Free Republic

Just out on Netflix, Paul Greengrass's new film, 22 July, takes its title from the date in 2011 on which a lone maniac named Anders Behring Breivik murdered seventy-seven people in Norway. But only the first third or so of the movie covers the actual events of that date – the massive explosion Breivik set off in a parked panel truck outside the major government building in Oslo, killing eight, and the shootings he then carried out at the ruling Labor Party's annual summer youth camp on the nearby island of Utøya, which took sixty-nine lives. The second third of...

In Norway, the right to possess a firearm is not protected by constitution or even law. Anyone who wishes to purchase a firearm must obtain a license from the government and then prove to the government some "genuine reason to possess." You must not only sound convincing that you will use the weapon for hunting, target shooting, collecting, personal protection, etc., but then the category of gun you wish to purchase must fall in the officially recognized government uses. Criminal and mental background checks apply, a firearm safety course is mandated and any acquisition, possession and transfer must be registered...

This sadistic, barbaric attack must be one of the strangest terror attacks ever. One would never think, from the killer's online comments, that he was a mass murderer in waiting. The killer was right-wing and anti-jihad, yes, but he was not a neo-Nazi (he was pro-Israel) or a white supremacist (he opposed the BNP because they are racist). He was Christian, but not a fanatic (he was pro-gay). In fact he was apparently like me - liberal right. He was anti-racist, pro-gay and pro-Israel. So how on earth did someone like that become a terrorist against the West? Perhaps he...

I have just finished reading through what appears to be the 1,518-page manifesto and handbook of the alleged perpetrator of the worst terrorist attack in Norwegian history. The manifesto, bylined by someone calling himself Andrew Berwick, is entitled "2083: A European Declaration of Independence" and was posted on Stormfront.org, a white supremacist website, and discovered by American blogger Kevin I. Slaughter. [UPDATE: Norwegian TV has confirmed that the author is indeed the Oslo shooter, according to the New York Times.] In it, "Berwick" declares himself a "Justiciar Knight Commander," a leading member of a "re-founded" Knights Templar group formed at...

OSLO, Norway -- The man blamed for attacks on Norway's government headquarters and a youth retreat that left at least 92 dead said he was motivated by a desire to bring about a revolution in Norwegian society, his lawyer said Sunday. A manifesto that he is believed to have written ranted against Muslim immigration to Europe and vowed revenge on "indigenous Europeans" who he accused of betraying their heritage. Although lawyer for the 32-year-old Norwegian suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, said his client acted alone, police conducted raids on a garage and sheds in an industrial neighborhood of eastern Oslo, said...

-excerpt- NTB is reporting Saturday that witnesses told police two people were involved in the shooting on Utoya island.

An eyewitness tells Norwegian broadcaster NRK that he saw 20 to 25 bodies at the youth camp where a gunman dressed in a police uniform opened fire. Andre Scheie says he saw bodies on the shore of the Utoya island where the youth wing of the Labor Party was holding a summer camp for hundreds of youths. Scheie said Friday: "There are very many dead by the shore ... there are about 20-25 dead." He also said he saw dead people in the water.