Saturday, February 11, 2012

What Might Have Been

Anders Behring Breivik

Were downtown Oslo and the Labour Party retreat on Utøya the only possible targets considered by the mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik?

Not according to an article published last week in Dagbladet about ABB’s alternative terror targets. In an parallel universe, July 22 might have come out quite differently — Mr. Breivik actually considered blowing up 50,000 Muslims.

Many thanks to our Norwegian correspondent The Observer for the translation:

Breivik planned to organize a large event for Muslims in Oslo Spectrum

During several long police interrogations, Anders Breivik Behring explained how and when he developed his radical views. According to his court-appointed public defender, Geir Lippestad, Breivik was already fully radicalized as a 21-year-old.

The terror plans came later

In interrogations Breivik has stated that he was looking for ways to shape society according to his own beliefs as early as 2001. He considered both nonviolent and violent alternatives.

Bury a bomb under Oslo Spectrum

He has told police interrogators in great detail about a grotesque plan he came up with in his early twenties. He wanted to earn enough money to enable him to rent the Oslo Spectrum indoor stadium in downtown Oslo. He would then organize an event for Muslims which he hoped would draw a crowd of up to 50,000.

His plan was to bury a bomb under the building and set it off at some stage during the event. Breivik himself has described the plan as unrealistic. He has told investigators that he eventually came to the conclusion that this would be a strategic error as it would generate massive sympathy for the Muslim community.

He also believes that it is unwise to attack Muslims, as he doesn’t see them as Norwegians, and hence not capable of being traitors.

Wanted four bombs

Breivik talked about several potential targets.

Ideally he would have preferred to use four vehicles packed full with explosives, which he would then park outside the government building, the Gunerius shopping mall in the city center, the Labour Party headquarters, and outside the royal castle.

He has told investigators that if he survived these attacks he would then seek out the Blitz House (AFA activists), Dagsavisen, and the headquarters of the Socialist Left Party (SV).

However he decided to scrap these plans as he realized it would be difficult to produce enough explosives. He also contemplated attacking the NRK headquarters, the TV2 headquarters and the journalists’ conference SKUP. Which target he considers to be most important varies slightly from interrogation to interrogation.

10 comments:

Dymphna said...

I wonder if they believe this stuff? Breivik lives in delusion and makes stuff up as he goes along.

If Norway believes his fairy tales they are even more naive than they look now.

Green Infidel said...

"He has told investigators that he eventually came to the conclusion that this would be a strategic error as it would generate massive sympathy for the Muslim community."

Yet apparently it never dawned on Breivik that shooting a bunch of kids at a youth camp would generate massive sympathy for their cause...

Or did it?

Nemesis said...

I think Breivik is playing them for the fools they apparently are.

Chiu ChunLing said...

It seems that this tool is actually enjoying the role he's been assigned.

Anonymous said...

why didn't he just build a death star and blast the muslims with that?

montbrilliant said...

The organisation breivik talked about might be real after all.

Look at this website
http://fleur-de-lis.co.nr/

Dymphna said...

@ Green Infidel--

He doesn't "think" in the normal sense. He's stuck in his eternal WoW game...as the main character, of course.

He likes to blow stuff up and he likes - even more - the fantasy of blowing things up.

Anyone who spends a full year doing NOTHING but play that game will come out with a warped system.

Nothing's real but destruction & death, preferably at his hands. The rest is just whatever he happens to think of as a reply to whatever question he's asked.

No one wants to be Jesus Christ or Napoleon anymore. Not enough mayhem and mass slaughter in those out-dated personae.

I wonder if anyone will come out with an ABB WoW game?

Anonymous said...

So where is the blame for Blizzard and their game World of Warcraft?

I mean 1 year playing that awful game?

Apparently it makes you murderous, yet no one blames the game and its creators? Same gang that make the Diablo series.

Chiu ChunLing said...

I doubt even Chuck Norris could spend an entire year doing nothing but playing World of Warcraft. I mean, no matter how fully realized their virtual reality is, it doesn't thereby provide any of the things that people living in real reality need to stay alive for an entire year.

Many people have been in more wretched conditions and come out with sanity and sanctity intact. So I think that ultimately the argument for personal responsibility survives even the horror of playing video games.

Chiu Chun-Ling.

Professor L said...

To Anonymous (comment #8), as a gamer myself, I've seen plenty of people calling for games to be banned. However, these tend to be of the Grand Theft Auto types. WoW being a fantasy world with dragons and elves is generally considered unrealistic enough to be ignored.

Additionally, Blizzard is owned by Viacom who've probably had something to do with the issue not being discussed. Their main player base is also Asian (it seems they love the grind in real life and play... how dull).

Frankly, I'd rather the fun of variety, thankyou very much. More interesting, more stimulating... all the more for the release from the daily grind.