Mood Swings

Disappointments turn into hope for a break in the Waco siege

IN THE GRIM STANDOFF NEAR WACO, TEXAS, BEtween the Branch Davidian cult and hundreds of federal officers, negotiations swung back and forth between confrontation and conciliation. The FBI, having already tightened the psychological screws by cutting off power to the 78-acre compound, beamed high-intensity lights on the complex at night and avoided cult leader David Koresh's endless telephonic religious chatter. Lawmen then had their first face-to-face meeting with Koresh's top lieutenants, and two days later agents drove three buses to the compound in anticipation of a mass surrender of the 105 men, women and children still inside. But Koresh abruptly dashed...

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