I watched the disgraceful Islamophobic rantings on the BBC and Sky News last night in mounting disbelief. Security correspondent and security expert vied with each other to tell us that the dreadful attacks in Norway were the work of al-Qaida. One extraordinary American, introduced as from a Centre for Combating Extremism, explained that these Norwegian jihadists had international links and plans to attack London and the New York subway. Norway was a target, we were repeatedly told, because of its NATO membership.
There was at least six solid hours of this poisonous bullshit. I did not pick up on one single person who said that this probably was not Islamic terrorism – despite the glaringly obvious fact that the atrocity had a Norwegian domestic political agenda, being an attack on the Prime Minister’s office, and on a youth camp of the governing party. The internet was buzzing for hours with the news that the attacker on Utoya Island was blonde, without the broadcast media mentioning it. The American security expert I mention above had that base covered – he had obviously seen those reports, but did not mention them. However he said that jihadist groups had probably recruited European looking operatives to carry out the attacks, because they were aware that security services “consciously or unconsciously operated racial profiling.”
This morning Al Jazeera and Russia Today were carrying the news that the attacker was Anders Breivik – and even a picture of him – while the BBC and Sky still were not, and while they had stopped the blatant Islamophobic ranting, had still not admitted it was not an Islamic militant attack.
I would love to believe that this incident would cause the media to reassess the value of the numerous “security experts” whose companies, institutes, funding, profile and standards of living have been spectacularly boosted by the “War on Terror”. But I doubt it.
All terrorism is terrible. Islamic extremist terrorism is terrible. But not all terrorism is Islamic extremist. To presume it is, is just as valid as to assume that any shooting in the UK is carried out by a black person. If the BBC reacted to the next news of a shooting or stabbing, by six hours about crime in the black community, when it turned out the perpetrators are white, there would rightly be outrage. This is no different.
UPDATE
The mainstream media and those “Security experts” are now struggling to cover up and justify their blatant Islamophobia. The New York Times was right at the forefront of the Islamophobic ranting, attributing the bombing to a non-existent Jihadist group and then being quoted all across the airwaves as the authority for that attribution. It has now published this amazing self-justificatory bullshit:
Norway has about 550 soldiers and three medevac helicopters in northern Afghanistan, a Norwegian defense official said. The government has indicated that it will continue to support the operations as long as the alliance needs partners on the ground.
Terrorism specialists said that even if the authorities ultimately ruled out Islamic terrorism as the cause of Friday’s assaults, other kinds of groups or individuals were mimicking Al Qaeda’s brutality and multiple attacks.
“If it does turn out to be someone with more political motivations, it shows these groups are learning from what they see from Al Qaeda,” said Brian Fishman, a counterterrorism researcher at the New America Foundation in Washington. “One lesson I take away from this is that attacks, especially in the West, are going to move to automatic weapons.”
All the mainstream media are rushing to take down their crazed Islamophobic rantings from their websites this morning – the BBC did it just twenty minutes ago, and had a short period in consequence when they had nothing up on Norway. I expect newspaper sites will be doing the same. Print editions, of course, do not have that ability.
Mainstream media – all the hate and lies they can peddle. What would really be an interesting public inquiry, would be the links between “security” and “defence” correspondents and the security services whose propaganda they spread. I should love to know what security service briefings were behind yesterday’s Islamophobic lies.
“fundamentalist radical capitalism” Ingo.
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Absolutely, Ingo. Excellent phrase. I once used a very similar phrase live on-air (in 2003, when Bush invaded Iraq, actually). I said that “the real fundamentalists are the fundamentalist capitalists in the White House”. My ‘segment’ was immediately wound-up and I was never invited on again.
“I think the object of this massacre is more to do with terrorising Norway to stay in line with the West’s policies.
The people that are likely behind it owe their place in the world to terrorism and are probably the people that the Norwegian PM was addressing last night.”
Rob Royston.
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My thoughts exactly.
A great analogy Clark – one I appreciate.
“BBC sucks with ideological agenda against all our roots.” Libertad.
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It certainly often sucks with propaganda. But what might you mean by “our roots”? Are you empathising with vegetables, a type of music, or Alex Haley?
Here is the link that explains why the myth of the “jihadi website” evolved http://electronicintifada.net/blog/benjamin-doherty/how-clueless-terrorism-expert-set-media-suspicion-muslims-after-oslo-horror
Hey Mark_golding, my amplifiers were just for audio. If I remember your electronics background correctly, there were far more serious consequences if one of your amps went unstable.
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The (highly distorted) news media is a vital component in our (barely functional) democracy. That makes the news media one of the most important and influential amplifiers there is.
“Helpers of the Global Jihad”- as in “Santa’s little helpers”. Good to hear that the CIA has not lost it’s sense of humour!
From the Aussie woman on Sky saying this is just the first wave of planned Al Quada attacks; the American on BBC News channel taking great pleasure in stating he had some intel that this was a jihadist terrorist act; the internet forums venting anger and bile on Muslims, well before (and after) it was announced it was even a bomb – let alone who did it; the Sun’s headline “Al-Quada Massacre”; the people on blogs and newspaper website comment pages blaming immigration and the “religion of peace” (oh the irony); and finally western world leaders – namely Obama and Cameron – who said ” the entire international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring” (does that mean you will be disbanding Fox News and reforming the racist police and government authorities, in addition to eliminating the armed right wing groups in America?) – and Cameron “We will work with Norway to hunt the murderers who did this and prevent any more innocent deaths.We can overcome this evil, and we will” – no doubt we will have better integration and antidiscrimination policies then, right?
You are all SCUM.
Interestingly, I followed this from Hong Kong on the BBC’s website, with my preferences set to “International” and there was absolutely no mention of al-qaeda or any other specific organisation, certainly in the first 3 or 4 hours before I went to bed (in Hong Kong). Does the BBC have two completely separate agendas: one for the UK public and one for the rest of the world?
But what might you mean by “our roots”? Are you empathising with vegetables, a type of music, or Alex Haley?
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No darling, our roots, those of christiandom, those of our mothers, our fathers, our blood, the christian faith that furnished Europe, our progress, our moral standards etc.
Those are our roots. You got it now?
By the way,
Here is a full transcript of the postings and thinking of the alleged killer in the past years at an internet forum:
http://es.scribd.com/doc/60705175/Anders-Breivik-From-Document-No
Sunflower:
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“One of multiple messages sent by this incident could be “Don’t mess with Israel”, the reciever being the norwegian government. The hands-on deliverer of the message would then be Mossad.”
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This doesn’t ring true to me. I don’t think massacring 80+ young people is likely to bring Norway onside. Also by impersonating a crazed right winger they undermine the Islamophobia Israel relies on so much.
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“Even if you ship a guy to that island give him an automatic rifle and some ammo, he won’t be able to take down 90 people on his own.”
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It’s possible he had assistance, but I think it’s also plausible that he acted alone (at least in the actual execution of the attack). Hundreds of youth were trapped on the small island for 2 hours without weapons. Unless they all mob the attacker, there was virtually no way to stop him.
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Mary:
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“If som were the gunman and the bomber one and the same person?”
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Apparently it was the same person. The attack on the island occurred some time (I heard a couple of hours, can anyone confirm the timeline?) after the explosion in Oslo. The people on the island had all assembled together to discuss what had already happened in Oslo.
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“Are there any details of how he came to be captured and restrained when he was well armed and obviously an expert marksman to be able to kill agile youngsters running around? All seems a bit pat.”
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Maybe he was happy to give himself up. If your so deluded that you think massacring 90+ people is a righteous political act, then you may want to continue making political statements after the act. Initially the victims thought he was a cop so they approached him. When they realised what was happening they ran away and got stuck at the shoreline. No easy escapes and I have never met a person more agile than a bullet. Personally I think if it were a false flag operation he would already be dead. Dead men tell no tales.
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Suhayl:
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“this is NOT accidental, this hymn-singing from the same sheet”
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All big media is part of the establishment. Hyping Islamic terrorism is the default establishment position. I think this is enough to explain why all media were signing from the same hymn sheet.
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Immediately after the Oslo bomb I was browsing reddit (I would argue it’s a good representation of average liberal thought in the US), and virtually all commentators assumed it was Al Qaeda. These are the same people that are generally against the Iraq and Afghan wars, but even they buy into the Islamophobia big time.
Shaun:
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You talk about justified speculation, so lets have a look at some of the numbers.
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EU terrorism between 2006-2008:
84.8% separatist
8.3% other
6.5% left wing
0.4% Islamist
Source: loonwatch.com/2010/01/terrorism-in-europe/
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EU terrorism 2009:
Of the hundreds of terrorist attacks *1* was commited by someone with Muslim heritage.
Source: juancole.com/2010/10/on-juan-williams-firing-for-islamophobia-and-how-most-european-terrorism-is-by-european-separatists.html
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EU terrorism 2010:
160 of these attacks that year were carried out by separatists. The number launched by people of Muslim heritage? 3.
Source: juancole.com/2011/07/white-terrorism-in-norway.html
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The media either can’t count or are deliberately pushing lies.
Excellent article, thank you..
Thanks for this article. The Islamaphobic response to this tragedy is almost as terrible as the attacks/murders, because it’s a different kind of violence…it will be interesting to see how much discussion and blame is attributed to the killer’s ideology and background (as is always the case with ‘Islamic Exremists’), or if he continues to be described as simply a ‘madman’. Of course the media are deliberately pushing lies. It’s called propaganda. The only good that could come from the loss of life is that people open their eyes and learn something. Unfortunately, too many people are ignorant and gullible, they believe what suits thepr world view and they refuse to see past their ideology to the truth.
“Are there any details of how he came to be captured and restrained when he was well armed and obviously an expert marksman to be able to kill agile youngsters running around? All seems a bit pat.”
I think the question is how it took so long for him to be apprehended. His shooting spree lasted for about an hour. The island isn’t all that far from Oslo. Did a police helicopter with marksmen on board attend the scene, or was he overpowered when he ran out of bullets?
Interesting to think that if there had only been the bomb in Oslo then it would already have been established as a Muslim attack and you’d be labelled a nutjob conspiraloon to speculate otherwise.
“All big media is part of the establishment. Hyping Islamic terrorism is the default establishment position. I think this is enough to explain why all media were signing from the same hymn sheet.” Cheeba Cow.
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Indeed, it is a systemic and endemic problem. And of course, that makes the pathology even deeper, situation even worse, than if it were simply a plot in which the MSM were involved.
Apparently the island is 45 minutes from Oslo + a boat ride. So I guess after the chaos of the Oslo bomb + the travel time to the island + settings up perimeters etc accounts for the approx 2 hours it took to apprehend the shooter. I also read the shooter was wounded when the police captured him.
I just saw an interview with a boy who was on the island. Fuck me, the shocked uncomprehending look on his face hit me in the gut in a way that none of the other reporting has. I also don’t understand how reporters have the gall to ask questions that make the survivors relive the terror so immediately after the event. Asking a 16 year old how many people he saw shot dead? These reporters are scum, looking for the emotional reaction without care for the people involved.
CheebaCow, re. the reporters, they were like that at Lockerbie, too in Dec 1988. They were following people from ambulances into A and E and taking pictures of these people – who were busy having heart attacks – people who had absolutely no connection with Lockerbie. These movie pictures appeared on the News later in the day/ the next day. One of my colleagues had physically to throw these geezers out. My pal was so angry about their behaviour, he tossed one of them out, pinned him up against a fence just outside the hospital entrance and politely (!) told him to desist. I think they get lots of dosh for such pornography.
“Apparently the island is 45 minutes from Oslo + a boat ride”
Or about 10 mins by helicopter with no boat ride.
NORWAY TERROR ATTACK: I hope the airports profile tall white blond men. You can never trust that sort you know. If your neighbour is a tall white blond whiteman….tell the coppers….dont risk it!!
I’m no expert in police procedure, but I don’t think police would just drop a lone or even a few helicopters into the middle of an unknown massacre. Surely they would assemble a number of police, scope the situation (how many attackers, hostages) etc etc. It’s entirely possible the bomb was simply intended as a diversion and the island was the real target (someone mentioned it was a public holiday and unlikely many people would be hurt in the explosion). I’m sure bombing the PM’s building diverted a lot of resources that would of otherwise been at the island much quicker. I would also be surprised if the Norwegian police even had many plans for such a situation. By all accounts it was completely unexpected, I heard some witnesses say they didn’t really believe it was happening even after they had been shot at. I don’t really wanna speculate about all this too much, I don’t really know the deal. However I think it’s safe to say the police ain’t like what we see in Hollywood, always prepared and able to to stop any attack in a matter of minutes Rambo style. There was already chaos in Oslo and island was relatively remote.
It is ‘possible’, I am just speculating (!), that the two attacks are not linked at all. Well, not in the sense of the same people being behind them anyway. The shootings could have been a reaction to the bombing. This guy could have interpreted the bombing to mean something and it caused him to react in that fashion.
Lol Max, especially if they are turbaned, tall, white, blond, white men! :-0
Unfortunately, it is eminently possible for a basically-trained person to kill scores of unarmed civilians who are trapped on an island with a single long gun; less likely with a handgun. Think about that gun-club taxi-driver driving around Cumbria; Cumbria is not an island; or of those people doing shoot-ups in schools (likewise). The point is, these people had nowhere to escape to. What an utter nightmare it must’ve been.
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Ten guys with Kalashnikovs could hold up a major city and kill hundreds – think of the Mumbai attacks.
did you miss the rhetoric from cameron and hague echoing 9/11 ?
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hague said we are standing “shoulder to shoulder” with norway ..
White Christian Fundamentalist Terrorism in Norway
http://www.juancole.com/2011/07/white-terrorism-in-norway.html
also :The omnipotence of Al Qaeda and meaninglessness of “Terrorism”
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/07/23/nyt/index.html
a timeline :
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How a clueless “terrorism expert” set media suspicion on Muslims after Oslo horror
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/benjamin-doherty/how-clueless-terrorism-expert-set-media-suspicion-muslims-after-oslo-horror
“Mainstream media – all the hate and lies they can peddle. What would really be an interesting public inquiry, would be the links between “security” and “defence” correspondents and the security services whose propaganda they spread. I should love to know what security service briefings were behind yesterday’s Islamophobic lies.”
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it does beg the question is something in the ‘pipeline’ so to speak .. for the news orgs to have an almost off the shelf complete narrative at hand , from an unheard of islamist group to links to al qaeda in africa and possibly pakistan.
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with politicians and their 9/11 rhetoric and in particular murdochs media (amongst others) going big in those terms .
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it is very strange all of this . something is surely cooking.
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