Norwegian Terror

[Shram]

First time since WWII, pretty extreme. at least 87 people dead, by the lastest count. 7 confirmed in the car bomb and 80 kids confirmed from the shootout against the kids on the island.

As it turns out the reasons (so far gathered) for the guy to shoot the kids and get the car bomb, was because Norway wasn't harsh enough against islamists.
He follows the belief that people have to be nationalists rather then internationalists.

On the negative side newspapers decided it was important to inform us that he plays WoW and he once posted the barrel of a gun on WoW. shifting the focus to the very wrong thing.

There is belief that Norway will be changed forever, Considering the age of the kids involved and what happened, they are probably right, to some degree.

So yeah bad day for Norway.  

[Thaliat Everwood]

Considering what happened in the US a decade ago, this is probably going to have some similar effects on Norway. I feel so bad for the people there. I know in time life will normalize for them again, but it takes a while. I am so sad for the families that lost loved ones today. There is nothing worse then having someone you care about taken from you in such a senseless, tragic manner.  

[Celestial Burden]

People here still haven't quite recovered from it. I guess it just isn't something... you do recover from. I guess I should be thankful I was only in third grade. I was mostly mad that school was cancelled, because I liked school, and that there weren't even any cartoons to keep me occupied for the rest of the day. Later on the severity of what was going on started to hit me, and I guess it has something to do with how cynical I am but...eh. Things like Columbine had more of an effect on me, and I wasn't really fully aware of that until eight or ninth grade.

Regardless, I'm sick of hearing about 9/11. So moving on to the real topic here. Any tragedy of that sort is awful. It's, quite simply, tragic. Politics might get a little more chaotic for several year, and people will start looking over their shoulder, but life moves on. It has to. If it didn't, especially in the face of an event like this, society would collapse even more. If you let the grief sink in too deep, it'll never let go of you.  

[Shram]

The most frustrating aspects of this event is that its Domestic terrorism, and (this is the worst part) the youth camp that he decided to attack had young kids in it.. I can confirm an 11 year old running as his dad was shot, but no idea where the scale is.  

[Jafthasleftthebuilding]

Wow, that sucks that the police couldn't even have proper transportation to make their way to the island.The guy could pretty much do what he wanted. I hope they learn something from the suspect.

neutral

Hey Shram, I recommend dropping a link to an article from a newsgroup you trust.  

[aretoo]

Here is a link from the NY Times. Even worse, the guy was dressed as an officer, and used HIS attack on Oslo to get access to the camp.  

[Shram]

lost of info here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14265094

most sites I read are Norwegian so you'll just have to google >.>  

[Taeryyn]

I can't even imagine how this must be affecting the country. I can't decide whether I feel depressed or angry or both.

Nearly 100 people. My high school had about twice that. Trying to imagine half of my former school, blown away...Christ. :/ And for what? So this monster could play revolutionary?

This worries me as well. After what happened on 9/11 in the US, the American government (and the British government, I think) seemed to take every opportunity possible to limit or remove civil liberties, all in the name of security. To some extent, this is understandable. After your country has been attacked, it makes sense that people feel vulnerable. But in the long run, the restrictions and intrusions are frightening. I would hate to see this sort of decline in freedom extend to Norway (or anywhere else, for that matter).

This is encouraging, though. After the Norwegian publisher of The Satanic Verses was shot in 1993, "the political and intellectual elite stressed the importance of resisting the temptation to respond to the fear as it quickly spread through the population by raising the barriers and increasing the intolerance of those from the world outside."  

[Shram]

It seems the government is choosing to remain democratic in its behavior, no strict regulations have even been discussed and the government seems to say that they don't want to discuss it.

a big difference between UK/US and Norway is that when the attack happened the Media jumped up into a conclusion of it being al qaida/muslim extremist on the international specter while the Norwegian media said nothing of speculations, and informed the country after they knew what was going on.
In the same way none of the Norwegian media is requesting stricter safety terms or any of the demands commonly seen in American news after an incident.

far as I can see, this incident might just show Norway's strength on stressing the freedom and peace that the country loves.  

[Taeryyn]

That's really good, and I'm relieved to hear it.

And hey, kudos to the Norwegian media for staying objective. Some of the coverage from this side of the pond was atrocious. (I'm lookin' at you, CNN...Ugh.)  

[Shram]

International media still is freaking out, BBC is consistently asking what Norway is going to do now, how are they going to retaliate, whats going to change, followed by Why are you not doing anything major in security?

Norway's methods seems to be confusing the Western world.  

[Taeryyn]

Indeed. x3

They don't seem to realize that maybe it's the crazed person who's the problem, not the country's policies or a lack of security. razz  

[Shram]

Actually the guy has been said to be completely sane, this is extremism not insanity.

He believed this was necessary to prove a point in what he believes in.  

[Saverio C.]

Crimes against humanity are the only hope of a real prison sentence? Norway is handling their crisis in everyday but in legal matters.  

[PixiecuTT]

Sane in the sense that he knew what he was doing, and sane enough to be held criminally responsible, certainly, but I think someone who blows away dozens of people to prove a point is still within the definition of "crazed". At least, if you want to use a little hyperbole, which I think Tae's guilty of. x3