By: Daniel Nardini
We know only too well the heinous acts of mass murder by an extreme rightwing nutcase in Norway named Anders Behring Breivik. He murdered 87 innocent people. Breivik had belonged to an extremist violent group called Nordisk that encouraged attacks on government institutions. Breivik went beyond that. My heart goes out to the people of Norway for this horrible tragedy.
This is something that can indeed happen in the United States as well. Alas, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security may not be ready for it. In June of this year, word leaked that Homeland Security had indeed studied the possibility that a “non-Islamic” extreme rightwing terrorist group might indeed try to launch attacks to kill innocent people on a mass scale. When this information became public, prominent ultra-right conservatives branded such a study as “open season on conservatives” and denounced this effort. U.S. Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano distanced herself from this report, and those who had prepared it were disbanded.
It may be one of the biggest mistakes ever committed by Homeland Security. In lieu of what has happened in Norway this is a real possibility of occurring in the United States. Terrorism knows no boundaries, no one ideology, and no set of rules. The stupid idiotic conservatives in this country who basically had the report killed may have also prevented the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from preparing to meet such a possible threat. If so, these conservatives could well have blood on their hands for their paranoia. All across the United States we are seeing a huge proliferation of extremist rightwing and racist groups on a scale not seen in 25 years.
We are seeing growing physical attacks on Latinos, African Americans, gays and lesbians, Asian Americans, Jews, Muslims, and Native Americans. There may be worse on the horizon. We have to remember what happened in 1995 with the blowing up of the federal building in Oklahoma City. Like Breivik, that atrocity was done by a loner named Timothy McVeigh. This and worse could happen again. If prominent politicians and leading conservative muckrakers prevent this country from being prepared from an enemy within we may indeed see a similar tragedy in this country as occurred in Norway.
Denying the Extremist Possibility
By: Daniel Nardini
This is something that can indeed happen in the United States as well. Alas, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security may not be ready for it. In June of this year, word leaked that Homeland Security had indeed studied the possibility that a “non-Islamic” extreme rightwing terrorist group might indeed try to launch attacks to kill innocent people on a mass scale. When this information became public, prominent ultra-right conservatives branded such a study as “open season on conservatives” and denounced this effort. U.S. Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano distanced herself from this report, and those who had prepared it were disbanded.
It may be one of the biggest mistakes ever committed by Homeland Security. In lieu of what has happened in Norway this is a real possibility of occurring in the United States. Terrorism knows no boundaries, no one ideology, and no set of rules. The stupid idiotic conservatives in this country who basically had the report killed may have also prevented the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from preparing to meet such a possible threat. If so, these conservatives could well have blood on their hands for their paranoia. All across the United States we are seeing a huge proliferation of extremist rightwing and racist groups on a scale not seen in 25 years.
We are seeing growing physical attacks on Latinos, African Americans, gays and lesbians, Asian Americans, Jews, Muslims, and Native Americans. There may be worse on the horizon. We have to remember what happened in 1995 with the blowing up of the federal building in Oklahoma City. Like Breivik, that atrocity was done by a loner named Timothy McVeigh. This and worse could happen again. If prominent politicians and leading conservative muckrakers prevent this country from being prepared from an enemy within we may indeed see a similar tragedy in this country as occurred in Norway.