Our answer is more democracy, more openness to show that we will not be stopped by this kind of violence. At the same time we shouldn't be naive, we should understand that violence can attack our society - we've seen that today." - Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg
As most of you know a large bomb exploded in the heart of Oslo killing at least 7 people and severely injuring many more.
(Photo from Telgraph.co.uk)
Many buildings where also severely damaged with hundreds, and posibly thousands of windows being knocked out for blocks. One of the heavily damaged buildings housed the offices of the Prime Minister, who was not inside at the time.
After the explosion a Norwegian (confirmed by Justice Minister) man dressed as a cop and flashing a fake badge made his way toa camping event on the island of Utoya organized by the governing Norwegian Labor party and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. As many as 600+ youths mainly from 15-20 year old were in attendance when the fake policeman opened fire, killing at least 9 and there have been reports that the number could climb.
Emilie Bersaas, 19, who was on Utoya, said she had been hiding in fear under her bed, with a mattress barricading the door, for more than two hours as she head the gunman go on the rampage. Speaking to Sky News, she said:
The shooting was happening in all different directions.
I was hiding under my bed. It was terrifying. At one point the shooting was very close and I could hear the bullets hitting our building.
The people in the next room started screaming a lot. It worried me. There are a lot of people I don’t know about.
SWAT teams captured the suspect and are saying that he was 'seen' in Oslo before the bomb blast.He is a Norwegian and:
...this is starting to look less like the work of international terrorists and more like that of a lone attacker with a grudge against the government.
...
On Twitter runehak, who works for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, says:
News agency NTB says police do NOT think this is international terrorism. #osloexpl #oslobomb #whys
and then
Nationen also writes police think its a local variant directed at the current political system. http://j.mp/... #osloexpl #oslobomb #whys
Of course that is what they always say, unless they blame it on a 'group of muslims' which in this case some where quick to do because of the Muhammad cartoon uproar, as well as Norway's military presence in Afghanistan and Libya.
A Document obtained by Wikileaks suggests that:
A memo written in 2009, describes the country’s security service as “in over its head” and adds “it simply cannot keep up.”
Separate cables state that the country felt “immune” from terrorism and that groups such as Al Qaeda were “not a direct threat”.
One memo describes how US authorities had to “press” their Norwegian counterparts to take terrorism seriously and says there was a feeling “that terrorism happens elsewhere, not in peaceful Norway.”
Hopefully they do what Clinton did during the Oklahoma City events, and treat the event as it really is... a crime. Use existing laws, a public court system when treating the suspect(s) instead of going all U.S.A with security, spying, and and 'Patriot Acts'. And at the moment, that does seem to be the case:
I have a message to the person who attacked us and the people who are behind it: You're not going to destroy us. You're not destroying our democracy and our work for a better world. We're a small country but a very proud country. 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." -Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg