FC: Timothy McVeigh, muzzled by U.S. government, speaks via the Net

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

----- Forwarded message from Eric Cordian <emc () artifact psychedelic net> -----

From: Eric Cordian <emc () artifact psychedelic net>
Subject: The Muzzling of Tim McVeigh
To: cypherpunks () einstein ssz com
Date: Sun, 6 May 2001 13:12:26 -0700 (PDT)

The government is being real careful not to let Tim McVeigh have a forum
to speak prior to his closed-circuit murder on May 16th.  They have
forbiddden any televised interviews, and the lap dogs in the US press are
being very careful to not quote verbatim a single word McVeigh has said,
instead relying on editorial pieces disguised as news, in which topics
like McVeigh's "remorse" and his use of the term "collateral damage" are
spun to exacting federal standards.

Fortunately, McVeigh wrote down his reasons for the OK bombing, and mailed
them to a friend.  This friend kept them secret, until McVeigh directed a
UK journalist to contact the friend, in order that the material could be
released.

So, while the press in the "Country That Never Apologizes" continues its
anti-McVeigh ranting, readers in Britain are getting the facts of the case
directly from McVeigh.

In McVeigh's Own Words:

     "I explain herein why I bombed the Murrah federal building in
      Oklahoma City. I explain this not for publicity, nor seeking to
      win an argument of right or wrong. I explain so that the record
      is clear as to my thinking and motivations in bombing a
      government installation.
   
     "I chose to bomb a federal building because such an action
      served more purposes than other options. Foremost the bombing
      was a retaliatory strike; a counter attack for the cumulative
      raids (and subsequent violence and damage) that federal agents
      had participated in over the preceding years (including, but
      not limited to, Waco). From the formation of such units as the
      FBI's Hostage Rescue and other assault teams amongst federal
      agencies during the 80s, culminating in the Waco incident,
      federal actions grew increasingly militaristic and violent,
      to the point where at Waco, our government - like the Chinese -
      was deploying tanks against its own citizens.
   
     "Knowledge of these multiple and ever-more aggressive raids
      across the country constituted an identifiable pattern of
      conduct within and by the federal government and amongst its
      various agencies.
   
     "For all intents and purposes, federal agents had become
      soldiers (using military training, tactics, techniques,
      equipment, language, dress, organisation and mindset) and they
      were escalating their behaviour.
   
     "Therefore this bombing was meant as a pre-emptive (or
      pro-active) strike against these forces and their command and
      control centres within the federal building. When an aggressor
      force continually launches attacks from a particular base of
      operations, it is sound military strategy to take the fight to
      the enemy. Additionally, borrowing a page from US foreign
      policy, I decided to send a message to a government that was
      becoming increasingly hostile, by bombing a government building
      and the government employees within that building who represent
      that government. Bombing the Murrah federal building was
      morally and strategically equivalent to the US hitting a
      government building in Serbia, Iraq, or other nations.
   
     "Based on observations of the policies of my own government, I
      viewed this action as an acceptable option.
   
     "From this perspective, what occurred in Oklahoma City was no
      different than what Americans rain on the heads of others all
      the time, and subsequently, my mindset was and is one of
      clinical detachment. (The bombing of the Murrah building was
      not personal, no more than when Air Force, Army, Navy or Marine
      personnel bomb or launch cruise missiles against government
      installations and their personnel). I hope that this
      clarification amply addresses all questions."
   
McVeigh also comments on Feds thinking the law doesn't apply to them:

     "When the post-inferno investigations and inquiries by the
      Executive and Legislative branches of government concluded that
      the federal government had done nothing fundamentally wrong
      during the raid of the Branch Davadians at Waco, the system not
      only failed the victims who died during that siege but also
      failed the citizens of this country This failure in effect left
      the door open for more Wacos.
   
     "Some time after the fact they received awards, bonus pay and
      in some cases promotions for their disgusting and inhumane
      actions at Waco and Ruby Ridge.
   
     "This was exemplified years later while I sat in prison, The
      Ruby Ridge FBI sniper, Lon Horiuchi, was charged by the state
      of Idaho for his actions.
   
     "The federal courts threw out the charges, ruling that federal
      agents are immune from the laws that govern the common citizen.
   
     "The surviving Davidians were sentenced to lengthy prison
      terms, despite protests from the trial jurors. The primary
      'checks and balances' system had again failed to correct the
      system.
   
     "It was at this time, after waiting for non-violent checks and
      balances to correct ongoing federal abuses and seeing no such
      results, that the assault weapons ban was passed and rumours
      subsequently surfaced of nationwide, Waco-style raids scheduled
      for the spring of 1995 to confiscate firearms.
   
     "These rumours were so persistent and deemed so credible that
      some congresswoman wrote letters to Attorney-General Janet Reno
      inquiring as to her intents and admonishing her to call off the
      raids.
   
     "As it turns out these rumours were actually based on fact.
   
     "Through the legal process called 'discovery' the Oklahoma City
      bombing defence learned that both the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol,
      Tobacco and Firearms) and the FBI had formulated raid plans for
      the spring of 1995 at Elohim City in eastern Oklahoma. So for
      those who dismiss such concerns as paranoia you need to look a
      the facts as they existed a the time and further reflect that
      the Waco raid was not imaginary - it was a real event.
   
     "It was in this climate then, that I reached the decision to go
      on the offensive - to put a check on government abuse of power
      where others has failed in stopping the federal juggernaut run
      amok.

As Gore Vidal said, "This guy's got a case."  Too bad he's being spun by
the Federal propaganda machine as some sort of rabid terrorist.

Isn't killing a disarmed POW a human rights violation?  This principle
should apply to an Army of One, just as it applies to an Army of Many.

-- 
Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"

----- End forwarded message -----



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