6.  AN ANNIVERSARY THAT WE MUST NEVER FORGET
    by Anthony Gregory 
    Special to TLE      http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/>     Issue 219

This Saturday, April 19, 2003, is the ten year anniversary of the fiery
culmination of the 51-day standoff between federal officials and the Branch
Davidians at Waco, Texas, in which more than seventy civilians died,
including nearly two dozen children. Many have more or less forgotten the
event, and simply want the rest of us to get over it.

Most people would agree it was a huge disaster, but some controversy still
exists as to how blameworthy the government is. Some Americans accuse the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and FBI of committing
outright murder. On the other hand,  some who may concede that authorities
acted inappropriately do not think we should dwell upon it too much; it was
ten years ago, after all. Either interpretation should leave all us with a
fear in our hearts that is profoundly unsettling.

First, a recap:

The initial ATF raid on March 28 in which several Davidians and four agents
died was orchestrated with shady justifications. Although the ATF
officially claimed they were there to search the Davidian home for illegal
firearms, months before the raid sect-leader David Koresh had offered to
give bureau agent Henry Aguilera a tour and show him all their firearms,
but Aguilera refused. The ATF also claimed they had only wanted to bring
Koresh and not his followers into custody, but if this was the case they
could have simply arrested him while he was out jogging or visiting local
bars. Their real reasons for the raid? Multiple agents interviewed by
60 Minutes said they believed the assault was planned as
a publicity stunt to improve ATF's public image, recently tarnished by
reports of sexual harassment within the agency.

After the forty-five minute gunfight, a stand-off ensued and the FBI took
over, turning the siege into a military operation. They harassed the press
and kept them two miles away from the scene. They called in Army tanks and
heavy artillery. Although the FBI said their ultimate goal was to draw the
Davidians out of the building, the agency often threw flash-bang grenades
at people who did come out, scaring them back inside. The agency used
psychological warfare, shining bright lights at the building and playing
recordings on loud speakers
throughout the night of sheep being slaughtered, Tibetan monks chanting,
and Nancy Sinatra singing "These Boots Were Made For Walking."

The conflagration that ended it all had government malice written all over
it. The FBI had smashed a hole in the building with a tank, which then
pumped CS gas into the building for six hours before the fire broke out. CS
has been implicated in numerous international human rights abuses and was
eventually outlawed for use in military combat in the Chemical Weapons
Convention -- months before it was used by the FBI against its own citizens
at Waco. It is also flammable, and deadly in the high concentrations the
Davidians were subjected to. Though the Davidians were accused of setting
the fire, infrared evidence has shown that the FBI used incendiary devices
on April 19, which could have sparked the flames that engulfed so many
lives that day. The same evidence shows that FBI agents fired machine guns
at the only remaining escape from the fire, after all other doorways had
collapsed under the flames and the tank. Agents kept firefighters away from
the fire until the entire building was burned down. The FBI then bulldozed
the evidence and began a cover-up that
continued into the lackadaisical Congressional hearings two years later.

Confronted with these facts, some will still excuse the federal
government's conduct at Waco. The most common arguments, along with simple
refutations, are as follows:

- "Koresh sexually abused children."

No evidence has proven this, and besides, barbecuing the children
supposedly victimized by Koresh seems an outrageous remedy.

- "They were a bizarre cult with dangerous weapons."

Even so, the first and second amendments to the Constitution expressly
protect the rights of Americans who are so inclined.   And even if you
agree with the existing gun laws, no evidence shows the Davidians had
broken any.

- "Something had to be done before the cult hurt someone."

In America, you're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty -- let alone
be sentenced to death before any crime has been committed.

- "They killed four ATF agents."

The Davidian survivors were later acquitted in the murder trial on grounds
of self-defense. Apparently, the jury thought they had a right to shoot the
ATF agents who had attacked and killed several of them -- and who had
little reason to be there in the first place.

So government apologists come up with one final excuse: "Maybe the
government handled it poorly, maybe their reasons for being there were
questionable, and maybe Koresh wasn't a real threat. But they didn't know
that at the time. They made a mistake. It was a catastrophe, but get over
it."

And that's the worst argument of them all. How sad, that we live in a
country that was supposed to be founded on the concepts of liberty,
presumed innocence, and limited government, where we're now supposed to
simply "get over it" when our government makes a
"mistake" that results in eighty civilian deaths.

Waco must always be remembered. Every April 19, and every day. All decent
Americans who love this country and the principles on which it was founded
must resolve never to forget what happened there. Maybe then it will never
happen again. But if we discount such atrocities as mere
"mistakes" -- and continue to allow the government perpetrators
to go unpunished  -- we might see many more Wacos to come. And after every
one of them, there will be plenty of people standing around telling us all
to "get over it."

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