22-Sep-06: This is what people who are "desperate" do In Norway

Oslo's synagogue

Apologists for terror in general, and for the Palestinian Arab brand of savagery in particular, like to express their pseudo-criticism in terms like "Well, these people are desperate" and "What else would you do when faced with imperialism / colonialism / occupation?"

For those of us in touch with the facts, and with sufficient intelligence to separate self-serving ignorance from self-serving arrogance, this is rubbish.

Case in point: the report below of Islamists caught preparing to explode a Scandinavian synagogue, and kill innocent people. This has nothing to do with desperation, occupation or politics. It's hatred. That's always at the root of terrorism. Those who understand this are in a state of growing horror at the ostrich-like know-nothingness of those who don't.

Norway taped plot to blow up US, Israel embassies 22 Sep 2006 12:48:47 GMT | Reuters | Camilla BergsliOSLO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Norwegian prosecutors unveiled on Friday evidence against four men detained on suspicion of plotting to blow up the U.S. and Israeli embassies and of participating in a shooting at the Oslo synagogue [we've added an old photo above] last weekend.
Prosecutor Unni Fries told a court the Norwegian secret services had bugged the car of the main suspect and recorded conversations between the men planning the attacks.
"They spoke in detail about how to attack the synagogue and the U.S. and Israeli embassies," Fries said, asking the court to detain all four suspects for four weeks without visitors or other contact with the outside world.
Early on Sunday morning at least 10 shots fired from an automatic weapon hit Oslo's only synagogue. No one was hurt in the shooting, the most serious in a string of attacks in recent months on the Nordic country's small Jewish community.
Police have identified the detainees only as men between the ages of 20 and 30. Defence lawyers, who said their clients were innocent, said one suspect was of Turkish origin, two had Pakistani backgrounds and one was a native Norwegian.
Fries said the main suspect had "expressed extreme Islamist views" and was briefly detained during this summer's World Cup by German police, who found drawings of rockets in his car.
During a trip to Britain in June he was reported to have told his girlfriend over the telephone that he "felt that he had to act", Fries said. She did not say whether prosecutors were linking the suspects with any extremist organisation.
The U.S. embassy said in a statement that it was watching developments closely and would cooperate fully with Norwegian authorities.
"We are deeply concerned about the emerging information on these planned terrorist attacks," ambassador Ben Whitney said. "This situation reflects the importance of having the necessary legal tools to prevent terrorism."
The four men could face jail terms of up to 12 years if convicted of conspiring to carry out acts of terror.

12 years!!?