Explosion in Oslo
 

There's been an explosion in Oslo close to the Prime Minister's office. Government buildings and a newspaper office have been damaged. The PM is unhurt, but there are injuries and at least one person dead. There's currently a rescue operation to get people out of damaged buildings.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14252515


As a small mercy, this occurred during a holiday, when far more people would have been inside the offices.

Police have confirmed it was a bomb, but haven't said what kind. Nobody as yet has claimed responsibility.

Apparently there are two confirmed dead.

Who blows up Norwegians? There's no call for that.

Must be those hateful chileans.

Well, they've been threatened in the past by Islamist groups because of their support for the war in Iraq. But there's also a possibility it is right-wing terrorists.

Extreme right wingers are still mad that Obama got the peace prize.
[/just kidding. but seriously, the Timothy McVeighs of this world do crazy stuff]

NYTimes report has additional news:

Shortly after the apparent bomb attack, a man dressed as a police officer opened fire on a youth political meeting on the island of Utoya in the Oslo fjord, about 25 miles from the city, the police said. There were initial reports that Prime Minister Stoltenberg was scheduled to attend the meeting.
...
Mr. Kvernen, the police spokesman, said he could not confirm whether there were casualties in the shooting incident at the summer camp near Honefoss, north of Oslo. Media reports said five people were wounded. “The police are sending massive units,” he said.

Times update

A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or the Helpers of the Global Jihad, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Will McCants, a terrorism analyst at C.N.A., a research institute that studies terrorism. The message said the attack was a response to Norwegian forces’ presence in Afghanistan and to unspecified insults to the Prophet Muhammad. “We have warned since the Stockholm raid of more operations,” the group said, according to Mr. McCants’ translation, apparently referring to a bombing in Sweden in December 2010. “What you see is only the beginning, and there is more to come.” The claim could not be confirmed.

There are now 7 confirmed dead from the explosion, and 'at least nine' dead at the Labour Party Youth camp.

The right wing is waiting for an apology ...

Apparently the suspect in custody for the shooting at the camp is a Norwegian citizen.


@ Wolf: i don't get that?

You accused the right wing ahead of Arab Terrorists who have more of a track record of blowing things up.

I did not. In answer to the question 'who would blow up the Norwegians?' I said they had been threatened by Islamists in the past but that right wing terrorists were also a possibility.

As it happens, it is looking more like a domestic politics issue. A Norwegian citizen targetting both the Labour Prime Minister, and the Labour Party Youth camp where the PM was due to speak.

Reports of a 32 year old neo-nazi being arrested...

...and report taken down again!

Cowardly fuck to target a youth camp. Apparently he was dressed in a police uniform and had them gather around him before he started shooting.

This is sport, as we wait for detail on who's responsible. The Times has walked back a little:

According to Will McCants, a terrorism analyst at C.N.A., a research institute, a previously unknown group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or the Helpers of the Global Jihad, claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were a response to the presence of Norwegian forces in Afghanistan and to unspecified insults to the Prophet Muhammad.

But Norwegian television reports later suggested that the group had denied responsibility. In the immediate aftermath of recent terrorist attacks, jihadi forums are often filled with claims and counterclaims that are impossible to independently confirm.

And another update:

However the report finishes with:

@Wolf - why would you be upset over the mention that right wing terrorists might be responsible? Acts of terrorism are more about what a nut case the perp is rather than his preported idealogy. :confused:

Times update

After the shooting the police seized a 32-year-old Norwegian man on the island, according to the police and Justice Minister Knut Storberget. He was later identified as Anders Behring Breivik and characterized by officials as a right-wing extremist, citing previous writings including on his Facebook page.

The acting police chief, Sveinung Sponheim, said the suspect’s Internet postings “suggest that he has some political traits directed toward the right, and anti-Muslim views, but if that was a motivation for the actual act remains to be seen.”

He said the suspect had also been seen in Oslo before the explosions. The police and other authorities declined to say what the suspect’s motivations might have been, but many speculated that the target was Mr. Stoltenberg’s liberal government.

I bet it was The Spanish Inquisition.

No one expects The Spanish Inquisition.

Grav just won the thread lol.

I ain't sayin' nothin'...I'm just sayin'.

:lol2:

The thing is, I didn't even mention them first. I mentioned Islamist groups, before I mentioned right-wing extremists.

I think it's fair to say Islamic terror was the first thing we all thought about. Especially given past threats and recent plots. But there is always the possibility of far-right, neo-nazi attacks in Europe and Scandinavia. In some parts there is always the possibility of far-left groups engaging in terrorism. Recently there has been an upsurge in neo-nazi activity across Europe and Scandinavia, so obviously, the next thought after Islamists is neo-nazis.

Timothy McVeigh or Osama bin Laden. What is the difference? Only their excuses. Similar people with a similar attitude. You don't see moderates as terrorists attacking airplanes, people, and buildings.

OK, I'll say it.

Extreme Islamist terrorists are waiting for a .....

Sorry, I can't say it.

I just can't.

I think we now understand that this was due to Sarah Palin's violent rhetoric.

I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Granny Palin's hyperbolic cure for teen pregnancy.

A Lebanese blogger that I read says this, good point:

There you go, resorting to facts again to bolster a weak argument.

From the NY Times of 23 Jul 2011: Religious fundamentalist. Extremist. Timothy McVeigh. bin Laden. Anyone who is told how to think rather than ask damning questions and demand facts with numbers. Same people my father so loved to manipulate with advertising because they are that dumb. An example of why true patriots are better educated. And why propaganda so easily creates extremists from the ranks of those who automatically believe what they are first told to believe.

So many Americans loved to massacre 4,500 American soldiers in Iraq. Extremists are that easily created.

Anyone who first suspected extremist an extremist in Oslo was fully justified in doing so. Statistics alone say that was a good bet. Because extremism, hate, routine lies, and a political agenda even hyped by Limbaugh, Beck, David Duke or Palin create such people. Religion is a relationship only between you and your god. The second your religious beliefs are imposed on anyone else means you are an extremist.

This conflict is not about liberal vs conservative. Reality is moderates verses wacko extremists. Why did a Pope virtually protect pedophiles? Find extremists often in religious institutions where so many are ripe for extremist indoctrination and right wing hatred.

Does anyone else see the irony in the fact that a terrible act committed by a right-wing, self confessed Muslim hater was initially claimed by a Muslim extremist group?

Yes. I do.

Every extremist wants to take credit for death and destruction. It is the mantra that drives their existence. Even bin Laden tried to claim responsibility from the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, Cheney blamed Saddam. The Christian coalition blamed gays. And whalers blamed Greenpeace.

I thought Greenpeace were the extremists.

They are. No different than Earth First and PETA or other domestic terrorists.

tw, did you even get the point of my post? lol

No. Irony is a human frailty, and as such is highly illogical. Irony does not compute.

I know right. I saw the pics of him and I'm like...you're shitting me. That's a Bond villain right there.

[going directly] White people aren't more evil, we're just better at it. [/to hell]

What I see is some among the right wing in the US suggesting that Norway was susceptible to this type of horrific attack because they are neutral in the "war on terrorism" or even worse, attempting to use the attack to deflect attention to a perceived problem of Muslim extremists in Norway.

Are you suggesting there are no Muslim extremists in Norway? If so, I'd have to disagree. There are extremists of every ilk pretty much everywhere.

Also, did you get my point? Or you just don't see it? lol

[paraphrasing Cliff Claven]There are no Muslim Extremists in Norwegia, ya moliok.[/Claven]

:p:

No, I dont see the irony, given that extremists often take credit for violent acts of others for their own political purposes.

And, I agree that there are Muslim extremists in Norway but my point was that there are some among the right wing who used this attack to deflect the issue to Muslim extremism, even knowing that it was not responsible.

Like one of Mercenary's reliable sources, Michelle Malkin:

What does any of the above have to do with this attack by a conservative Christian on a personal crusade against multiculturalism and Islam?

Shamefully, Malkin's first instinct was to use the event to attack her political opposition.

Shamefully, your first instinct was the same.

So you follow with a shameful attempt to diminish Malkin's shameful post by transferring the shame to me for pointing it out.

How very Merclike of you...or Merclite (he would have thrown in "asshole" in transferring the shame to me) :D

I have diminished nothing.

I don't like Malkin, and I have said so often.

I don't like you, and I will say so now.

I love Malkin's blog and her continual acerbic attacks on the liberal elite... She does a good job of exposing the double standards found so often in todays political theater and Obamanation..

Well, I'm crushed that you dont like me, but not surprised.

You dont like confrontation when your opinion is challenged.

A typical right wing reaction by equating her Islamaphobia to me for calling it out. :D

This is a thread about a horrible event in Norway.

Oh. That explains the posts about Sara Palin'a violent rhetoric (in jest, I presume) or Green Peace, Earth First, PETA and other domestic terrorists.(not in jest, a typical Mercenary contribution).

You dont like me because I think it was important to note how Malkin and others who spew anti_muslim rhetoric at every opportunity have attempted to manipulate this horrible event? I can live with that.

Fine. Here we go then.

Malkin posted a time-stamped update on her post when she learned the truth of the matter; so when you said...

...you were incorrect. She posted what she knew when she knew it, which was at the same time we all knew it. It was on her post before we picked up the information here.

She even changed the headline to include the new information in red.

Now, if you are honest, you will admit this error. It is as plain as day.

Right.

She included the new information in red and left the numerous anti-Muslim links as well, near the top of the post, where they still remain as plain as day, and the focus of her post.

If you were honest, you would have noted that.

added:
And I still believe that it is relevant that this guy was calling for an anti-Muslim crusade and anti-Muslims in the US like Malkin used the horrible event to further fuel the anti-Muslim fire.

It has also been reported, but not confirmed, that he was a follower of other US anti-Muslim sites like Atlas Shrugged and Jihad Watch.

You know, personally I believe there's a small shift in attitudes towards Muslim people in western countries thanks to the education we're constantly being given about lifestyles and true beliefs of ordinary, every day run of the mill Muslim people.

There is a long way to go, but I think the average person is starting to realize that some people are doing a lot more fear mongering than the actual threat warrants.

Have a little faith in humanity. We're smarter than you think.

Perhaps that is the case in Australia.

In much of Europe, there is a growing anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim movement. It is not as prevalent in Norway, but it is present.

And in the US, while it is not quite as bad, there are many people who associate Islam with terrorism, making no distinction, fueled by the rhetoric of the likes of Malkin, Pam Geller and others.

added:
Hell, in the US, we have a Republican presidential candidate, Herman Cain, who says the First Amendment right to the free expression of religion should allow cities to ban mosques.

I happen to disagree with your point on a personal level. I believe that most people are smart enough to distinguish shit from shinola even if they happen to agree in principal with the political beliefs of a particular person who happens to speak shit from time to time.

Thats fine. You certainly dont have to agree with me.

But the growth of anti-immigrant (anti-Muslim) political parties in Europe and the anti-Muslim rhetoric of the conservative candidates and blogger all have many followers.

And the more they are not called out for their rhetoric, the more they become acceptable.

Thank you. So, now, without changing the subject to me...

Do you have another example of a right winger who used this attack to deflect the issue to Muslim extremism?

I could be wrong, but I suspect they have equally (easily) as many people who recognise their work for what it is.

The world is not a simple place. Change takes time, but I choose to believe it's happening. Probably not fast enough, but that's the way it goes.