Anders Behring Breivik’s European Declaration of Independence 2083

This is the first chance I’ve had to actually go read some of Anders Breivik’s, aka Andrew Berwick, 1500 page manifesto against Islam, assimilation, multiculturalism and liberalism. Breivik is of course responsible for the terrorist attack in Norway. You can take a look at it here.

The reason I went over and read some of it- not the whole thing- is because I heard one of his defense attorney’s throw out the idea that he “must be insane.” That’s always the fall back position. I have no idea what standard the Norwegian courts use to determine when someone is so mentally incapacitated so as to be found not guilty by reason of insanity, nor am I a psychiatrist so I will resist the urge to diagnosis him. But reading through his manifesto, several things seemed clear, at least in my opinion- he’s highly intelligent, he seems future-oriented and he has a very organized mind.

In other words, as I was reading the document, “crazy” didn’t jump out at me. That’s not to say that he’s not very disturbed- he very well may be, but so far everything we know about this man seems to indicate that he is deliberate, organized and patient- not the characteristics one usually associates with being so severely psychotic or mentally disturbed so as to not know the difference between right or wrong or to not fully comprehend the consequences of their actions.

Professor Juan Cole, a historian, has an interesting take on Breivik’s unique interpretation of history, here.

So, if anyone is interested in taking a look at his Manifesto, I’d be curious to hear what you think.

BTW, for the most part, the U.S. media has stopped covering the Norway attack. I think it’s fair to say that had he been a Muslim we would be hearing a lot more about it, particularly from the right.