Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns,talk.politics.misc From: [k--n--s] at [a.cs.okstate.edu] (KENNEDY JAMES SCOT) Subject: Panel Dissenter Blames FBI for Waco Disaster Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 19:34:08 GMT Here's an article that I saw in the Tuesday edition of Tulsa World regarding the Waco Holocaust that I thought might be of interest. Panel Dissenter Blames FBI for Waco Disaster Washington (AP) --- The FBI's impulse to act and its disregard of advice from its own negotiators led to the Waco cult disaster that killed up to 85 people, including 25 children, an outside expert concluded Monday. Alan Stone, a dissenter on a panel that looked into the April 19 tragedy, stated that "the gut instinct that prevailed at Waco was the law enforcement mind-set, the action-control imperative." The FBI ended negotiations with the religious cult by firing tear gas into the Branch Davidian compound. A view within the FBI and in official reports "suggests the tragedy was unavoidable," but "this report is a dissenting opinion from that view," wrote Stone, a Harvard professor of law and psychiatry. It's unclear, Stone wrote, whether the FBI told Attorney General Janet Reno that bureau officials "had rejected the advice of their own experts in behavioral science and negotiation, or whether the AG was told that FBI negotiators believed they could get more people out of the compound by negotiation. "By the time the AG made her decision, the noose was closed and, as one agent told me, the FBI believed they had 'three options --- gas, gas and gas'" Stone said. Stone criticized the firing of CS gas into the Branch Davidian complex --- pointing to evidence that it is extremely harmful to children. The Justice Department, an outside evaluator and nine other experts issued their findings five weeks ago. Stone said he reviewed their work and conducted additional studies. The department hired him and other consultants to recommend how to deal with similar cases in the future. Given what he has learned about CS gas, Stone wrote, "It is difficult to understand why a person whose primary concern was the safety of the children would agree to the FBI's plan." He said the information Reno received on CS gas "seems to minimize the potential harmful consequences for infants and children." Although Stone raised the possibility that some of the children who suffocated in the complex's bunker could have been felled by the gas, Justice Department spokesman Carl Stern said there was no evidence of that. Criticizing the information the FBI provided to panelists like himself, Stone wrote that if Reno got the same background on CS gas that they got, then "she was ill-advised and made an ill-advised decision." In response to Stone's report, the FBI said it "carefully consulted one of the world's leading experts on CS" who talked with numerous doctors regarding the effect of CS gas on children. Reno and FBI officials conducted indepth interviews with that expert and two leading military experts, the FBI said. The FBI said in a statement that Stone's report "went awry in suggesting the FBI failed to do everything within its power to bring the case to a peaceful conclusion without loss of life." The bureau said it negotiated for nearly two months and a number of people left the compound as a result. Hours after the tear gas operation began, the complex erupted in flames. A number of the adults, as well as a few of the 25 children who died, were shot to death. A Justice Department chronology of the 51-day standoff says that Reno approved the FBI's plan only after receiving a detailed FBI report on the situation. I believe what needs to be done is to have more outside people look into the FBI's and BATF's handling of the Waco tragedy. More people like Alan Stone are needed in order to get an unbiased evaluation of what went on during those 51 days. Having lots of people who are directly or indirectly connected with the FBI or BATF investigate this incident just doesn't cut it in my opinion. These kind of individuals would have a strong tendency just to whitewash the whole affair and blame everything on the Branch Davidians. Furthermore, the 911 tapes, video footage of the shootout with the BATF, tape recordings made by listening devices placed in the compound, and court documents should all be released to the public ASAP. If the FBI and the BATF have nothing to hide then they shouldn't object to these items being released. If and when they do decide to release these items to the public I would hope that this information isn't censored in any manner. I'm deeply concerned that the FBI or the BATF might try to censor this information in since they seem to have a propensity for censorship. Recall that a *portion* of the 911 tape that the FBI released to some senators differed from a version that the press received. The tape was edited by recording bursts of static over particular sections of the recording. Clearly, this is *censorship*. It's interesting that Stone notes that some of the children may have been asphyxiated by the CS gas *prior* to the compound becoming engulfed in flames. This is something that I have long wandered about. It's possible that some or all of the children including some of the adults may have been already dead before the fire even began! This would explain why so few people escaped the compound after it began burning. We may never learn the truth of this matter, but I think everyone can agree that this is a disturbing possibility that bears further investigation. Scott Kennedy, Brewer and Patriot Before: "David Koresh is a cheap thug who interprets the Bible through the barrel of a gun..." --ATF spokesman After: "[The ATF] is a cheap thug who interprets [the Constitution] through the barrel of a gun..." --Me ******************************************* * BATF = Cigarette Cops * * FBI = Fuehrer's Bureau of Incineration * *******************************************