The world mourns with Norway after the bombing and shooting rampage that left at least 93 people dead. It is a time for prayers and support for a nation that grieves.
This profound tragedy, however, is no excuse for wild speculation or bereft theories as to its cause -- or its remediation.
Whether or not there were "accomplices," there is nothing to suggest that Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian suspected of the killings, acted on the orders of some so-called "right-wing" conspiracy group.
According to his reported writings, his murderous intention was to protect his nation from the "cultural suicide" that he presumed would result from Muslim immigration. And yet by officials' account, he embraced and then imitated the very same extremism of the jihadist subculture.
The full madness of Mr. Breivik is that he has likely turned his professed cause -- anti-Muslim immigration -- on its head. That will open doors not to better immigrant assimilation or understanding but to more hatred, or worse, from fanatic Muslim hard-liners.
And with that, a warning from Bruce Bawer, an author living in Oslo: "In Norway, to speak negatively about any aspect of the Muslim faith has always been a touchy matter ... . It will, I fear, be a great deal more difficult to broach these issues now that this murderous madman has become the poster boy for the criticism of Islam."
