Norway Attack Suspect
Here is a brief update on what has happened in Norway over the last 24 hours.
The suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, has had ties to far-right, Christian fundamentalist movements in the past, but has reportedly been inactive in these groups for over 5 years now. He owned a farm where he had access to fertilizer, which could have been used to build the bomb that went off in the capitol yesterday. It would appear that my hypothesis in my prior article (which you can read here) was correct. However scary and unsettling it was, it appears to be the truth.
Appears to be like previous solo domestic terrorists. He had sympathies with groups who were against the government and felt something more had to be done. This is where the issue becomes more psychological rather than political and harder for me to understand. There was something psychologically different with Breivik that made him need to act in dramatic fashion where his old comrades were willing to sit on the side and wait. What the spark that set him off was may never be known, but there are posts on social media websites attributed to him that describe a belief that Muslims and non-Muslims cannot live together. Norwegian policies on this manor may have been his deciding factor for action.
There will always be people like Breivik and what needs to be discussed in the coming days is how to identify them before it is too late. That is the difficult question that will have to be answered for many to feel safe, however, it is most likely impossible to detect a solo actor on a mission. The only possible solution I see would be to give psychological tests to all known members of extremists groups, but there are obvious problems with this solution. First, everyone has human rights and many would feel this is a violation of those. Second, the government forcing an extremist group to submit to tests may force others into action. There is no simple answer for thwarting attacks such as these.
New methods will have to be developed and materials that cause damage such as this will have to be harder to come by. That is easy to say, but how do you stop a farmer from buying fertilizer? (Breivik owned and may have lived on a farm) The rest of the world should take warning from Norway and immediately set up committees to try and stop these acts before they occur. Many bright minds will have to be put to use in order to figure out a way to better predict domestic terror attacks before they occur. It will be interesting to see if anything changes in other countries besides Norway as a result of these attacks.
Here is a brief update on what has happened in Norway over the last 24 hours.
The suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, has had ties to far-right, Christian fundamentalist movements in the past, but has reportedly been inactive in these groups for over 5 years now. He owned a farm where he had access to fertilizer, which could have been used to build the bomb that went off in the capitol yesterday. It would appear that my hypothesis in my prior article (which you can read here) was correct. However scary and unsettling it was, it appears to be the truth.
Appears to be like previous solo domestic terrorists. He had sympathies with groups who were against the government and felt something more had to be done. This is where the issue becomes more psychological rather than political and harder for me to understand. There was something psychologically different with Breivik that made him need to act in dramatic fashion where his old comrades were willing to sit on the side and wait. What the spark that set him off was may never be known, but there are posts on social media websites attributed to him that describe a belief that Muslims and non-Muslims cannot live together. Norwegian policies on this manor may have been his deciding factor for action.
There will always be people like Breivik and what needs to be discussed in the coming days is how to identify them before it is too late. That is the difficult question that will have to be answered for many to feel safe, however, it is most likely impossible to detect a solo actor on a mission. The only possible solution I see would be to give psychological tests to all known members of extremists groups, but there are obvious problems with this solution. First, everyone has human rights and many would feel this is a violation of those. Second, the government forcing an extremist group to submit to tests may force others into action. There is no simple answer for thwarting attacks such as these.
New methods will have to be developed and materials that cause damage such as this will have to be harder to come by. That is easy to say, but how do you stop a farmer from buying fertilizer? (Breivik owned and may have lived on a farm) The rest of the world should take warning from Norway and immediately set up committees to try and stop these acts before they occur. Many bright minds will have to be put to use in order to figure out a way to better predict domestic terror attacks before they occur. It will be interesting to see if anything changes in other countries besides Norway as a result of these attacks.
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