What transpired in Norway at the end of last week is perhaps one of the most disgusting and disturbing tragedies since 9/11. As with any event of this magnitude, it has caused to me, (as well as others, I'm sure) to reflect on some things. As with McVeigh, Norway was caught by surprise by this guy because their terrorist intelligence had ruled out the possibility of any major attack by a domestic terrorist, and instead focused their efforts on tracking international (Muslim) threats. As of late, many right wing groups in Norway had dwindled in numbers of members. From what I have read, most militant right-wing groups' members numbered less than 50. Still, a (so far) lone man is responsible for the deaths of almost 100 people, many of whom were teenagers and just-barely adults.
So often in the western world, we seem to forget what word is actually the most important when we talk about religion-based terrorism. It is not the specific religion, be it Christian, Islam, Judaism, or what have you, but rather the same word that follows each of those qualifiers: fundamentalist.
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