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Friday, August 24, 2012

The importance of the Anders Breivik verdict reaches beyond Norway | Tad Tietze

The guilty verdict, which declares Breivik sane, means the hard right cannot distance itself from his rhetoric of hate

There are many reasons to welcome the verdict in the trial of Anders Behring Breivik: that he is sane and legally responsible for the murder of 77 people – mostly members of the Norwegian Labour party – on 22 July last year.

The guilty verdict recognises the monstrosity of Breivik's acts, carried out in pursuit of his political beliefs. It also delivers the outcome wanted by the majority of Norwegians, in particular because it means he will spend no fewer than 21 years – and most likely life – in jail. Justice has been done to the fullest extent possible under Norwegian law.

To understand the full import of the outcome, however, one needs to look to the wider realms of politics and society. The trial was dominated by the question of Breivik's sanity for more than just procedural reasons.

Once it was realised a white, middle-class Norwegian man was the culprit and that he'd left a sickening but coherent 1,500-page manifesto for all to read, the race was on for some on the right to depoliticise Breivik's acts. The problem was that his politics were not just similar to their own, but often drawn directly from their statements, cut and pasted into his tract. In many cases the only difference was that he took their language of a war of civilisations to its logical conclusion in violence.

It wasn't just harder rightwingers such as Melanie Phillips, Mark Steyn and Pamela Geller who tried to deny the connection, but many more moderate writers and politicians. This should not be surprising, as Breivik's opposition to Muslims, multiculturalism and a "cultural Marxist" fifth column was never far from the surface in the mainstream discourse of the war on terror. Norway, for all its famed tolerance, continues to be an active part of the Nato occupation of Afghanistan.

The main form this depoliticisation took was the medicalisation of Breivik's actions in terms of psychological or psychiatric pathology. Within days, everyone from forensic psychiatrists to the London mayor, Boris Johnson, felt the need to put Breivik in a diagnostic box. Occasionally, even reportage of his personal history and psychology went to ludicrous extremes to seek his motives in anything but what he actually said. This reached its pinnacle with the first court-ordered psychiatric report, which found him to be suffering from "paranoid schizophrenia" on the basis of clumsy and inappropriate interpretation of ideas and behaviours common in far-right and online gaming subcultures.

Outrage over the findings led the court to take the unusual step of commissioning a second report. This one paid more attention to his political milieu, as well as his behaviour in jail, and found him sane – at most exhibiting signs of a personality disorder. Friday's verdict confirms this conclusion and denies to Islamophobic ideologues the comfort of a clear line of sanity separating their influence from Breivik's actions.

The verdict is doubly important as an intractable economic crisis across Europe provides opportunities for the advance of the far right. Virtually all of these rightwing parties disowned Breivik's actions while singling out in their own propaganda the same groups he targeted. At one extreme, Greece's neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has seen its electoral support rocket to 7%, even as its thugs carry out violent attacks on migrants in the streets of Athens. But much wider networks of extreme rightwingers populate the internet and organisations of the populist right, exactly the spaces in which Breivik's ideology and commitment to action were formed.

Friday's verdict thus not only delivers justice, it also clarifies the connection between his crimes and how dangerous rightwing ideologies have infiltrated an apparently "sane" mainstream discourse. It is a problem that cannot be expunged simply by labelling it as mad, but must be tackled directly as the political threat to freedom and democracy it is.


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Merkel vows to keep Greece inside eurozone

German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered a ray of hope to Greece Friday, stressing that she wanted the debt-burdened country to stay in the eurozone and pledging German help after crisis talks with the Greek prime minister.

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REPORT: Obama Is Pressuring EU To Prevent A Greek Euro Exit Until After The ...


Business Insider

REPORT: Obama Is Pressuring EU To Prevent A Greek Euro Exit Until After The ...
Business Insider
The British daily newspaper The Independent is reporting this morning that the Obama administration is trying to persuade European leaders to hold off on implementing any sort of Greek exit from the euro until after the November 6 presidential ...

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Greek leader asks Germany for 'more room to breathe'


The Guardian

Greek leader asks Germany for 'more room to breathe'
Los Angeles Times
BERLIN -- Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday in an effort to win two more years to meet his country's budget-deficit targets, but Merkel insisted that Athens stick to its stated commitments. Facing a ...
Greek PM in Germany: need 'time to breathe'The Associated Press
Greek Leader Scrambles to Sway MerkelWall Street Journal
Merkel offers Greek PM no extra time on bailoutReuters

all 4,176 news articles »

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Greece pushed to pursue reforms


Greece pushed to pursue reforms
Albany Times Union
BERLIN — The German and French leaders on Thursday put the pressure firmly on Greece to keep pursuing painful reforms, suggesting they are hesitant to accept the new Greek prime minister's demand for more time to fix his country's battered economy ...


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Press Watch, August 24

The Athens press focused on today’s meeting between Premier Antonis Samaras and Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, as well as yesterday’s talks between French President Francois Hollande and Merkel, also in the German capital.

The consensus, based on yesterday’s brief remarks by Merkel and Hollande, was that the Franco-German axis will insist on full implementation of Greece’s bailout obligations.

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Merkel Says Greece Must Stick to Austerity

Angela Merkel said she wants to keep Greece in the euro zone through a regime of painful austerity even as Greece's Samaras pleaded for air to breathe after years of recession.

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German Leader Says Greece Must Remain in Euro Zone


Wall Street Journal

German Leader Says Greece Must Remain in Euro Zone
New York Times
BERLIN — Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, pledged Friday to support the new Greek government as is struggles to reform its economy, saying that the heavily indebted country must remain in the euro zone. Ms. Merkel met in Berlin with the Greek ...
Merkel: Greece Must Stick to PlanWall Street Journal
Greece tells Germany it needs 'time to breathe' on reformsUSA TODAY
Greece needs debt restructuring, not more timeMarketWatch
Businessweek -Bloomberg -San Francisco Chronicle
all 4,055 news articles »

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Morning Market Roundup: Britain's Econ Contracts, Greece Asks for Breathing ...


Morning Market Roundup: Britain's Econ Contracts, Greece Asks for Breathing ...
TheBlaze.com
Greece: Greece made little immediate progress in its quest for more time to carry out painful cuts during talks between its Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel Friday. But the German leader did offer some support to ...

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Germans and the Greek challenge


BBC News

Germans and the Greek challenge
BBC News
It is one of the consequences of the eurozone crisis that Greeks and Germans regard each other with suspicion. There are many Germans who believe that helping Greece amounts to feeding money into a bottomless pit. Many Greeks suspect that Berlin ...


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German Chancellor Pledges Support for Greece

In a meeting with the Greek prime minister, Chancellor Angela Merkel said the indebted country must remain in the euro zone.





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Greek PM Antonio Samaras arrives for crisis talks with Angela Merkel

BERLIN: Greece's prime minister arrived for crisis talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Friday, at which he was expected to push for more time to make key reforms to keep his country in the eurozone. A beaming Merkel welcomed Antonis Samaras for his first official visit and the two listened to their respective national anthems played by a German military band in unseasonal Berlin drizzle. Samaras is kicking off a two-day trip to Berlin and then to Paris with his debt-wracked country's future in the 17-nation eurozone in the balance as its cash reserves dry up and a new injection of European funds hangs by a thread. Hours before his arrival, senior German officials kept up the pressure...

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Merkel Reiterates Greek Stance

Germany's Angela Merkel said she wants Greece to stay in the euro zone, but made no commitment on granting further leeway on austerity measures until completion of a review of Greece's progress in implementing reforms.

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Greek leaders' last chance to keep loans coming


Greek leaders' last chance to keep loans coming
Southeast European Times
Under pressure to make at least another 11.5 billion euros in cuts, and possibly more, the Greek coalition government headed by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is again aiming the axe at workers, pensioners and the poor amid warnings this could be the ...


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Greece tells Germany it needs 'time to breathe' on reforms


Greece tells Germany it needs 'time to breathe' on reforms
USA TODAY
But Merkel stressed that Germany wants Greece to remain in the 17-nation euro and said Berlin won't pass premature judgment on Athens' reform efforts ahead of a report next month from Greece's international debt inspectors. Leading German politicians ...


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PM: Greece needs 'time to breathe'

Leaders in Athens and Berlin wrangled publicly over how to deal with Greece's plea for further assistance as fears of a renewed eurozone recession mounted yesterday.

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Samaras to Merkel: a breather, not more cash

Greece does not want more money from its eurozone partners, just time to breathe so that it can return to growth, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Friday after talks in Berlin with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"Greece will stick to its commitments and fulfil its obligations. In fact this is already happening," he said during a joint press conference with the German chancellor.

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Greek PM faces tough test in deeply skeptical Germany

The Associated Press reports from Berlin — The new Greek prime minister's hopes of  winning more time from creditors to implement reforms and spending cuts faced a  tough test in deeply skeptical Germany on Friday as he met Chancellor Angela  Merkel.The Associated Press reports from Berlin — The new Greek prime minister's hopes of winning more time from creditors to implement reforms and spending cuts faced a tough test in deeply skeptical Germany on Friday as he met Chancellor Angela Merkel.



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Greek PM in Germany: need 'time to breathe'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and the Prime Minister of Greece Antonis Samaras, step on a podium to listen to the national anthems during a welcome ceremony prior to a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)Greece's prime minister is telling Germany that his country needs "time to breathe" as it carries through painful reforms and spending cuts.



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Greek PM in Germany: need 'time to breathe'




BERLIN (AP) — Greece's prime minister is telling Germany that his country needs "time to breathe" as it carries through painful reforms and spending cuts.


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Greek hopes of reform leeway face test in Berlin as Angela Merkel meets Antonis Samaras in Berlin


The new Greek prime minister's hopes of winning more time from creditors to implement reforms and spending cuts faced a tough test in deeply sceptical Germany today as he met Chancellor Angela Merkel.



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No more hiring of politicians' relatives

The government aims to draft and table a law precluding state officials from hiring, as staff, spouses or other relatives of up to the second degree.

The initiative comes on orders of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, after it emerged that a number of politicians had hired close relatives.

Among those who hired relatives are Vyron Polydoras (ND), who took on his daughter; Independent Greeks' leader Panos Kammenos, who put a cousin on the payroll; and (...)

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Greek Leader Hopes to Sway Merkel


BBC News

Greek Leader Hopes to Sway Merkel
Wall Street Journal
From the editorials of the leading German newspapers to breakfast talkshows on television and radio, Germany's commentators and political leaders drove home the point Friday that Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras must deliver on his promises to ...
Greek PM's hopes of more leeway on reforms, cuts face tough test in visit to ...Washington Post

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Greek Leader Hopes to Persuade Merkel


Wall Street Journal

Greek Leader Hopes to Persuade Merkel
Wall Street Journal
By WILLIAM BOSTON And HARRIET TORRY BERLIN—Greece's prime minister faces a tough sell in Berlin on Friday to persuade German Chancellor Angela Merkel to warm to a softening of the economically-stricken country's reform program, as German leaders ...
Merkel Seeks to Keep Greece on Path in Hollande TalksBloomberg
Berlin plays down flexibility clause in Greek dealReuters
Euro Falls Before Leaders Meet to Discuss Greece; Aussie DropsBusinessweek
The Guardian -San Francisco Chronicle -Telegraph.co.uk
all 3,848 news articles »

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French leader to meet Italy's Monti in Rome




ROME (AP) — French President Francois Hollande will travel to Rome next month to meet Italy's Mario Monti as part of concerted efforts to bolster confidence in the euro currency.
Monti's office announced the Sept. 4 meeting on Friday. It will come days after Hollande travels to Spain on Aug. 30 to meet Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy
Hollande met Thursday with German Chanceller Angela Merkel, putting pressure on Greece to pursue painful reforms. The leaders will each meet the new Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras to discuss his request for more time to fix his country's finances.


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Berlin plays down flexibility clause in Greek deal


Berlin plays down flexibility clause in Greek deal
Reuters
BERLIN Aug 24 (Reuters) - Germany's finance ministry said on Friday a clause in the Greek bailout deal allowing more time for reform targets in the case of a worse-than-expected recession was not legally binding, further dampening Athens' hopes of ...

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Greek hopes of reform leeway face test in Berlin





BERLIN (AP) — The new Greek prime minister's hopes of winning more time from creditors to implement reforms and spending cuts face a tough test as he travels to a deeply skeptical Germany on Friday to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Germany's finance minister has argued that giving Greece more time wouldn't solve the country's problems, and the parliamentary caucus leader of Merkel's conservative bloc poured more cold water on the idea Friday.

Greece's continued access to the bailout packages hinges on a favorable report next month from the so-called "troika" of the country's debt inspectors — the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

[...] Merkel would have to get approval for any extra funding in Parliament, where lawmakers in her center-right coalition have no appetite for another Greek rescue program.


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