Andre Breivik

On April 19^th, 1995, a 27-year old security guard detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people in the blast and injured 450 in the deadliest act of terrorism in the U.S, until 9/11.

I remember exactly where I was when the 9/11 attacks took place, the day 2’753 people lost their lives in the most controversial act of terrorism ever played out.  The same feeling of disbelief, shock, and anger gripped me then as it did when the images of Madrid (191 killed and 1’800 injured in 3/4) and London (52 died in 7/7) flooded out.  Yesterday was no exception.

When the first droplets of information were filtering through about the Oslo attacks, everyone twittering jumped to the conclusion that this was an international act of terrorism. And although I tried to remain open, there was part of me that was waiting for the list of usual suspects to come forward and take the twisted credit.

It was not long before it was rumored that a terror group Ansar al-Jihad or the Helpers of the Global Jihad were thought to have claimed to be responsible (the claim was never confirmed by police).

Not many would have considered that the country that awards the Nobel Peace Prize could have been a target for al Qaeda, however, according to Elisa Marla there are several reasons why Norway maybe marked for terrorist attack: “Norway is a member of the NATO alliance and has a small fighting contingent in Afghanistan. It was one of several countries named by Ayman al-Zawahri, the leader of Al Qaeda, as potential targets for attack. In 2006, Norwegian newspapers reprinted Danish cartoons that angered Muslims by lampooning Muhammad.”

It must be said here that Muslim leaders in Norway immediately and vehemently opposed the attacks, as did every other man and woman of faith alive (no matter what religious beliefs their faith registered with.) Terrorism is not the act of the holy, it is the act of the religiously mislead.

The explosions in Oslo would have been quite enough to stitch up the events of the bad news day for Norway, but the horror escalated to nightmare proportions when it was reported that a man, dressed as a police officer, strolled into the Labour Youth Summer Camp on the island of Otuya, off the coast of Oslo, and opened fire.

Over 80 children, no older than 16, were killed at point blank range, and more were forced to swim and run for their lives as Andre Breivik, 32, shot at them indiscrimenatly.  It was 30 minutes before a SWAT team could get on the island, and if anyone has seen the pictures of devastation, one can only imagine what fear those poor children endured. It is harder to imagine how, for the ones who survived, this is going to have effect on the rest of their lives.

Breivik was seen in Oslo before the bomb was detonated, and because further undetonated explosives were found on the island where his massacre took place, police believe he is responsible for both atrocities. He is now in custody.

Since McVeigh, there has been no murderer to even touch the same scale, until now.

It is impossible to rationalize with the actions of madmen, looking for the real reason anyone would be driven to do something like this is the job of highly trained and skilled experts. That doesn’t stop us all from trying.

McVeigh went on record to say that the Oklahoma bombings were revenge on the federal government for their handling of the Wako disaster and like Breivik, was thought to hold right-wing views. Breivik has posted various vitriolic anti-Muslim rants on Christian Fundamentalist websites.

A statement issued by police said Breivik was “clear on his point and wanted to explain himself.” I think the one misleading word from that statement is clear. If his motives were religiously mislead why would this man target his own government if they were also on the target list of al Qaeda?

It is impossible for me (holding the faith I do) to see how anyone could come to the conclusion that god wants you to blow up a building, open fire on children, or hate any other persons right to believe how they choose. For me the fundamental principle of god is benevolence, and with that comes compassion.

All people of every faith will be preying, hoping and feeling the greatest compassion for the people of Oslo and Norway at this time. This madman may have his excuses and believe that his warped ideals live up to them, but he is very much alone.

If you have been affected personally by this utter tragedy, my thoughts and love goes out to you, along with the rest of the world. I hope Oslo finds it’s peace and can rest again soon.