Book: McVeigh calls children 'collateral damage' Timothy McVeigh told the book's authors he is the sole architect of the bombing March 29, 2001 Web posted at: 12:01 a.m. EST (0501 GMT)

BUFFALO, New York (AP) -- A remorseless Timothy McVeigh calls the children killed in the Oklahoma City bombing "collateral damage," regretting only that their deaths detracted from his bid to avenge Waco and Ruby Ridge, according to a new book.

The book represents the first time McVeigh has publicly and explicitly admitted to the crime and given his reasons for the attack.

"I understand what they felt in Oklahoma City. I have no sympathy for them," McVeigh told the authors of "American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing."

McVeigh told Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, reporters for The Buffalo News, he did not know there was a day care center inside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, the authors said on Thursday's broadcast of "PrimeTime Thursday."

VIDEO In new book, Timothy McVeigh expresses no remorse. CNN's Susan Candiotti reports

Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) ALSO FBI: McVeigh discussed other bombing targets RESOURCES Newsmaker Profiles: Timothy McVeigh -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read Timothy McVeigh's agreement with the Corner of Vigo County, Indiana - March 9, 2001 (FindLaw) (PDF format)* -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing. MESSAGE BOARD Death penalty "I recognized beforehand that someone might be ... bringing their kid to work," McVeigh said, according to the ABC broadcast. "However, if I had known there was an entire day care center, it might have given me pause to switch targets. That's a large amount of collateral damage."

The phrase "collateral damage" is how the U.S. military refers to civilian deaths that result from strikes against the enemy. McVeigh served in the Gulf War.

Michel said McVeigh's only regret was that the children's deaths proved to be a public relations nightmare that undercut his cause.

Still, McVeigh said he was disappointed when part of the building remained standing after his 7,000-pound (3,175-kilo) bomb went off. "Damn, I didn't knock the building down. I didn't take it down," he said.

The April 19, 1995, bombing killed 168 people, 19 of them children. McVeigh, 32, is scheduled to be executed May 16.

McVeigh said he was the sole architect of the plan, resorting to threats against Terry Nichols' family when his Army buddy hesitated before helping to load the explosives into the rental truck.

In 75 hours of prison interviews with the Buffalo reporters, McVeigh, who was raised in Pendleton, outside Buffalo, got choked up while talking about killing a gopher in a field, but never expressed remorse for the bombing.

However, he had been brought to tears two years earlier while watching the disaster at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. He was in the living room of Nichols' Michigan home when the compound burned to the ground during an assault by federal agents, killing about 80 members of the cult.

The model soldier had left the Army disillusioned, unable to live with the thought that he was an ally of "the biggest bully in the world, the U.S. government," according to Herbeck. Then when Congress banned certain assault weapons, "I snapped," McVeigh said.

Before deciding to bomb the Murrah building, McVeigh considered a number of different possibilities, including assassinating elected officials, Michel said.

The federal building, McVeigh decided, had everything he wanted: federal agents and glass in the front, making it vulnerable and giving TV cameras a good shot.

The morning of the bombing, like a soldier, he had cold spaghetti for breakfast. "Meals ready to eat ... are meant for high intensity. I knew I was going through a firestorm and I would need the energy," he said.

McVeigh, two blocks away when the bomb exploded, was lifted off the ground by the force of the blast. As he fled, he called to mind the song "Dirty for Dirty" by the group Bad Company. "What the U.S. government did at Waco and Ruby Ridge was dirty. And I gave dirty back to them at Oklahoma City," he said.

In 1992 at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, the wife and son of white separatist Randy Weaver were killed by federal agents during a standoff.

McVeigh told the authors he knew he would get caught and even anticipated execution as a form of "state-assisted suicide." Yet he worried initially about snipers as he was being charged.

"He was ready to die but not at that moment -- he wanted to make sure that his full message got out first," Herbeck said.

The authors also talk of McVeigh's regrets over not having a family, saying he has thought about smuggling sperm out of prison. Overall, he has found prison bearable. "I lay in bed all day and watch cable television. ... I don't pay the electrical bill or the cable bill," he said.

McVeigh dismisses those who believe foreign terrorists or domestic militias helped him with the bombing. "The truth is, I blew up the Murrah building," he said, "and isn't it kind of scary that one man could reap this kind of hell?"

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Answers

Taz,

The people living in OKC would much rather they have a public hanging for him than just allow him to go to sleep. Some have called for it to be public here. I know that more than 350 people either injured or which had deaths in the family have requested to view his death. The space in Indiana is limited, thus they are going to try to have it on closed circuit TV here for those requesting which were somehow involved.

The feelings run deep in this town when you mention McVeigh.

Just a few images for you to look at, as you think of this scum bag. Just remember that a few of these chairs are for the children. My thoughts, are it is too bad that there isn't only one chair, that being for McVeigh.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Sheeple, your time and trouble in posting the code for the photos is very much appreciated. I was touched--and that doesn't happen often.

I saw the report about McVeigh's interview on CNN and was horrified to hear that after all these years, he still dismisses those children as "collateral damage."

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

OG,

Sometimes I wish that they would constantly pipe in pictures of those children (well, adults too) into his room so that he has nothing else to view. Let him see them, force him to look at the pictures of the deaths. Don't provide an off switch, and when he is about to go to sleep, pipe in the sound of the explosion to wake him up. Let him live with the images of what he had done, for his remaining days.

I honestly hope that when he crosses to the other side, that the visions are burned into his eyes, his heart, and his soul.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001