The Norway Attack—and Us

If I’m very lucky, I may even get a knock on my own door soon.

Needless to say, yesterday’s terrorist attacks in Norway—a bombing directed at the Norwegian government’s headquarters which killed seven, and a shooting at a Labor Party youth gathering which took at least ten more lives—were horrific, and came as a great shock to the nation. But for me and the rest of the Norwegian non-aligned Right (all three of us), the attacks also spell bad news for another reason: they were, it seems, not the work of Islamic terrorists, but of tall and blonde Anders Behring Breivik–according to the media, a “conservative Christian” and “self-declared nationalist” with links to “anti-Islamic groups.”

(I find it a little suspicious that Breivik’s Twitter feed and Facebook page, which seem to be main sources of these characterizations, were both created recently, but let that go; I’m not usually one for conspiracy theories, and I don’t intend to start now.)I take it for granted that Norwegian authorities, media, and activists will use this as an excuse to come down hard on “right-wing extremists,” and I won’t be surprised if the establishment in the rest of Europe follows suit.

If I’m very lucky, I may even get a knock on my own door soon.

2011-07-24