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86 lines
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Plaintext
86 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
The Sunday Times, London, 21 March 1993
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FBI BRINGS OUT SECRET ELECTRONIC WEAPONS AS WACO SIEGE DRAGS ON
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Behind the glare of television cameras a silent, secret war
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is being waged in Waco, Texas. By day federal agents conduct
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tortuous negotiations with David Koresh, the 33-year-old leader of
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the Branch Davidian cult who claims to be the new Messiah. By
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night they mount a sophisticated surveillance operation.
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It is an electronic war to prepare for the unthinkable: a new
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armed assault on the compound should the cult disciples decide to
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commit mass suicide or stage a violent breakout. Three weeks after
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a bloody shoot-out that left four federal agents dead, Koresh and
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his followers appear unhurried. The only hopeful indication came
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last week when Koresh said astrological events showed he was close
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to receiving a sign from God.
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The impasse has incensed the American authorities, still
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smarting after their disastrous daylight assault on the ranch in
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an attempt to arrest Koresh on arms charges. At one stage William
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Sessions, the FBI director, wanted to fly down to Texas to rally
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his men but his aides argued it would only disrupt their strategy
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to end a siege that has already outlasted the Alamo.
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Instead of seeking confrontation, the FBI decided to apply
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stealth. Using the latest technology, security forces have been
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quietly penetrating the compound to build up a complete picture of
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what is going on inside.
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Aircraft flying overhead can pick up conversations between
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cult members and pinpoint their position using infra-red devices
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that lock on to hear sources. The walls, air vents and chimneys
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are all places where tiny fibre-optic microphones and cameras have
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been inserted to relay audio and visual images back to the control
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centre.
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"They need to know exactly who is in which room, what morale
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is like, what they are saying to each other, where the guards are,"
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said an SAS veteran who was involved in the storming of the Iranian
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embassy in London in 1980. "If you have to go in, you don't want
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any surprises."
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Two weeks ago, the FBI requested that special surveillance
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plane fly down to Waco. The multi-sensor aircraft is made by
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Pilatus Britten-Norman on the aisle of WIght and is a conversion
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of their civilian Islander. Equipped with a forward looking infra-
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red radar and a low-light television camera, it can pick up and
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track targets in all weather.
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Other equipment has been adapted from the hospital operating
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theatre. Fibre-optic cables which can be inserted into walls and
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down chimneys are identical to the cameras used to explore
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patients' arteries and organs. At Waco, they relay a full-colour
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picture of a whole room from a lens measuring no more than an
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eighth of an inch.
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Even before the raid last month, the compound had been
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infiltrated by undercover agents worried by the growing arsenal of
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weapons. While the agents were inside, normal telephones are
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believed to have been replaced by converted sets which double as
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microphones to relay all conversation inside a room.
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But the technology is not all on the government side. The
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cult is believed to have powerful thermal-imaging night sights in
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its armoury, which includes machineguns and anti-tank weapons. To
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counter that threat, federal agents have mounted powerful arc
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lights, ready to blind those inside.
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The siege has become a focal point for the world's special
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forces eager to see the latest equipment being applied in a real
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crisis. OBserver teams from the American Delta Force and British
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SAS have already visited Waco.
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Last week negotiations continued without any sign of progress.
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At one stage, it seemed 30 of the 105 cult members remaining in the
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compound might be about to leave and three buses were driven up to
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the gates. Then Koresh broke off negotiations saying he had to go
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to the lavatory. He did not return.
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The federal agents hope that an assault will not be necessary.
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They are putting their faith in the motto of the New York police
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hostage rescue team: "We Bore Them to Death." But unless Koresh
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gets his sign from God it could be a long wait: the cult has enough
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food and water to last at least a year.
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