posted
Ten years ago today, on April 19, 1993, federal agents stormed the Branch Davidian compound after a 51-day siege. In the ensuing hours, the compound burned to the ground and killed 76 men, women, and children. This incident inflammed a one Timothy McVeigh, who truck bombed an Oklahoma City government building two years later and killed 168 people.
In the Waco siege, FBI and ATF agents shot tear gas and cyanide into the compound, killing many children and adults horribly. Then the fire started and the compound burnt down, most likely the result of trigger-happy FBI agents. What's worse is that Janet Reno and the FBI folk lied about doing all of this, and later had to fess up to most of it when evidence was siezed from their HQ. Just a few years ago, Clinton said that the Waco raid "was a mistake."
If you would like to see the true story of the Waco siege, see "Waco: The Rules of Engagement," an Oscar-nominated documentary. It may open some eyes to what really happened ten years ago.
Although this is the first time I have heard of cyanide being used by the Feds, I must have missed something in the articles and reports I've read.
-------------------- "You are a terrible human, Ritten." Magnus "Urgh, you are a sick sick person..." Austin Powers A leek too, pretty much a negi.....
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posted
IIRC, "The Rules of Engagement" was given a pretty thorough beating by James Randi's debunk-o-squad.
That said, it was a bonehead job. And I don't mean Minbari.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
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posted
Yes, David wouldn't have had the children killed before hand, just like Jones wouldn't have either....
Yes, Waco was a fucked up thing, the Feds and the Dividians both screwed things up.
-------------------- "You are a terrible human, Ritten." Magnus "Urgh, you are a sick sick person..." Austin Powers A leek too, pretty much a negi.....
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posted
Just out of curiosity, what would the intended function of cyanide have been in this case? In closed spaces, a simple KCN/water "grenade" would quickly create a lethal concentration of the respiration-inhibiting gas, with no real chance of resuscitation. And little chance of containment in just the targeted room, or efficient ventilation afterwards without special gear. We've had a few close calls in our labs, despite all the special ventilation, isolation doors and breathing gear (there being no such thing as "idiot proofing").
Why would this be considered a useful siege weapon? It's great for killing everybody without physically damaging or permanently contaminating the premises, but that isn't a typical siege goal. For police forces anyway.
posted
I think most of the people there didn't care if the place burnt down and everyone died; they just wanted to get home. In "Rules of Engagement," you see ATF & FBI agents cheering at the compound as it's burning down. Apparetly, they were glad they were killing dozens of people.
The reason to move on Koresh was because he was storing weapons inside his compound, and that there had been a shootout earlier where 4 feds died. Evidence suggests the FBI may have fired first, but know one knows, since the door "disappeared." (Oh, and I must say this...this must be the worst job of cover-up ever. When confronted on why infared footage showed agents firing on the compound, the FBI dismissed it as "light reflecting off the gun barrels" and "ammunition in the compound exploding at the same time." Yeah, sure.)
The FBI weren't the only ones to dismiss the "infrared" footage (which wasn't infrared.)
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
No, I think one utter crushing of a conspiracy theory is enough for today.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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