing extremist. There is some obscure Islamic terrorist group claiming responsibility, but the guy isn't exactly in their target demographic for recruits, to put it mildly.

[Africa]

Just like in America, I'm more concerned about all-American right-wing anti-government nuts than Islamic fundamentalists, if for no other reason than that all the anti-terror apparatus' attention focuses on the latter. As reflected by the fact that back this morning when the known death toll was one or two, everyone was trying to figure out what motivation radical Muslims would have for attacking Norway.

[PsyberianHusky]

Just like in America, I'm more concerned about all-American right-wing anti-government nuts than Islamic fundamentalists.

I think if you are irrational enough to harm people like that it doesn't mater so much what you believe.

[Grakelin]

Sure it does. If a radical, irrational mind latches to a pacifist belief system or one dedicated to helping others, he is less likely to kill people over it than if he latches onto part of the political spectrum or a non-pacifist religion. You never hear about radical Buddhist terrorist attacks. Except from the Chinese government.

[PsyberianHusky]

Maybe. I am just at a loss to rationalize things like this.

[ChairmanPoo]

Sure it does. If a radical, irrational mind latches to a pacifist belief system or one dedicated to helping others, he is less likely to kill people over it than if he latches onto part of the political spectrum or a non-pacifist religion. You never hear about radical Buddhist terrorist attacks. Except from the Chinese government.

It should be noted there have been quite a few militant buddhist organizations, though
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chushi_Gangdruk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikk%C5%8D-ikki


So I think psy has a point.A violent person will quickly find a way to justify himself. It didn't take long for the christians to go from turning the other cheek to lynching infidels....

[Grakelin]

A militant group differs from our popular conception of a terrorist group based on their targeting of civilians. Both the links you provided were revolutionary factions who can only be considered terrorists if one also claims the American Revolution and the Ancient Roman Slave Revolts were terrorism.

[Jackrabbit]

I wonder how Kagus is, in the midst of all this.

[Leafsnail]

Ugh.  This is just... argh.  I have relatives in Norway, although there's no reason for them to be anywhere near Oslo.  One of them refuses to visit us because they think there's gonna be a terrorist attack here...

I have heard speculation that his was actually the work of one man acting alone, but I haven't really seen any evidence of that yet and we'll have to see if anyone actually claims responsibility.

[Dsarker]

Ugh.  This is just... argh.  I have relatives in Norway, although there's no reason for them to be anywhere near Oslo.  One of them refuses to visit us because they think there's gonna be a terrorist attack here...

I have heard speculation that his was actually the work of one man acting alone, but I haven't really seen any evidence of that yet and we'll have to see if anyone actually claims responsibility.

According to the news report, that appears to be what the police believe.

[olemars]

When I went to bed they were talking about perhaps ten dead from the shooting attack. Looking at the news this morning was a bit of a shock. I don't think I know anyone directly affected, but the shooting happened at the annual youth convention for one of the largest political parties, so I it's almost guaranteed I know someone who knows someone.

Reminds me of school shootings, but at a massive scale and highly calculated. Everything points to one or two attackers with right-wing extremist views but no apparent connections to any extremist groups or anything like that. It's also happened completely out of the blue. There hasn't been much noise from that direction in many many years. A half-hour after the bomb attack the "analysts" were screaming about islamists and afghanistan and whatnot, today is just confusion.

I worry about the implications and effects this shit will have. There certainly will be changes and I don't think they will be good.

[scriver]

I wonder how Kagus is, in the midst of all this.

Olemars is Norwegian too, isn't he? I think he is from the far north end, though..

Ninja'd by the man himself.

I worry about the implications and effects this shit will have. There certainly will be changes and I don't think they will be good.

In what way, do you mean?

[olemars]

In what way, do you mean?

Just a bad feeling, haven't reflected too deeply on it yet. But this was a massive attack against a specific and powerful political party, and the identified attacker has had some connections to one of the opposition parties (which isn't extremist in any way, but their rethoric has attracted some bad elements in the past too). The bomb attack also got to the center of government, with the security implications that will have. And Norway is a small country, everyone will know someone affected.