Speaking to his lawyers days after the Oklahoma City bombing, the Gulf War veteran expressed no regrets: killing 168 people was his patriotic duty. He cited the Declaration of Independence from memory: ?Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it. He had obsessively followed the siege of Waco and seethed at the imposition of President Bill Clinton?s assault weapons ban. A self-proclaimed white separatist, he abhorred immigration and wanted women to return to traditional roles. As he watched the industrial decline of his native Buffalo, McVeigh longed for when America was great.