Update (well, sort of, but one more in what surely will be a main topic of discussion for the remainder of the decade as evidenced by the many comments): From Delingpole at The Telegraph. I’m henceforth stealing a phrase from one of the commenters used to describe the “good” people—the “caring class.”
Here is a report from the Associated Press, one of probably thousands out there today and into the future, with more points on the horrific shooting in Norway on Friday. They say Norway’s refugee influx blamed for growing anti-immigration sentiment in the country.
AP (emphasis mine):
LONDON (AP) — In the wake of Norway’s terrorist attack, the European police agency is setting up a task force of more than 50 experts to help investigate non-Islamist threats in Scandinavian countries, its spokesman told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Soeren Pedersen said the group, based in The Hague, hopes to help Norway in the coming weeks and to aid other countries such as Denmark, Finland and Sweden in assessing non-Islamist threats. Norway has not yet requested forensic experts but Europol stands ready to assist, Pedersen said.
“There is no doubt that the threat from Islamist terrorism is still valid,” he said, adding that the task force could be expanded in the future to include even more European nations. “But there have actually been warnings that (right-wing groups) are getting more professional, more aggressive in the way they attract others to their cause.”
Anti-immigration sentiment on the rise, but Islamic jihadism still the big worry.
Anti-immigrant sentiment has grown in Norway as tensions rose over its policy of taking in conflict refugees.
In the 1990s, it welcomed immigrants from the Balkans. Years later, it opened its doors to large numbers of Iraqi refugees. The Norwegian government has said it expects some 15,000 new arrivals this year, many from Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia.* [15,000 is a huge number in a welfare state like Norway, the US this year may see around 60,000 (although our goal for the year is 80,000, stepped-up security checks have slowed the flow)—ed]
Europe has seen an overall increase in xenophobia, boosting the ranks of ultranationalists and fueling their activity. Still, experts and officials across Europe say the main terror threat hovering over the continent remains Islamic jihadism. They suggest that the overall danger posed by European political extremists, both from left and right, is relatively small — but that anybody with the will and the means has a chance of wreaking devastation.
“This horrendous event in Norway is sobering because it shows how easy it is to cause havoc,” a British government official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters. “But you have to decide what the threat is. In the UK, extreme right and left wing groups aren’t perceived as big national security threats.”
I’m wondering if Norway will change its gun policies now—I, like many of you, have contemplated how different things might have been had there been an armed security guard, or an official at that camp with a gun. The murderer might not have been able to walk around for over an hour shooting at will. And, I guess you are all well aware of the fact that there is no death penalty in Europe so he won’t so easily be wiped from the public mind as Timothy McVeigh has been.
Back to AP:
The numbers also indicate a low terror threat from ultrarightists.
In a report earlier this year, Europol said there had been no rightwing terror attacks in Europe last year. But there were 45 leftwing and anarchist attacks in 2010.
The New York Times had this chilling paragraph in one of many stories yesterday:
Organized by the youth wing of the ruling Labor Party, the camp has become a kind of multicultural incubator in recent years. Many of the victims in Friday’s shooting were the children of immigrants from Africa and Asia who have begun to stake out a greater role for themselves in Norwegian society.
I don’t know what to say in conclusion, but that this evil killer has succeeded in changing the dynamics of Norwegian (home of the Peace Prize) politics probably for the remainder of the century. I make no predictions on what it all means, nor could I even begin to guess in what direction Europe and the West will go as a result.
* Those refugees will be primarily Muslims.