Norway Terrorist Attack at Summer Camp Resembles School Shootings
Posted by | Posted in Education Notes | Posted on 21-07-2011
Anders Behring Breivik has been arrested in Norway on charges of bombing the Prime Ministers office in Oslo and in a shooting spree that left at least 87 dead, including children, at a Labor Party summer camp island retreat near Sundvollen. At least seven people are dead from the blast in downtown Oslo. At the summer camp, Breivik allegedly dressed as a policeman, opened fire on campers at the island retreat.
Breivik was apparently protesting multiculturalism and al-Qaida threats to Norwegian troops in Afghanistan. Like Jared Loughner, suspect in the Tucson Ariz., shooting that killed six and injured congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the Norway killings seem to stem from anger at government. To alert people to the dangers of terrorist killings, the killer resorted to terrorism himself, it seems.
By targeting the prime ministers office, the bomber was likely aiming at a symbol of government rather than individual people. He may have identified with past government building bombers including McVeigh and Guy Fawkes. Despite seemingly opposing ideology, the bomber aligns himself with the 911 Pentagon airplane bomber, too.
Had the killer targeted the prime ministers office alone, the act, although heinous, would have been marked as political dissidence. By launching a shooting spree on a group of children, effectively trapped on an island, the killer took it to whole new level.
The attack is being called “Norways Oklahoma City”, meaning this was a domestic rather than foreign terrorist attack. Timothy McVeigh, executed for the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people, expressed neo-Nazi leanings. I would call it “Norways Columbine.”
A shooting spree at a summer camp is, by nature, an attack on children. The Norway shooting spree has features of a school shootings. Columbine High School leaps to mind. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, the shooters implicated in the 1999 massacre, had a plan. They stockpiled weapons. Neither the Columbine nor Norway massacres were crime passional; both were premeditated vendettas. Although both look like random crowd-spraying, the victims were contained. Both were execution by firing squad.
By targeting a Labor Party summer camp, the killer is attempting to annihilate the enemy at its source, so to speak. In his thinking, children at this camp are being indoctrinated in a hated ideology, contrary to his. By taking out the next generation, he attempts to quell dissenting voices. Kill the offspring and you kill the species; this is the thinking of a nihilistic, sociopathic killer.
Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes from 22 years parenting four children, a degree in psychology and 25 years teaching adults and special needs students.
Similar Posts:
- Mercer Island QB Jeff Lindquist talks about Elite 11
- 4 Reasons Why Internships Are Overrated
- King’s Schools to host Quincy Pondexter’s inaugural camp
- Education: UTEP professor gets $2.2M grant to study parasite in border areas
- Free grants: how to apply for
