Timothy C. May wrote:
It's an open secret that McVeigh timed the bombing to coincide with the execution of a fellow militant from the Elohim City cabal. Who says mad bombers aren't sentimental?
There are _several_ anniversaries that day. I dispute your notion that you know which of them was the bombers' main motivation. Here are some of the main anniversaries; * Waco roast (and McVeigh has written much about Waco, and was there for the first anniversary, in '94) * the execution you mentioned> * a major raid in Arkansas 10 years earlier * the battle of Lexington, in which the British attempted to disarm a civilian militia
You are certainly correct about McVeigh's main focus of discontent being the Great Texas Barbecue in Wacko, but his choice of targets was the same one Richard Snell had targeted. As MediaFilter reported: The March edition of Taking Aim, the newsletter of the Militia of Montana, issued a call to arms for April 19, the day of the Oklahoma blast: "If this day does not ring a bell for you then maybe this will jog your memory. 1. April 19, 1775: Lexington burned. 2. April 19, 1943: Warsaw burned. 3. April 19, 1992: The feds attempted to raid Randy Weaver... 4. April 19, 1993: The Branch Davidians burned. 5. April 19, 1995: Richard Snell will be executed_unless we act now!!!" Federal prosecutors in (Richard Snell's) the '88 trial claimed that the '83 plot_which included counterfeiting, armed robberies and plans to assassinate federal judges and the Arkansas FBI chief_was to begin with the detonation of a truck bomb at the Oklahoma City Federal Building. All of the defendants were acquitted. But that very same building would be blown up by a truck bomb on the very day of Richard Snell's execution. Snell died knowing of the explosion. His last words were a warning to Arkansas Governor Guy Tucker: "Look over your shoulder, justice is on the way..." The Feds are well aware of the significance of launching their offensives against the militia on certain dates, sending deliberate messages to them by doing so, and the setting of Snell's execution date for April 19 was no coincidence. When the Feds pre-date search warrants and other documents (proclaiming to judges that it is needed to protect informants and sources), they often use signifigant dates and times, like the 9:02 of the OKC bombing (as in Jim Bell's search warrant). If you draw a chart co-relating the militia's actions with the Fed's actions, you get a picture somewhat similar to the truces in the Civil War, among others, where the soldiers would come out of the trenches to exchange goods and pleasantries, before digging in once again to resume their warring. Perhaps after the trial is over (if it gets that far), we will see a TV ad where the Feds and the militia get together in a bar afterward, and a theme of, "Now comes Miller time."
(And Hitler's birthday is the next day.)
Adolf Hilter's birthday is annually celebrated with a barbecue by David Duke and friends. (No wonder the Feds burned Waco on the 19th. They had another barbeque to attend the following day.) And how does all of this relate to cryptography? Glad you asked. MediaFilter continues: However, in 1995, the Clinton administration is conveniently using the Militia to justify beefing up the federal police state apparatus. Also watch out for the pending Communications Decency Act and Orwellian_named Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which would make censorship and surveillance the rule in cyberspace. Perhaps at an upcoming cypherpunks physical meeting the milita could be invited and the theme could be "Trading Guns for Crypto." (It would have to be arranged quietly, however, so as not to draw too much attention. Perhaps if the arrangements were limited to discussion only on the cypherpunks list...) TruthBomber