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ETHICS IS THE ISSUE

APRIL 19, 1993: DAVID KORESH, THE

BRANCH DAVIDIAN, THE FBI, AND WACO,TEXAShttp://www.rickross.com/groups/waco.html

Two-year-old KimberlyMartin fell asleep on achapel bench during arambling sermon about the

end of the world.The religious group'sleader, David Koresh, gotangry. He jerked awake thesleepy toddler and madeher sit beside him as he

kept on preaching."I don't remember much, but I remember that hespanked me in front of people," said Martin, now 14.The girl was among the 21 children and 14 adultswho left the Branch Davidian compound near Waco,Texas, a decade ago during a 51-day stand-offfollowing a botched raid by US federal agents.

But more than 80 people, including two dozenchildren, were still inside when the buildings wereconsumed by flames April 19, 1993.Only nine people escaped.

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APRIL 19, 1995: TIMOTHY MCVEIGH AND

THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBINGhttp://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/hist.htm

The Oklahoma Citybombing was an attackagainst the Alfred P.Murrah Federal Building,a US government officecomplex in OklahomaCity, Oklahoma, USA.The bombing killed 168

people and was thelargest domestic terroristattack in the history of the United States.

At 9:02 am on April 19, 1995, in the street in front ofthe Murrah building, attackers exploded a rentedRydertruck containing about 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) of

explosive material. The car bomb was composed ofammonium nitrate, an agricultural fertilizer, andnitromethane, a highly volatile motor-racing fuel.Timothy McVeigh, a Gulf warveteran, was arrested

by an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman within an hour

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of the explosion. At his trial, the United StatesGovernment asserted that the motivation for theattack was to avenge the deaths ofBranch Davidians

at Waco, Texas, whom McVeigh believed had beenmurdered by agents of the federal government.McVeigh called the casualties in the bombing"collateral damage" and compared the action toactions he had taken during the Gulf War. The attackwas staged on the second anniversary of the Wacoincident. McVeigh is thought to have modeled the

bombing on a similar event described in The TurnerDiaries, a white supremacist novel that was foundwith McVeigh when he was arrested.

The effect of the bombing on the city was immense.Beyond the death toll of 168 (including 19 childrenand one rescue worker), the bomb injured over 800

people and destroyed or seriously damaged more than300 buildings in the surrounding area, leaving severalhundred people homeless and shutting down officesin Downtown Oklahoma City.

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APRIL 20, 1999: ERIC HARRIS, DYLAN

KLEBOLD, AND COLUMBINE HIGH

SCHOOL IN LITTLETON, COLORADO

On April 1999, ColumbineHigh School attended by1,945 students, was underattack. In less than 15minutes, during lunch period,two student gunmen, EricHarris and Dylan Klebold,killed 13 and wounded 21

people before killingthemselves becoming themost devastating school

shooting in US history.http://www.karisable.com/crssstcol.htm

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SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: 19 AL QUAEDA

TERRORISTS, THE WORLD TRADE CENTER

TOWERS, THE PENTAGON, AND ANABANDONED FIELD IN PENNSYLVANIAhttp://www.september11news.com/

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STATISTICS

Total Deaths

All 9/11 Attacks3,030

*Total Deaths

WTC 9/11 Attack2,801

Total Injured

All 9/11 Attacks2,337

Total Injured

WTC 9/11 Attack2,261

Total Deaths 9/11 Attack

The Pentagon (Ground)124

Firefighter Deaths

WTC 9/11 Attack343

Total Injured 9/11 Attack

The Pentagon76

Police Deaths

WTC 9/11 Attack75

American Airlines Flight 77

The Pentagon64

American Airlines Flight 11

WTC North Tower92

United Airlines Flight 93

Shanksville, PA40

United Airlines Flight 175

WTC South Tower65

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2002: ACCOUNTING SCANDALS

In 2002, a wave ofaccountingscandals broke in the

United States. A number of leading companies haveadmitted to mistating their accounts, giving amisleading impression of their status. In publiccompanies, this type ofcreative accounting canamount to fraud, and a series of investigations have

been launched by the U.S. Securities and ExchangeCommission. In several cases, the sums involved are

in the billions of dollars.

ENRON

WORLDCOM

In June 2002, an internal audit discovered thatUS$3.8 billion had been 'miscounted.' The USSecurities and Exchange Commission launched aninvestigation into these matters on June 26, 2002.(See accounting scandals.)

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On July 21 2002, WorldCom filed forChapter 11bankruptcy protection in the largest such filing inUnited States history. Its CEO and founder, Bernard

Ebbers, came under fire for his failure to prevent thebankruptcy.

In August 2002, an additional $3.3 billion inimproper accounting since 1999 was announced. Bythe end of 2003, it was estimated that the company'sassets had been inflated by around $12 billion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldCom

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