John Kiriakou recounted that when the Waco siege ended in 1993, a CIA colleague responded to the news by saying “It’s about time.” Kiriakou said he remembered thinking something similar — accepting without examination the government’s characterization of the Branch Davidians as dangerous extremists who had brought the outcome on themselves.[1]
After his own imprisonment and experience of what he described as government fabrication, Kiriakou said he reconsidered both Waco and Ruby Ridge. More than twenty-seven people died at Waco; Kiriakou emphasized that more than half were children. He described his changed view as: once you have personally experienced government dishonesty, you can no longer accept official accounts of events like these on faith.[2]