In a few hours, Norway will wake up to a new reality. A Norwegian post-9/11 Timothy McVeigh has surfaced. Heartbreaking funerals are waiting. A public trial will follow. A country known for the Nobel Peace Prize, tranquil fjords and a rock solid currency will no longer feel peaceful, tranquil or rock solid.

What happened?

A murderer decided to set a new standard, just like Charles Whitman did on August 1, 1966, when he killed 16 people and wounded 32 others during a shooting rampage on and around the University of Texas at Austin's campus. 

When I'm writing this, 2.52 am local time in Sweden, the murderer is probably asleep, somewhere in downtown Oslo. The parents of the children he killed are not. A quick look at murderer's Facebook page doesn't tell us much about why he did it. 

The problem is that there are many men like Anders Behring Breivik out there. In Northern Ireland, some of them are organizing again. In Scotland too. In Mexico, tens of thousands of them are well organized and sometimes better equipped than most SWAT teams. I could give you at least twenty more examples without mentioning Muslims or Islam. 

In less than two months, we'll remember 9/11 2001 in a very special way. On September 11, 2011, it will be ten years since that horrifying day. And while we worry about the next Osama bin Laden, we must not forget that the fight against al-Qaeda only to some extent is a fight against a dangerous blend of religion and politics. Terrorists such as Ayman al Zawahiri and Hakimullah Mehsud have more in common with Timothy McVeigh and Anders Behring Breivik than with Sufis such as Abul Hasan al-Shadhili and Bayazid Bastami.

The enemy is still out there. Sometimes he or she is a Muslim. Sometimes the enemy is a Christian entrepreneur who likes to watch The Shield, listens to classical music and plays World of Warcraft with friends. 

An enemy setting a new standard for terrorists. 

Daniel Kronlid

Sweden

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