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Organization: Alpha Institute, Aurora, CO.
Without permission from the Rocky Mountain News, Oct. 16, 1993.
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Feds Assume Powers Above and Beyond Law
by Paul Craig Roberts
Have the police powers of our government become too great? The
government's own reports on the assault on the Branch Davidian compound in
Waco, Texas, paint a picture of law authorities running amok and
squandering the lives of scores of men, women and children.
The Treasury Department's report is by far the most critical.
It blames Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officials for botching
the raid on the compound and then engaging in deception to hide their
mistakes. The bureau's director has resigned, and five officials have been
placed on administrative leave pending further action.
The Justice Department's report contradicts Attorney General Janet
Reno's reasons for ordering the fatal attack, but raises more questions
than it answers by exonerating all high-ranking FBI and Justice Department
officials.
But more is amiss here than a botched raid and possible
conflict of interest. Both reports gloss over many legal irregularities and
the government's hostile attitude toward the Davidians that led to the
disaster.
The Treasury's report notes that despite its shortcomings,
"the raid fit within an historic, well-established and well-defended
government interest in prohibiting and breaking up groups that sought to
arm or fortify themselves." Once the decision was made to bust up the
group, the legal niceties that constrain government behavior became
casualties.
Some of the evidence used to obtain the warrant that launched the
initial raid apparently was false or fabricated. Film footage of the
violent assault and tapes of telephone conversations with Davidian leader
David Koresh do not appear to be consistent with the government's
explanation of events leading to the fiery deaths in the compound.
The government committed more wrongs than merely proceeding with an
attack in full knowledge that the Davidians were expecting them. By not
honestly addressing these wrongs, both reports constitute a whitewash.
Something similar happened in Idaho, where federal marshals killed two
members of Randy Weaver's family after deciding that the family, living in
an isolated cabin in the mountains, constituted a dangerous gang of "white
supremacists."
Having suppressed this armed group residing within its borders, the U.S.
brought Weaver to trial. But the jury sided with Weaver and threw out the
case, and U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge excoriated the FBI for
withholding evidence about what really happened.
Like it or not, federal agents have assumed the power to decide whose
beliefs are permissible and to use deadly force to regulate the behavior of
those deemed to be outcasts. Nothing in our law gives government this
power. If we permit this illegitimate power to be used against fringe
elements, it will gain legitimacy and threaten us all.
In the post-war era, anti-communism and law-and-order issues rallied
many Americans to the defense of the state. In the process we neglected to
note that many of the means we chose also permitted the emergence of
government power that is accountable only to itself.
The Waco disaster offered an opportunity to confront this issue, but
the Treasury and Justice reports have successfully evaded it. As Rep. Don
Edwards, D., Calif., chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and
Constitutional Rights, observed, the governments report is "very
disappointing."
MORE COVERUP OF MURDEROUS FBI RAID IN WACO, TEXAS
By Gary Wilson
The official report is in on the massacre of the Branch Davidian
sect in Waco, Texas. But the question remains: Why did the
government do it?
The official explanation given at the time by Attorney General
Janet Reno was that the attack was ordered "because of the
children." The Justice Department investigation released Oct. 8
contradicted this, saying "there was no evidence of child abuse at
the compound during the siege or even enough evidence to arrest Mr.
Koresh on such charges before the Feb. 28 raid." (New York Times,
Oct. 9)
So killing all the children in order to "save" them from some
unnamed abuse was not the reason.
The department's report is more a coverup than a revelation. The
only point that comes through is that the investigators--all from
the Justice Department which includes the FBI--concluded that the
FBI did no wrong. Deputy Attorney General Philip B. Heymann, the
supervisor of the investigation, will probably get a bonus this
year for a coverup well done.
The report does not even attempt to answer a new and damning piece
of evidence. According to a CBS Radio news report on Oct. 9, a
videotape of the FBI attack shows a tank crashing through the house
where 75 people were burned to death. On the front of the tank is
a clearly recognizable flame thrower.
This video, CBS said, has been shown on two TV stations. The CBS
report attempted to dismiss it by emphasizing that it is being
distributed by a person sympathetic to the Branch Davidians.
-30-
(Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted
if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World,
55 West 17 St., New York, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@blythe.org.)
The Washington Times
October 23, 1993
page A3
New ATF chief tells panel his bureau
will be ready for Waco-like situations
by Jerry Seper
The newly appointed head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms told a House subcommittee yesterday that ATF will be
ready to handle situations similar to the raid at the Branch
Davidian compound in Texas, in which four agents were killed.
John Magaw, former director of the U.S. Secret Service, said
future actions by the agency will rely heavily on the agency's
intelligence-gathering abilities.
"The raid on the Branch Davidian complex may be a unique event,
but we are aware of similar groups and situations in other
places," Mr. Magaw told the House Appropriations subcommittee
that oversees the Treasury Department.
"The key is to work in concert with our peers to ensure we are
absolutely ready for something like this, should it occur again,"
he said.
Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen named Mr. Magaw to head ATF
Sept. 30, after former ATF Director Stephen E. Higgins was forced
to resign in the wake of the Branch Davidian debacle.
In the deadliest day in ATF history, four agents were killed
and 20 others were injured when 76 agents attempted on Feb. 28 to
serve an arrest warrant on Branch Davidian cult leader David
Koresh and a search warrant for the compound. At least 10 cult
members also died.
The Treasury Department investigated the raid and later removed
five senior ATF officials from their posts.
A 501-page department report, praised by law enforcement
officials and others for its thoroughness, blamed top ATF
commanders for proceeding with the raid despite having been told
by an undercover agent that the cult members knew they were
coming.
The resulting 51-day siege at the compound ended on April 19 in
an FBI assault, during which 85 cult members, including 24
children, were killed in a wind-swept fire that raced through the
facility. A Justice Department investigation of the FBI's
handling of the raid found no departmental blame.
Assistant Treasury Secretary Ronald K. Noble, who heads the
department's enforcement divisions, told the panel that future
actions ** when necessary ** could be curtailed to eliminate or
reduce what he described as "dynamic entries."
"Although we cannot prejudge all future situations, we must be
open to the possibility that a dynamic entry ** exposing agents,
innocent persons and children to gunfire ** may simply not be an
acceptable law enforcement option," Mr. Noble said.
Both Mr. Magaw and Mr. Noble told the subcommittee that the
truth of what happened before and during the raid came out
because rank-and-file agents were willing to tell the truth. They
said many of the public statements by the ATF leadership at the
scene were "inaccurate."
The Treasury Department's report described many of those
comments as "less than truthful" and said some of the field
commanders altered documents after the raid to cover up what they
had done or what they had been told before ordering the agents to
proceed against the cult members.
Mr. Noble characterized some of the statements as "lies."
The report has since been forwarded to the Treasury
Department's inspector general's office, which is reviewing the
actions of many of the agents involved. Department officials have
declined to say, however, what future action might be pending.
Mr. Noble suggested that news media representatives covering
similar events in the future should reconsider their methods.
The presence of reporters and cameras can affect a pending law
enforcement action ** such as the one in Waco ** and journalists
need to work with law enforcement officials to ensure that the
efforts of neither are compromised, he said.