

Yes the govt handled it in the Rambo Hollywood type style
with extreeme Machismo. Perhaps thats not the way to handle
it. 

It is a completely different thing to start asserting as many
have done that the government is primarily to blame. The comparisons
with the NAZIs in particular are purely gratuitous.

Since you have provided a constructive opinion on the issue your
post desreves to be taken seriously. Peter Nelson also made some
very good points about how a low key approach might have been 
more effective.

The point is though that you learn through mistakes. The govt
played the wrong card and lost. Thats not a big deal. They
had had four guys murdered at the begining and maybee they 
just were not prepared for wuite this situation. Who could be?

If the same thing were to happen all over again we might perhaps
be able to castigate the Govt if they used the same tactics and failed
in the same way. As it is I can't say that I would not have made the
same mistake. Maybee I wouldn't because I don't as a rule go in
for a confrontational situation if I can avoid it. Maybee I would
because with all those press about its very difficult not to try
the macho stuff.


The FBI had information from within the compound we had no access
to. They may have calculated that the B-D followers resolve was
cracking based on their listening devices within the compound. They
knew that Koresh had chickened out of one suicide attempt. This
may have been the reason why they considered that fear might have 
been a weapon for breaking his resolve. Again in Panama they had used
the heavy rock music to great effect during Bush's invasion. Funny that
few of the Koresh supporters and appologists complain much about the
death of several thousand Pananmanian civilians while the US govt attempted
to arrest their former ally.



Koresh negated his civil rights the minute his followers fired
on the police helicopter. No matter whether the warrant was or
was not technically valid the guys who were carrying it out 
thought that it was. Thus the assault on them was completely
inexcusable no matter what rationalisation people might wish to
employ.

Of course we have to consider the guns issue. That is the whole
core of the question. Everything else is a diversion.
