In an interview with the French daily Libération, the Grammy-nominated Icelandic singer-songwriter Bjork said, "I found it very weird to be here, in New York, on September 11, 2001 and to see this whole nation being shocked, surprised. Of course it was a terrible event, and 3,000 people were killed. But seeing the policy of war carried out by the US, you can't be completely surprised with the result."
Bjork was responding to the reporter's question about the recent Copenhagen shooting at a Charlie Hebdo tribute event which left one dead and three police officers injured.
Here is Bjork's full response:
"Iceland was a colony for six hundred years. And, sometimes, colonialists become blind. They don't measure the impact of their actions. For example, I found it very weird to be here, in New York, on September 11 2001 and to see this whole nation being shocked, surprised. Of course it was a terrible event, and 3000 people were killed. But seeing the policy of war carried out by the US, you can't be completely surprised with the result.
You can't have huge armed forces, like you have in Danemark or France, intervening on foreign soil, killing people, and think it won't have an impact. I'm not saying I have a solution because it seems it's in human nature to declare war, unfortunately. But peace is also part of human nature. I don't want to be the naïve one by saying each country should shut down their army, but I'm proud to be part of a country that doesn't have one."