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Exactly. This shooting is just as chicken bleep as the Weaver case. The general populace however is outraged. The Cookeville,TN website is pretty much shut down. They are getting hammered. And I'm sure the mayor is hearing it from all over...

Regarding Ruby Ridge. Off topic, I suppose, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Recently read a book called "Cold Zero", by Christopher Whitcomb. Whitcomb was a sniper with the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team. He was part of the sniper team deployed at Ruby Ridge, although at the time Mrs. Weaver was shot he was apparently a few hundred yards away from the sniper who pulled the trigger. His description of the event, as well as its lead up and aftermath, is fascinating and I highly recommend it.

Basically, his take on it is that the sniper teams were given very unusual orders - basically to shoot first. Don't have the book in front of me, but he is very careful to detail the exact wording of their orders, and how this wording deviated from the standard for this kind of situation.

Anyway, the orders basically said shoot adults who seem to be moving in any kind of suspicious manner. When the snipers deployed, after several days without sleep and in a cold rain, and the Weavers left the cabin, with the forces that had already set in motion it seems that the sniper that actually pulled the trigger would have been hard-pressed to choose other than he did. Another "regretable mistake."

So basically, I have 3 questions:

- If you're familiar with Whitcomb's story of the events, what is your take on them?

- If Whitcomb's story is accurate, why is the sniper who pulled the trigger considered the one at fault rather than those who designed the HRT response and gave the orders? Seems that more than anything this was a massive failure, if not deliberate crime, on the part of leadership.

- What sources, if any, would you recommend for a rational, honest analysis of what happened at Ruby Ridge?

Thanks!

This shooting is just as chicken bleep as the Weaver case.

Definitely. I'm just watching the 'trend' you mentioned in another post. None of this stuff surprises me but it quietly (sometimes not so quietly) outrages me nonetheless. I am only waiting with a calm certainty of where this trend is going, and mentally preparing myself and my family and friends for it as best I can.

Have a beer man... it's outrageous what is happening but being all hot under the collar won't make you a more effective soldier against it.