-Caveat Lector- From: http://www.pathfinder.com/time/daily/special/look/0,2633,30175,00.html Big Governmentt. Small Missteps. Big Consequences? It doesn't take much to ignite a conspiracy theory, and the recent FBI fumble over Waco is like throwing gasoline on the flames The historical evidence says there are many more conspiracy theories than actual conspiracies, ongoing work on the JFK assassination(s) notwithstanding. But the amateur sleuths - indeed, the entire societies of them that imagine the U.S. government to be far more insidious than incompetent - do not thrive on paranoia alone. They require scraps - gaps in the narrative, a hitch or two in the official version of things, plenty of questions unanswered, and, of course, a tragic ending, hopefully brought about by a showy use of government force. Waco has all of these, and a built-in audience: the antigovernment militia types who consider their inalienable rights to be under constant siege from the same government that's supposedly sworn to protect them. Whether you call this contingent patriots or terrorists, conflagrations like Waco are their spiritual grist. And the feds are just making it worse. "I don't think it's very good for my credibility," Janet Reno told reporters Thursday of the latest flare-up, the revelation by former FBI deputy director Danny Coulson that two pyrotechnic devices had indeed been fired at the compound on the day of the standoffs fiery climax. After six years, an important part of the official line on the big question - that the government had never used incendiary devices and therefore could not possibly be responsible for the fire - had been reversed, and Reno was certainly right. But there is more than credibility at stake. When Renos internal investigation is completed, the likely finding will be that Coulson was right - the two forgotten devices were fired, and bounced away harmlessly six hours before the blaze erupted. The mainstream press, well accustomed to the big and small incompetencies of the Washington bureaucracies, will likely believe it. A significant slice of the republic will not. And some of them - self-styled neo-minutemen with a serious beef against King Sam and the arsenal to back it up - may well lock, load and decide to do something about it. "This is definitely raw meat for these types," says TIME Denver bureau chief Richard Woodbury. "Theyve been hearing for years that no incendiary devices were used, and now theres the reversal. Its another instance of what they view as the deception and skullduggery of the government." A recent Justice Department assessment (if you can believe it) found that "they" are not an organized rebellion-in-training, but rather remain pockets of the like-minded, connected not in structure but certainly in spirit. Typically, they are deeply rooted into the fertile conspiracy-theory ground of the Internet, and to them the mainstream press is about as trustworthy as Tokyo Rose. When it comes to the jack-booted FBI thugs and their Washington overlords, there are no government missteps, just cover-ups. Not when the "patriots" are enemies to their own government. Paranoia, of course, doesnt mean theyre not out to get you, and when a militiaman in Montana hears about the law-enforcement lineup at Waco, such paranoia isnt hard to understand. The FBI, the ATF and the Texas Rangers are at least domestic agencies, but Delta Force? What, exactly, was the U.S. militarys preeminent commando team - the same crew that went after Noriega in Panama and the warlords in Somalia - doing in Waco, facing down some well-armed wackos and their innocent children? The law says the D-boys can only attend domestic operations in a supervisory capacity. A General Accounting Office study - more feds, for the skeptics - concluded that the U.S. military present had not overstepped its bounds. But as reports, true or not, surface that Delta Force members drove the Bradley transport/assault vehicles used in the final assault, it gets hard to distinguish the "supervisors" from the supervised. The raid was botched, as one must consider any operation that resulted in the fiery deaths of 80 people, including 25 children. The ATF, which led it, was the first to admit that. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen commissioned an independent and scathing report; lofty heads rolled, and the agency regained most of its credibility, at least with the mainstream. Reno, personally, did the same by taking full responsibility for the disaster. But the report commissioned for the Justice Department and FBI, in contrast to the ATF study, found that officials in those agencies had nothing to apologize for. That report also concluded that the Branch Davidians had set the fire, based on survivors testimony, infrared pictures and the findings of an independent arson investigator. But the report - "I find there is no place in the evaluation for blame and no place for fault," main author Edward Dennis said at the time - was seen as a whitewash. And so the questions remain. And now we learn that Reno and FBI chief Louis Freeh have assigned 40 FBI agents - the ultimate insiders - to correct that paint job. "Are 40 FBI agents doing interviews really going to restore the attorney generals credibility?" Henry S. Ruth Jr., a former Watergate prosecutor who took part in the Treasury review, asked in the New York Times. "If they dont reopen this thing now and actually use outside investigators, this will be like the Kennedy assassination for the next 50 years," he said. "I live in the West and the Midwest and this issue is keeping the militia groups alive." Woodbury agrees. "This is fuel for the Timothy McVeighs of the world," he says. If the militia movement isnt organized, its acutely sympathetic. The calendar bears that out. April 19, the day that Waco died, is the day of Lexington and Concord; shots heard round the world. Two years after, two years to the day, McVeigh fought back at another compound, a perceived threat to domestic freedom: the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. "Waco was the first big event, and its been a catalyst," says Woodbury. "Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, McVeigh, the Montana Freemen. Now the suspicions about Waco have been aroused again," he says. "Lets hope its not another activator." -- FRANK PELLEGRINI ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day. ================================================================= DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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