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McVeigh’s Death Wish

The death penalty is an issue that provokes surprisingly little public debate in the United States, except when a celebrated murderer – or someone who may have been convicted wrongly is up for execution. Then the controversy flares again. But even staunch opponents of capital punishment may be willing to make an exception in the case of Timothy McVeigh.

McVeigh, 32, was convicted of blowing up a government office building in Oklahoma City six years ago, killing 168 people, including 19 small children in a daycare center. It was one of the bloodiest acts of terrorism in American history, and McVeigh is not sorry for what he did. He dismisses the dead babies as mere “collateral damage” and brags that he timed the bomb to go off when the building was full of people. “I did it for the larger good,” he declares.

McVeigh confirms that the bombing was revenge for two lethal actions by the FBI: the fiery raid on the compound of the Branch Davidian sect in Waco, Texas, in which about 80 people died, and a siege at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, in which the wife and son of a white separatist were killed. The US government, says McVeigh, was a “bully” that had to be taught a lesson.

Although he had help in preparing the bomb (two accomplices were sentenced to prison), McVeigh insists he set it off all by himself. “It was my choice … to hit the building when it was full,” he says.

After his conviction, McVeigh was sent to a high-security prison in Colorado called Supermax. There he shared a special cell-block with three other mass murderers: Theodore Kaczynski, the technophobic Unabomber; Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, serving a 240-year sentence for his role in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City, and Louis Felipe, leader of a brutal street gang who allegedly ordered murders from a prison cell, including one beheading. One autograph seeker sent McVeigh a newspaper clipping with photographs of all four men. McVeigh cheerily wrote on it: “The A-Team! T.J.M.”

The four killers took outdoor exercise in separate cages about 10 feet apart, which enabled them to talk. McVeigh got to know Kaczynski the best, exchanging philosophical views with the 57-year-old former scientist, whose mail bombs killed three people, earning him four consecutive life sentences. Later Kaczynski wrote an 11-page letter in which he says McVeigh “had excellent social skills” and ideas that seemed “rational and sensible.” But Kaczynski quibbles with McVeigh’s choice of target, which caused a large loss of life. “I will say that I think the bombing was a bad action,” Kaczynski writes, “because it was unnecessarily inhumane.”

McVeigh admits he didn’t notice the daycare center located above the spot where he parked his bomb-laden truck, the fuses already burning. But he insists the government had to be defied. “Once you bloody the bully’s nose,” McVeigh says, “he’s not coming back.”

If it goes ahead as planned, McVeigh’s execution will be the first by the federal government since 1963. (In the intervening years, hundreds of executions have been carried out by individual states, with Texas far ahead of the field.) McVeigh, a former soldier who fought in the Persian Gulf, says he is eager to die. He envisions his execution as “a deluxe suicide-by-cop package.” He expects the families of his victims will press for his execution to be shown to them on closed-circuit television. “If they do that, I’m going to throw it back in their face,” he says. “I’m going to demand they televise it nationally.” McVeigh fancies himself dying on “60 Minutes” or CNN. He is annoyed that Congress will not allow him to be buried honorably in an armed-forces cemetery. He shows no sign of understanding the difference between fame and infamy.

(From ‘Newsweek’, abridged)

Choose the best answer:

1. In the USA the death penalty

A. is of little interest to the public.

B. becomes an issue of public concern when some execution is up.

C. is debated when something exceptional happens.

2. How does T. McVeigh feel about the terrorist act he committed?

A. He is proud he killed so many people.

B. He doesn’t care about the victims.

C. He is sure he did it for the good of the people who died.

3. McVeigh carried out the bombing because

A. his wife and son were killed.

B. 80 people died in the raid on the Branch Davidian sect in Waco.

C. he wanted to take revenge on the FBI.

4. How was the bombing carried out?

A. McVeigh had two accomplices who helped him prepare and set off the bomb.

B. He had help in preparing the bomb but was alone when he set it off.

C. He did it all by himself.

5. McVeigh admits he didn’t notice the daycare center in the building he blew up. Does it mean

A. he is sorry he killed the children?

B. he thinks he was lucky that so many children died and it was an additional blow against the government?

C. he writes the fact off as insignificant?

6. Why does McVeigh say he is eager to die and wants the execution televised?

A. He wants to defy the government one more time.

B. He wants to be famous.

C. He is scared inside and wants to conceal his fear.

Vocabulary. Now read Article 1 carefully, find the following words and word combinations in the text and learn their meaning. Make it a particular point to use them in the further overall discussion of the problem.

To set smb free, a stay of execution, the death penalty, solid evidence, a deterrent, capital punishment, to establish the guilt of the accused beyond any reasonable doubt, to put smb to death, innocent, to confess to a crime, a wrongful conviction, to mitigate smth, prejudice, to impose a penalty, a miscarriage of justice, to bring smth to light, to exonerate smb, defence counsel, misconduct, a legal obligation, a moratorium on smth.