Nightmare in Norway and Fundamentalist Christian Terrorists

Anders Breivik, the arrested suspect of the horrendous murder spree in Norway, "opposed multiculturalism and Muslim immigrants in Norway" and "championed opposition to 'Cultural Marxism,' a right-wing anti-Semitic concept developed primarily by William Lind of the US-based Free Congress Foundation, but also the Lyndon LaRouche network," says Chip Berlet, a senior analyst at Political Research Associates.

Friday, July 22 was an unimaginable dark day for the people of Norway. A horrible bombing in Oslo was followed later in the day by a murderous shooting spree at a Labor Party youth camp on the island of Utoya. All told, the death toll may reach as high as 100. The bombing was an apparent attempt on the life of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Initially, few dared speculate who might be responsible for the attacks, but there is no doubt that many thought it was the work of Al Qaeda or an Al Qaeda-related organization. Apparently, according to Benjamin Doherty writing at The Electronic Intifada, such respected news outlets as BBC, the New York Times, The Guardian and The Washington Post were using information supplied to them by so-called terrorism expert Will McCants, whose posts early on insisted that there very well could be an Islamist connection to the atrocities

As more information rolled in, however, it soon became apparent that the terrorist appeared to be a homegrown right-wing extremist.

This didn't stop Ryan Mauro, the founder of WorldThreats.com, the national security director for the decidedly homophobic Christian Action Network and a leading figure in the Islamophobic community, from posting a piece on David Horowitz's frontpagemag.com saying that while "It is unclear if Islamists were involved in the attacks, ... Norway now undoubtedly knows the horrors that terrorism can bring." No matter who was responsible, Mauro concluded, Norway should be vigilant against the threat of Islamic extremists.

Shortly before midnight, police arrested a man identified as Anders Behring Breivik, who is described by Time magazine as "a handsome 32-yuear-old Norwegian with blue eyes and a short crop of blond hair." According to a Reuters report, "The gunman gave up without a fight with police after a massacre near Oslo that lasted almost 1.5 hours, acting police chief Sveinung Sponheim told a news conference." The Reuters report pointed out that "Deputy Police Chief Roger Andresen would not speculate on the motives for what was believed to be the deadliest attack by a lone gunman anywhere in modern times.

'He describes himself as a Christian, leaning toward right-wing Christianity, on his Facebook page,' Mr. Andresen said."

Sources in Norway told the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights (IREHR), "that Breivik has been known to write posts in right-wing internet forums in Norway, where he has described himself as a 'nationalist' and has also written numerous screeds critical of Muslims."

IREHR reported late Friday evening that "New evidence has surfaced indicating that Breivik appears to be a fan of the Tea Party's favorite Islamophobe, Pamela Geller. The website Little Green Footballs reports that he's been posting links to Geller's website Atlas Shrugged since at least 2009."

Reuters noted that Breivik's "Facebook page was blocked, but a cached version describes a conservative Christian from Oslo who owned his own organic farming company, called Breivik Geofarm.

"The profile veers between references to lofty political philosophers and gory popular films, television shows and video games. The Facebook account appears to have been set up on 17 July. The site lists no 'friends' or social connections."

According to Reuters, "Breivik had also set up a Twitter account recently, with a single post on July 17, a citation from 19th century thinker John Stuart Mill: 'One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests.'"

Time magazine reported that "Norwegian police describe Breivik as a conservative, right-wing extremist and a Christian fundamentalist. Norwegian media have reported that he attended the Oslo Commerce School and describe him as a conservative and nationalist. His views are hard to characterize. He appears to hate communists and Muslims and harbors right-wing views. But he is not a neo-Nazi. Breivik was a regular reader of right-wing Web sites and blogs such as the Gates of Vienna, and a follower of the blogger Fjordman. On a Facebook page that Breivik set up days before the attacks, he cites an eclectic group of heroes that include Winston Churchill, Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders, and Norwegian anti-Nazi resistance fighter Max Manus. Breivik appears to see himself as a mercenary in a war against the spread of Islam in Europe as well as against Socialism and foreign domination of Norway. Like the contributors to Gates of Vienna, Breivik appears to be an adherent of the right-wing conspiracy theories about Eurabia, the idea that Muslims are infiltrating European society with the goal of domination. The Gates of Vienna website, for example, carries a picture of old Vienna with the caption: 'At the siege of Vienna in 1683 Islam seemed poised to overrun Christian Europe. We are now in a new phase of a very old war'" (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2084835-2,00.html).

Writing at Talk2Action , Chip Berlet, a senior analyst at Political Research Associates, pointed out that Breivik "opposed multiculturalism and Muslim immigrants in Norway" and that he "championed opposition to 'Cultural Marxism,' a right-wing antisemitic concept developed primarily by William Lind of the US-based Free Congress Foundation, but also the Lyndon LaRouche network." (For more on "cultural Marxism," see "Reframing the enemy".)

At frontpage.com, despite contrary information, Ryan Mauro pointed out that while the attacker "is a Norwegian ... the overall plot may have an international component." He wrote: "Simultaneous attacks like these are the staple of the Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, but the arrest of Breivik is leading authorities to downplay an Islamist connection. One anonymous police official told the Associated Press that 'it seems like that this is not linked to any international terrorist organizations at all' and 'is probably more Norway's Oklahoma City than it is Norway's World Trade Center.'" According to Mauro, "The fact that Breivik did not choose to become a 'martyr' does indicate a non-Islamist motivation. A key question will be how Breivik obtained the expertise and materials for the attacks, and whether Islamic extremists played some role despite their ideological differences."

Perhaps the most measured response to the senseless crime came from Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg who said at a press conference that those responsible for the atrocities would be brought to justice and that would bring "more openness and more democracy" to the country. "No one will bomb us to silence. No one will shoot us to silence. No one will ever scare us away from being Norway," Stoltenberg said.

"You will not destroy us. You will not destroy our democracy or our ideals for a better world," he added.

Judging from past responses to these kinds of rampages by right-wing extremists, you can expect conservative politicians, columnists, bloggers, pundits and the Ryan Mauros' of the world to respond to these horrendous crimes by claiming that it was the work of a lone mentally ill gunman.

Whether Breivik was connected to any neo-Nazi or right-wing group remains to be seen. "There is an Oklahoma comparison," Hagai M. Segal, a terrorism expert with New York University in London, told TIME.com. "That could be an incredibly serious development. I am skeptical that there is a larger right-wing group connected to this, but it wouldn't surprise me if you had a small cell. It is extremely hard to do something like this by yourself."

ENDS

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