🚀 go-pugleaf

John M Atkinson (jatkinso@ANTISPAMgmu.edu) wrote:
: %Thats awfully myopic of you.  Regardless of my or your particulat fellings
: %out these individuals personal religous or governmental opinions is no
: %cause for hunting them down, demonizing them, surrounding them with tanks,
: %and shooting and burning their children alive.

: The fire started inside the compound.  And there were no 'tanks' present.  I
: shouldn't have to explain the definition of tank to an infantry type.

Thats not my point.  My point is that by creating a seige that feed right
into their paranoid mythology gave their leader exactly what he needed to
convince his followers to die.

I still contend, that the FBI is equally to blame for not considering the
implications of such a short sighted attack plan, and ATTACK plan it was.
TheseAmerican Citizens were treated like enemies of the state - I for one
was very disturbed by the use of Military Equipment against American
Citizens that posed NO immediate and Clear Danger to their neighbors.

What was the god damn rush?  Its not like they had Hostages or something.

Anyway, I feel for both the Agents that died or were wounded and their
families AND the families of all those cult victims.  We have to temper
our resolve to fight crime with a better respect for the powerful
psychological forces that exist in such fringe movements.  You'd think
that Jonestown might have taught us something, hopefully the Texas
Seperatists demonstrate a positive change in law enforcement.


M. Shinn