this is not a war

says the Filth, kindly exposed to the world by Norm.  Yes I know this is a couple of days old, but hey, I have just been celebrating my birthday and thinking about other things.  Anyway, this is what the Filth had to say about the start of the trial of Anders Breivik in Norway.

To its credit, Norway has refused to rise to Breivik's provocation. There is nothing that fanatics who see themselves as warriors want more than to provoke an over-reaction. That was the mistake that the United States made after 9/11. Even though Breivik's acts are abnormal and abhorrent, Norway has rightly put him on trial in the normal way, has emphasised that he has rights, and has allowed him to have his say in court, however painful that may be. This is absolutely the correct way to assert the strength of democracy and the rule of law in the face of acts of terror of all kinds. This is not a war. It is a challenge to the rule of law, and it must be met with an assertion of the rule of law, not by its abrogation.

How odd to raise a comparison with 9/11 and (presumably) Guantanamo Bay.  Of course "this" is not a war, whatever organisations Breivik might have consulted or had links with.  What did the Filth think Norway might have done?  Started putting people in orange jumpsuits because they had blond hair or right-wing views?  It's too bizarre.  Breivik murdered a lot of people.  He was seen doing it and arrested.  He didn't try to kill himself, as some do who do these things.  If (here comes the counterfactual) he had managed to escape the police, he might have been killed while being captured, as would eventually have happened.  Would that have been an "abrogation of the rule of law"?  I only ask.