First Norway, now Poland.

[Archae]

Yeesh.

Poland Narrowly Averts Its Own Right-Wing Terrorist Bloodbath

By David Neiwert

We all remember Anders Breivik, the right-wing extremist who massacred dozens of (mostly) young Norwegians in the summer of 2011, right? Well, now it seems that people in Poland have narrowly escaped having their own version of such a terrorism-induced bloodbath, at the hands of an admirer of Breivik:

Last week the Polish government announced the thwarting of a terrorism plot that is worrisome in its audacity and in who was behind it. In a country with minimal experience of terrorism, the discovery of a sophisticated homegrown bomber seeking to decapitate the government by blowing up the parliament and the president has caused shockwaves and introspection.

The would-be bomber, Dr. Brunon Kwiecień, a forty-five year old research scientist at Krakow’s Agricultural University, fits few currently fashionable profiles. Neither a jihadist nor marginally employed or socially bereft, Kwiecień is married with two children, has a respectable income, and is reported to have been exceptionally interested in explosives since his youth. A skilled chemist popular with his students and considered unremarkable by his university colleagues, he came up with a truly audacious plot to blow up the Sejm, the Polish parliament in Warsaw, during a joint session where both houses, the president and the full cabinet would be present. As Kwiecień is reported to have conducted visits to Warsaw to select his targets, this appears to be more than the figment of a demented imagination.

The seriousness of the bomber’s intent was evidenced by the astonishing haul made by Polish police after Kwiecień’s arrest on November 9. Among the items seized were a dozen illegal firearms, some 1,100 rounds of ammunition, body armor of various types, several detonators (including cell phones triggers) and an amazing four tons of high-grade explosives—more than enough to flatten several city blocks—which the bomber had access to due to his job. There seems to be little doubt that Kwiecień had the technical competence to build the bomb, but his efforts to find collaborators fell short.

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/poland-narrowly-averts-its-own-right

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. How did they catch him?

What a scary story.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. He was open about being anti-government, and the security services became suspicious

He expressed support for Breivik. He asked his wife (a biologist) about dirty bombs, and she reported that. He had a 'ring' of 4 associates, of whom 2 turned out to be government agents (though it seems clear he was the instigator in this case).

Thankfully, he didn't have the conspiratorial expertise to go with his chemical expertise. And the Polish security services were able to spot a possible danger and mount an operation to monitor and then stop it.

[freshwest]

2. Blowing up the Polish Parliament? Shades of Guy Fawkes!

[tama]

3. Breivik admirer and copycat nt

[freshwest]

4. And Guy Fawkes. Why disavow a famous British revolutionary?

[tama]

5. Because

I like the anarchist mythical comic book character that became symbol of Anonymous. Historical Guy Fawkes - another thing.

[freshwest]

7. But the historical man fits the topic. Two sides of the same mask. Let them fight it out.

[Ken Burch]

6. Fawkes WASN'T a revolutionary-he fought for restoration of a Catholic monarch, not liberation.

A Catholic restoration would have resulted in no emancipation for the workers and the dispossessed in Britain...it wouldn't have changed anyone's daily life at all...it's just that the aristocratic oppressors would have chanted on Sunday in Latin rather than English.

It wouldn't even have resulted in freedom for Ireland, since English kings had treated that island just as oppressively BEFORE the Reformation as they did afterwords.

Had he lived in the 1930's Fawkes would likely have been a supporter of Franco and Mussolini...perhaps even Schickelgruber.

[pampango]

8. "nationalist, xenophobic, and anti-Semitic" seems to summarize his motives.

Newsweek.pl describes his actions as "nationalist, xenophobic, and anti-Semitic" based on the recent wave of hatred spread by mass media in Poland, mostly owned or controlled by foreign entities.

http://polandandbeyond.blogspot.com/2012/11/polish-terrorist-wannabe-brunon.html

Sounds like a typical right winger to me.

[luv_mykatz]

9. His motives are the toxic stew...

nationalist, xenophobic, and Anti-fill-in-the-blank group that these scum bag nutcases happen to hate.

[kelliekat44]

11. This the most depressing part of the article IMHO:

"Europeans have been having a problem with a surge in right-wing-extremist violence generally. But then, so has the USA -- to little notice in the media."

The fact that the media spends so much time on political trivia and entertainment trash means that people are less vigilant and less caring about the things that really do affect us...and even might harm us.