The following observations appeared previously, on another site. As I understand they were either unread, or the people who view that site had nothing to say, perhaps they didn't think my observations worthy of comment. Be that as it may, I offer the following for your consideration.
Random Thoughts On Random Matters - 09/21/99 - by Alan Schultz
One sees, on the horizon, yet another investigation of WACO, and who did what, to whom, as well as perhaps how, and with what. Former Senator John Danforth has been chosen to head this new investigation., or look see. Who knows, but what another investigation might prove instructive, or amusing to those who witness it.
In any event, Senator Danforth had recently stated, the quote is not exact, the exact words are available, on the record, for any so interested, that his take on the process was to find out if there had been a cover-up", and also to determine if federal officers had killed anyone.
With recent revelations to the effect that The FBI had spent the last 6 years lying about who did what, obviously there can be no possible question about the fact of a cover-up, there most definitely was one,
though it seems to have fallen to pieces. As to whether or not federal officers killed anyone, how many people died at WACO, exclusive BATF agents, who may have been shot by the Davidians. Of course, some might have fallen to "friendly fire" too.
Danforth mentioned that "judgement calls" would not be the subject of this investigation, which from my perhaps jaundiced point of view is the seat of the problem with such investigations, for it is exactly such judgement calls, bad judgement calls, that led to the entire debacle, and quite possibly to the lies that followed, lies which continue to this very day.
O.K., so BATF had obtained a search warrant for the Davidian premises. There might have been an arrest warrant for Koresh himself. If that was the case, why was he not arrested away from the compound, which he, with some frequency, absented himself from. By the way, there is more than some question as to
the circumstances that surrounded the issuance of the BATF warrant(s), but that is another matter.
A surprise raid, with media coverage, was planned by ATF. How come the media involvement, their presence seemingly constituting a most questionable component of any law enforcement operation, at least
a proper law enforcement operation. Given that the suprise element had been blown, how come ATF did not simply call off their raid.
They didn't, and ultimately came The FBI, complete with it's Hostage Rescue Unit, which seemingly acted, at least in this case, with the intellectual prowess of a bunch of half drunk cowboys. There were FBI
negotiators there, but they seemingly lost out to the cowboys, which was unfortunate for all concerned. In any event, it seemed that the reporters were "cranky", so something spectacular had to be done, after all
political hides were threatened. We all know what the ultimate outcome of the foregoing was, broiled people.
Now then, Koresh was likely a true nutcase, and the Davidians were certainly an odd ball religion. Last time I looked, we still had freedom of religion in The Constitution, and there was no specific law against being
nuts. After all, the Davidians were sitting in their compound, bothering nobody on the "outside", so why not leave them alone. The same question could be asked about the spectacular conclusion. Was such a flaming fiasco really necessary. After all, the Davidians weren't going anyplace, and they, in their compound, presented absolutely no threat to the national security, the surrounding countryside or to
anything, except perhaps to some two bit politicians, who had "taken positions". Something had to be done, after all, the siege had lasted 51 days. Our involvement in Viet Nam lasted 10 years, but let's not
address that particular point here. So Senator Danforth says that he is not interested in looking at "judgement calls". I submit Virginia, that it is exactly the judgement calls, the very bad calls that need to be examined, if for no other reason than to make sure that the errors are properly understood, so that they will not be repeated again, at some future juncture. Of course, this sort of examination is painful, as well as damaging to reputations, so it will likely not be made. Unfortunately, lacking this sort of very necessary examination, and the understanding that might be gained therefrom, the errors at WACO will likely be
repeated, and that is the real sadness.
Random Thoughts On Random Matters - 09/21/99 - by Alan Schultz
One sees, on the horizon, yet another investigation of WACO, and who did what, to whom, as well as perhaps how, and with what. Former Senator John Danforth has been chosen to head this new investigation., or look see. Who knows, but what another investigation might prove instructive, or amusing to those who witness it.
In any event, Senator Danforth had recently stated, the quote is not exact, the exact words are available, on the record, for any so interested, that his take on the process was to find out if there had been a cover-up", and also to determine if federal officers had killed anyone.
With recent revelations to the effect that The FBI had spent the last 6 years lying about who did what, obviously there can be no possible question about the fact of a cover-up, there most definitely was one,
though it seems to have fallen to pieces. As to whether or not federal officers killed anyone, how many people died at WACO, exclusive BATF agents, who may have been shot by the Davidians. Of course, some might have fallen to "friendly fire" too.
Danforth mentioned that "judgement calls" would not be the subject of this investigation, which from my perhaps jaundiced point of view is the seat of the problem with such investigations, for it is exactly such judgement calls, bad judgement calls, that led to the entire debacle, and quite possibly to the lies that followed, lies which continue to this very day.
O.K., so BATF had obtained a search warrant for the Davidian premises. There might have been an arrest warrant for Koresh himself. If that was the case, why was he not arrested away from the compound, which he, with some frequency, absented himself from. By the way, there is more than some question as to
the circumstances that surrounded the issuance of the BATF warrant(s), but that is another matter.
A surprise raid, with media coverage, was planned by ATF. How come the media involvement, their presence seemingly constituting a most questionable component of any law enforcement operation, at least
a proper law enforcement operation. Given that the suprise element had been blown, how come ATF did not simply call off their raid.
They didn't, and ultimately came The FBI, complete with it's Hostage Rescue Unit, which seemingly acted, at least in this case, with the intellectual prowess of a bunch of half drunk cowboys. There were FBI
negotiators there, but they seemingly lost out to the cowboys, which was unfortunate for all concerned. In any event, it seemed that the reporters were "cranky", so something spectacular had to be done, after all
political hides were threatened. We all know what the ultimate outcome of the foregoing was, broiled people.
Now then, Koresh was likely a true nutcase, and the Davidians were certainly an odd ball religion. Last time I looked, we still had freedom of religion in The Constitution, and there was no specific law against being
nuts. After all, the Davidians were sitting in their compound, bothering nobody on the "outside", so why not leave them alone. The same question could be asked about the spectacular conclusion. Was such a flaming fiasco really necessary. After all, the Davidians weren't going anyplace, and they, in their compound, presented absolutely no threat to the national security, the surrounding countryside or to
anything, except perhaps to some two bit politicians, who had "taken positions". Something had to be done, after all, the siege had lasted 51 days. Our involvement in Viet Nam lasted 10 years, but let's not
address that particular point here. So Senator Danforth says that he is not interested in looking at "judgement calls". I submit Virginia, that it is exactly the judgement calls, the very bad calls that need to be examined, if for no other reason than to make sure that the errors are properly understood, so that they will not be repeated again, at some future juncture. Of course, this sort of examination is painful, as well as damaging to reputations, so it will likely not be made. Unfortunately, lacking this sort of very necessary examination, and the understanding that might be gained therefrom, the errors at WACO will likely be
repeated, and that is the real sadness.