Monday, July 23, 2012

Murderer Anders Breivik Quotes Conservatives--And Muslims, Christians...And Sitting Bull Too

The Left Distorts Breivik's Mental World

by Daniel Pipes
July 22, 2012
Cross-posted from National Review Online

Immediately after Anders Behring Breivik committed his terrorist atrocity in Norway a year ago today, killing 77, the Center for American Progress, a $38 million-a-year liberal think tank, rushed out (under its ThinkProgress imprint) a graphic that helpfully pointed out how often Breivik had cited 11 of what it called "right-wing pundits and organizations" in his manifesto, 2083 — A European Declaration of Independence.


CAP's research, which was much cited and had vast influence on the reporting of Breivik's mental formation, would lead one to believe that Breivik's sources of information came exclusively from those "right-wing pundits and organizations." Not so. Although I noted a year ago the essential deceit of this characterization, the full picture became apparent only later, thanks to a complete concordance created by Steven Emerson's Investigative Project on Terrorism of the over 1,600 personal names in 2083.
IPT's research establishes that, yes, Breivik certainly did mention conservatives, but he also mentioned about as many liberals and leftists, not to speak of Christians and Muslims, historical figures and writers. With IPT's authorization, I am posting the 84 names mentioned ten or more times in 2083. (The discrepancy between CAP's and IPT's numbers results from their differing methodologies.)
IPT's list of 84 top mentions includes a very wide range of figures.
  • Leftist thinkers: Karl Marx (27 times), Theodor Adorno (26), György Lukács/George Lukacs (26), Herbert Marcuse (24), Antonio Gramsci (23), Thomas Hylland Eriksen (21), Colin Barker (20), and Friedrich Nietzsche (10).
  • Leftist politicians: Tony Blair (20 times), Barack Obama (19), Andrew Neather (15), Javier Solana (12), Romano Prodi (12), and Gordon Brown (11).
  • Muslims: Anwar Shaaban (48 times), Islam's prophet Muhammad (36), Osama bin Laden (29), Yasir Arafat (19), Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid (15), Abu Talal al-Qasimy (13), Ahmad Abu Laban (12), Ibn Khaldun (12), Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali (11), Hasan al-Banna (11), and Sayyid Qutb (11).
  • Christian figures: Jesus Christ (63 times), Pope Urban II (13), Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir (12), Michael the Syrian (11), and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (10).
  • Random historical figures: Charles Martel (53 times), Hitler (50), Winston Churchill (23), Duke Odo of Aquitaine (21), John III Sobieski (19), Thomas Jefferson (18), Napoleon Bonaparte (17), Sitting Bull (14), and Benjamin Disraeli (10).
  • Writers: Aristotle (25 times), Ivo Andrić (20), William Shakespeare (20), Plato (16), Salman Rushdie (16), George Orwell (12), Wilhelm Reich (12), and Sigmund Freud (11).
Comments:
(1) I count 13 critics of Islam or Islamism and 11 Muslims among the 84 top names mentioned by Breivik. Pretty much a draw, no?
(2) As for Breivik agreeing with those critics: hardly. As I showed last July, he intentionally sought to damage and delegitimize anyone who rejects his violent ways.
(3) The Center for American Progress distorted Breivik's mind by listing only conservatives – hardly a shock given CAP's history of shoddy work.
(4) Concerning all those progressive eminentoes: after Max Blumenthal recently lambasted me in The Nation, a Leftist magazine, for being mentioned by Breivik, I wrote a letter to its editors: "Were the Nation to boycott this posse of Marxists, leftists, and their protégés, its pages would stand quite empty."
(5) I am the 9th most commonly mentioned person, bizarrely finding myself right after Islam's prophet Muhammad, tied with Dutch politician Geert Wilders & Osama bin Laden, immediately ahead of Karl Marx.
NameTally
Bat Ye'or71
Fjordman63
Jesus Christ63
Robert Spencer54
Charles Martel53
Shaykh Anwar Shaaban48
Adolf Hitler50
Mohammed36
Daniel Pipes29
Geert Wilders29
Osama Bin Laden29
Karl Marx27
György Lukács (or George Lukacs)26
Theodor Adorno26
Aristotle25
Herbert Marcuse24
Andrew Bostom23
Antonio Gramsci23
Winston Churchill23
Bruce Bawer22
Jean-Louis Bruguière22
Serge Trifkovic22
Speros Vryonis, Jr.22
Duke Odo of Aquitaine (Eudes the Great)21
Thomas Hylland Eriksen21
Colin Barker20
Ivo Andric20
Jean-Francois Ricard20
Tony Blair20
William Shakespeare20
Barack Obama19
Ibn Warraq19
John III Sobieski19
Theo van Gogh19
Yasser Arafat19
Hugh Fitzgerald18
Thomas Jefferson18
Napoleon Bonaparte17
A.E. Vacalopoulos16
Angela Merkel16
Ayaan Hirsi Ali16
Plato16
Salman Rushdie16
Walid Shoebat16
Andrew Neather15
José Manuel Barroso15
Pim Fortuyn15
Sultan Abdul Hamid15
George W. Bush14
Saga14
Sitting Bull14
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing14
Ali Sina13
Axel13
Erich Fromm13
Mike Tyldesley13
Nasrallah Sfeir12
Nicholas Sarkozy13
Ole Jørgen Anfindsen13
V.I. Lenin5
Abu Laban12
Camille Chamoun12
George Orwell12
Javier Solana12
Pope Urban II13
Romano Prodi12
Wilhelm Reich12
Al-Ghazali11
Carl I. Hagen11
Hasan Al-Banna11
Henryk Broder11
Ibn Khaldun12
Jean Monnet11
Michael the Syrian11
Sayyid Qutb11
Sigmund Freud11
Thomas Madden11
Abu Talal al-Qasimy13
Benjamin Disraeli10
Edward Grant18
F.A. Hayek10
Friedrich Nietzsche10
Gordon Brown11
Roger Scruton10
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux10


(July 22, 2012)

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