Is it something about Austria?

I'm far from convinced by the theories going around that the Josef Fritzl incest case tells us something deeply disturbing about Austria.

Is it its Nazi past? Its supposed penchant for secrecy? A small-town cosiness between local businessmen and government officials?

Or is it just that unfortunately there are people who do appalling things, regardless of their nationality or hometown?

Did the Fred and Mary West case tell us something about Gloucester? (They were accused of torturing, raping and murdering at least 12 young women in that otherwise unremarkable English town.)

Did the Marc Dutroux case, who was convicted of similar offences in Belgium, tell us something about that country?

Did the recent removal of more than 400 children from a cult commune where they are alleged to have been abused tell us something about Texas?

Not far from where I live in London, a serial killer called Dennis Nilsen murdered 15 men at his home in the late 1970s and early 1980s -- does that tell us something sinister about my north London suburb?

Nowhere did neighbours raise the alarm or express concerns; nowhere did the local authorities step in. Perhaps Austria is no different from anywhere else.

I understand the desire to try to find explanations for such horrors. But I do wonder if the real, perhaps unpalatable, truth is that sometimes there are no explanations.

What do you think?

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