alt.conspiracy.pynchon.waco

[JBFRAME at aol.com]

It's important to remember that six federal agents were killed in the initial 
shootout.  They were wearing body armor & could only be taken out by a 
deliberate head shot.  I remember thinking to myself when it happened, "Well, 
those folks are dead meat."  You don't kill feds, even in a justified manner, 
& live to stand trial (in most cases).  I'm not saying that the 
Branch-Davidians should have been killed.  I'm just pointing out the reality 
of violence vis-a-vis authoritarian action.  Those in authority, when 
confronted with violence will respond with violence & repression.  And, since 
they have a nearly unlimited budget, any hope of defeating them with weapons 
is doomed from the beginning.  The Branch-Davidians were pretty stupid, IMHO, 
to get involved with the ATF in the manner they did.  Of course, Koresh was 
obviously feeling pretty powerful after months, if not years, of being in 
total control of his followers & probably felt he could manipulate the feds 
as easily as his flock.  The only problem was, the ATF had their own reality. 
 Six of their own had died & their was rage in many hearts.

jbf