I'm having the BBC on right now, and basically, apart from showing some footage from Oslo City, they don't know very much and are talking to various Norwegian intelligence (politicians, journalists etc). Right now, what I gather is that the hottest lead is this may be inspired by a publication of Muhammad caricatures in the VG tabloid (or this is what I get from listening with half an ear). My question is, are there leftist extremists in Norway, and what are they like?
Re: Oslo Bombing Muslims are overreacting about that Muhammad caricature. Christianity is trashed in the media every day, but you don't see Christians blowing up buildings and people because of that.
Re: Oslo Bombing It's speculation. I actually don't think it has an Islamist background. Still, the BBC is saying that there was apparently an Iraqi-born cleric who said he would harm Norwegian politicians a few days ago.
Re: Oslo Bombing There are leftist extremists, but none that one can suspect to go to these extremes. They are usually satisfied with the odd police confrontation, with throwing of bricks and bottles. Bad enough, but no worse than the 70's football hooligans in England. Right-wing violence has also never gone to these extremes here. The only bomb attacks we have had earlier have been smaller, targeted attacks between rivaling criminals. No, extreme Islamists is the hottest lead for this one. The strange thing is that although these caricatures were published in several Norwegian papers, the authorities were very eager to "extinguish" that fire. They even managed to make Vebjørn Selbekk, the editor of a small Christian semi-fundamentalist newspaper into a scapegoat for publishing those drawings. The Minister of Foreign Affairs called in a meeting with Selbekk, and with the leaders of the so-called Islamic Council of Norway, to talk things through. That entire case was a big showcase of media hypocrisy, because the tabloids joined in the witch-hunt against Selbekk - despite the fact that they had published the drawings themselves ... the point is, this case was not treated in a firm way at all, and considering the way it was treated, it is surprising if someone are still so upset about this that they choose to carry out a bomb attack. Fuck them. Oh yes, Mr. Krekar. He's an attention whore, but he's also a former guerrilla leader. He is sort of a hot potato in the public debate, with various politicians blaming each other for the failure of sending him back to Iraq. The Supreme Court have upheld a decision to send him out, but Norway does not send anyone to a country where they risk the death penalty. So, until the Iraqi government can guarantee that he will not be executed, he will not be sent there. However, he is under constant surveillance, so I can't see how he can be involved in this.
Re: Oslo Bombing Yeah, but there's always a cleric from the Middle East ranting about how he's going to kill people from this country or that country. If this is a strike by an Islamist organization, it could be co-ordinated with the Stockholm bombing... BBC is reporting that a tabloid's office was the target.
Re: Oslo Bombing OK then, but it still stands that they tend to overreact. According to BBC, it's too early to say if it was terrorist attack. Two people are dead, allegedly.
Re: Oslo Bombing Caricaturing Muhammad is a huge taboo in Islam. Even if you don't trash Muhammad, it's a taboo to caricaturing him. There's no such thing in Christianity. Of course, I don't support that kind of events, I'm not even a Muslim (I live in a mostly Muslim country) but comparing religions like that is nonsense I think.
Re: Oslo Bombing We've been over this before. It doesn't matter if there's a taboo. Right to freedom of speech trumps the inconvenience of offense.
Re: Oslo Bombing Plus, being offended does not excuse violence. As someone I know posted on his Facebook wall when this hit the news: Violence belongs in computer games.
Re: Oslo Bombing So the name of the minute is Mullah Krekar, a Sunni cleric from Iraqi-Kurdistan who was the head of a Kurdish Islamist group called the Ansar al-Islam and of which the Bush administration said had ties to al Qaeda. Krekar is a wanted terrorist who has refugee status in Norway. All according to Wikipedia, where it goes without saying that certain information can be weighed to distort the truth.
Re: Oslo Bombing That sounds entirely reasonable, though. I mean...it could be real. Yes, it does. But I find myself wondering what wars our children will wage over the concept of freedom of speech, as Islamic terrorism intensifies.
Re: Oslo Bombing I understand that, but if I remember correctly, some Muslim countries demanded that UN impose sanction on Dennmark when the carricatures first showed up. It is overreacting. Newspapers are to blame, not the whole country.
Re: Oslo Bombing Christ, when those cartoons were printed, they killed people and burned embassies. There has been a shooting at a youth meeting of the Labour Party in Norway.
Re: Oslo Bombing Ah, sorry, I missed that. Still, I'd be careful to use the I-word before there is proof. There is so much going on in the world at the moment that I'd expect this to come from almost any direction.[hr][/hr] What, just now?
Re: Oslo Bombing Ah, BBC said it now too. "There have been some shots near the your meeting" or something like that.
Re: Oslo Bombing The thing is, in Norway there are no other current conflict areas that could possibly lead to this. I am not blaming Muslims in Norway, but I would be very surprised if this has nothing to do with extreme Islamists. Who else bear a grudge against Norway nowadays? People from Sri Lanka because of the failed peace talks led by a Norwegian politician? The shooter has seemingly dressed up as a fake policeman and mentioned the bombing in Oslo as the reason for police presence. I hope this is just a nutcase.