Introduction
Terrorist acts include activities that pose a significant risk of death or serious injury to humans, damage or severely disrupt electronic systems, or cause substantial property damage. The Oklahoma City bombing that affected the Murrah Federal Building is one example of terror that resulted in several deaths and casualties and destroyed property within the affected area. The heinous act was planned and carried out by Timothy McVeigh with the help of Terry Nichols. McVeigh had no sympathy for retaliating against the government for the Waco siege and Ruby Ridge insurrection by bombing the Murrah Building while presuming the parking lot would absorb and spread damage.
Timothy McVeigh Decision to Bomb the Murrah Building
McVeigh considered the requirement that at least two federal law enforcement agencies employ the targets before choosing them. Despite his initial plans to target a government facility first, he finally determined that more casualties would have better results (Dang et al., 2021). McVeigh decided to attack the Murrah building because he believed the force of the detonation would cause the glass in front of the building to break. McVeigh reasoned that the adjacent open parking lot across the street might be able to absorb and distribute part of the energy, protecting the occupants of the close-by non-federal buildings from the incident’s aftereffects. McVeigh concurs that picking an Oklahoma City building as the assault’s objective was a form of retribution for the deaths of more than 70 people in Waco. He reasoned that the building’s size would provide more compelling picture opportunities for propaganda.
What Timothy McVeigh Hoped to Accomplish
McVeigh desired vengeance for the disaster at Ruby Ridge in 1992 and American foreign policy in the Waco slaughter in 1993. This massacre led to the deaths of 82 people, most of whom were children (Birchall & Knight, 2022). Therefore, Timothy McVeigh, a former soldier, carried out the act of retribution that entailed bombing the federal building in Oklahoma City. McVeigh believed that the government’s actions during the sieges at Ruby Ridge and Waco were to blame for the deaths of several Americans. Following the bombing he committed at the United States Federal Building in Oklahoma City, McVeigh made this statement.
More than seventy members of the Branch Davidian sect lost their lives during sieges that were virtually comparable to those two years before the attack. The investigation conducted by the FBI found that McVeigh’s extreme beliefs had a part in his determination to attack the federal building.
Timothy McVeigh Feeling Regarding the Bombing
In prison, McVeigh did not express remorse for his deeds. More than a hundred people were killed, and hundreds more were injured due to these activities. He acknowledges that his motivation for assaulting a government facility and its staff was to make a statement to a hostile administration. He also admits that he wanted to convey a message to an administration that was becoming more hostile (Birchall & Knight, 2022). The American assault on the Murrah Government Building in Oklahoma City was akin to assaults on government buildings in Serbia, Iraq, or any other nation, both morally and tactically. McVeigh’s perception of government policy made him think that his actions were justified.
Contrary to what Americans frequently lob on the heads of others, he claims that what happened in Oklahoma City was not all that. As a result, he adopted and kept a clinically detached perspective on the circumstances. He contends that the Murrah building bombing was not a targeted assassination. When personnel of the US Air Force, Army, Navy, or Marine Corps bomb or launch cruise missiles at government buildings and their employees, McVeigh likens that attack to how it is not a personal attack.
Conclusion
In summation, Timothy McVeigh’s explosion was an act of retribution for the wrongful deaths of over seventy people in Waco, which he saw as the fault of others. Initially, he planned to target a government facility, but he soon concluded that killing more people would convey a greater message to the administration. Despite his fears that the government was involved in actions damaging the country’s population, he chose arson to voice his dissatisfaction with the administration.
He should be held accountable for his conduct, which injured and killed innocent bystanders, especially children. He had the expertise and experience as a former military man to fight for his nation and preserve the lives of the innocent civilians he murdered in the attack. Under any conditions, the bombing of Oklahoma City cannot be justified. McVeigh sought to level the playing field with the government by deploying a mediocre approach in response to the government’s poor policy decisions.
References
Birchall, C., & Knight, P. (2022). Do your own research: Conspiracy theories and the internet. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 89(3), 579–605. Web.
Dang, C. M., Lee, M. H., Nguyen, A. M., Diduck, A., Villareal, A., Simic, Z., Pollio, D. E., & North, C. S. (2021). Survivor narratives of the Oklahoma City Bombing: The story over time. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 30(1), 102–111. Web.