Norway's PM: an example to world leadership

I once read somewhere that responsibility is the mark of someone’s ability to respond well. I keep reminding myself of this as the reactions to the terrible events in Oslo are now being broadcast around the world.

The ghoulish aftermath of the shooting and the bombing, both now accredited to the twisted actions of one man, leave me with a sense of shell shock.

 The images of the children that huddled desperately together on Utueya Island, all too young to ever deserve this (not that any age qualifies you), makes it hard for me to imagine how life can go on for them.  It can never be the same.

The same can be said for the victims who wandered like blood-drenched zombies in the streets of Oslo, and in London, Madrid, Iraq, New York, Afghanistan, Libya and Oklahoma. The fall out from this attack will be yet another marker in our sad times to show how innocent people get in the way of madness.

It is understandable why some would want to let slip the dogs of war for such an event, and possibly why many jumped on the bandwagon of blaming al-Qaeda; the west’s scapegoat in wolfs clothing.  Our presumption is always that the enemy is them not us. A deeper chill does run down the spine to think that a Norwegian national is suspected to have done this to 92 of his own people.  I don’t know why it makes a difference, but it does. Perhaps he hated them for their freedom. Who knows?

One thing if for certain, Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has set a new example to the world for responsible leadership.  Before all of the details were released about Anders Britvic, he went on record to say that Norway’s answer would be; “More openness, More democracy.”

A far cry from the Bush (albeit delayed) reaction to the events surrounding 9/11.

He met with grieving parents today, saying many who died were his friends, giving him more than enough reason to take this extremely personally. If this had happened in America effecting friends and family of the current White House occupants, the death penalty debate would already be on the table.

Instead, his staggering remarks were; “The answer to violence is even more democracy, even more humanity. No one can bomb us to be quiet; no one can shoot us to be quiet. No one can ever scare us from being Norway.” I would be treble proud to have a spokesman like that for my country. If more leaders took this stance, 90% of all wars would not be happening today. As Gandhi said: An eye for an eye makes the world go blind.