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WACO-Rules of Engagement

A documentary video review by Woody Oakes

“Waco-Rules of Engagement” is the title of a documentary video I rented and viewed recently.  This is an Emmy winning, Oscar nominated documentary.  It was so compelling I viewed it twice.  This is the most disturbing documentary I have ever seen.  I learned a great deal from this video and I recommend it highly.

Probably the best place for documentaries is the PBS program, “Frontline.”  This video may be even better than the usual fare on Frontline for the one simple fact this movie has no lone commentator.  No one person telling you what you are watching and hearing, or explaining how, why, etc.  Nothing staged, nothing re-enacted, just film clips, videos, audio tapes of negotiations with David Koresh, video statements of some of the now dead victims, color video of the assault, infra red video of the assault, photos of corpses, burnt skulls, Senate and Congressional hearings (where the then Congressman Sunny Bono appears to be crying while listening to survivors testimony.)  Defense attorneys, testimony of the few survivors, Treasury agents, author of a book on the assault, Texas Rangers, the local Sheriff, ATF agents, FBI agents, SWAT teams, local Fire Department officials (stating trucks not allow to get to fire), witnesses, photos of corpses with broken bones and spines due to cyanide distortion of muscles, undercover ATF agents, TV and radio people, a Delta Force Officer, Janet Reno, and on and on.  This is a 136-minute video but you get the idea.  This is the real stuff.

In no particular order, let me attempt to state some of the many things this video brought to light for me.  Some of the things are common knowledge and will be repeated for those not so familiar with the assaults.  The evidence is overwhelming that the following occurred,

·        ·        In July, 1992, when David Koresh, leader of the church, who’s members were know as Branch Davidians, heard that he was suspected of having illegal firearms, he invited the ATF to come to his church/compound, known as Mount Carmel, near Waco, Texas to inspect the property for illegal arms.   No response.

·        ·        The ATF assault Feb. 28, 1993, and later the FBI assault April 19, 1993 and destruction of the compound by fire and the subsequent death of about seventy-six men, women and children.  Pregnant women and babies listed as one year old were among the victims.

·        ·        The few survivors were charged with possession of illegal weapons, tried and convicted and served prison sentences.

·        ·        These same survivors were indited and charged with the murder of the four ATF agents killed in the first assault.  They were all found innocent of these charges, presumably due to the excessive force by, and the right to defend themselves from the ATF.

·        ·        The ATF demonized David Koresh from the beginning, referring to him as a Cult Leader, the Sinful Messiah, Rapist, Child Abuser and Child Molester.

·        ·        David Koresh is heard saying that the worst thing anyone can call him is a Cult leader.

·        ·        The warrant the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) Bureau had was for illegal weapons.  The ATF has no jurisdiction in areas child abuse etc.

·        ·        Girls in Texas can marry at the age of 14 with their parents consent.  He had these consents and all his wives were 14 or older.

·        ·        When a person being executed with cyanide gas is strapped down, one of the reasons for the strapping is due to the effect cyanide has on muscles, causing them to distort so violently that bones and spines are broken.  Photos of such twisted corpses are shown.

·        ·        The tear gas used by the FBI was type CS, which is a mixture of methaline chloride and CS.  When CS burns it creates hydrogen cyanide, the same gas used in prisons for executions.

·        ·        The documentary explains very clearly that he changed his name from Vernon Howell for religious reasons.

·        ·        They were accused of “Stockpiling Weapons.”  Stockpiling is exactly what all gun collectors and gun dealers do.  That is what most businesses call inventory.

·        ·        Only one illegally weapon was recovered from the fire. A rifle that according to the FBI had been altered to fire on full automatic.  The FBI has never shown or allowed any outsider to examine the 48 so-called, illegal weapons they supposedly found.

·        ·        The FBI accused the Branch Davidians of illegal drug use but never filed any such charges against them.

·        ·        The US Army trained, paid for the training, assisted, and equipped the final assault, which is un-constitutional.

·        ·        TV camera people were kept at a great distance from Mount Carmel and many of the video tapes of the assault by news people and spectators were confiscated, promised to be returned by the FBI, who now claim the videos are “lost.”

·        ·        The front doors to the compound were common metal doors such as found on many modern homes.  Bullet holes in the door clearly showed they were fired on from outside.  These doors are still missing.  The FBI claims they never fired even one bullet at the compound.

·        ·        Slow motion infra red photos show compelling evidence that the compound was fired upon by FBI machine guns but the FBI still claims they never fired at the compound. 

·        ·        Infra red photos show what appears to be a person being run over by an army tank.  A corpse with a chunk ripped out of its body’s torso was recovered.

·        ·        The Senate asks for a written report of the assault from the FBI and after two years, at the time of the Senate hearings in 1995, there still was no written report.

·        ·        Not one AFT agent on the spot has ever made a written report of what happened.  Senators say this is extremely unusual.

·        ·        ATF agents shot and killed the Davidian’s dogs.   Memories of Ruby Ridge, but that is another story.

·        ·        Video showing a Davidian being shot and killed on the roof by agents in a US Army helicopter.  Occupants of the compound were not allowed to recover the body for five days, lying in the Texas sun.

·        ·        ATF agents called off the first assault only because they ran out of ammunition.

·        ·        The compound was assaulted 24 hours a day for the purpose of sleep deprivation with loud, objectionable music, the sound of screaming rabbits being killed, spot lights, etc.  Yet, the authorities claim Koresh was insane and depraved.  Does it make sense then to drive an insane person even crazier and then be surprised when he does something irrational?  Then put all of the blame on him and his followers when they do something that the FBI described as crazy? 

·        ·        A FBI negotiator lied to Koresh, and then changed their story when he caught them in the lie.  This is heard on an audio tape.

·        ·        A Davidian killed in the first assault was buried just outside the compound.  An Army tank is later shown repeatedly running over and over the grave.

·        ·        When it was learned that there was only one fire extinguisher in the compound, an agent is quoted as saying “looks like they should buy some fire insurance.”

·        ·        Army tanks, when they rammed through the walls into the compound, crushed kerosene containers, Coleman oil containers and stoves spilling flammable liquids shortly before the fire started.

·        ·        CS gas, a powder type of tear gas that is flammable, was spray-inserted into the building for six straight hours.  Forty-millimeter tear gas ferret rounds, which disperse tear gas, were fired into every window in the compound.  These pellets can knock a hole through a wall and if hitting a person, can kill.

·        ·        Pyrotechnic (flammable) projectiles were fired into the compound to insert tear gas.  These spent projectiles were found in the fire aftermath.

·        ·        There is no such thing as a gas mask made for a baby. 

·        ·        FBI agents dropped their trousers and “mooned” the female occupants, then ask them to come out and surrender.  Can you imagine what these religious people thought of such an act?

·        ·        Army tanks ran over, crushed and destroyed Davidian’s cars, trucks and vans.

·        ·        The normal procedure for serving a search warrant for suspected “stockpiling” of illegal weapons is to go up, knock on the front door and serve the warrant.  No evidence of such an attempt was disclosed.

·        ·        Agents overran the crime scene immediately after the fire so the crime scene was in effect, destroyed.

·        ·        Immediately after the final assault and even before the fire was out, the ATF ran up their flag on the existing pole, indicating a victory.

·        ·        Not shown in this movie but shown years later on TV was that Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber was at this scene as a witness.  Just maybe what he saw at Waco pushed McVeigh over the edge?  Or maybe Waco AND the FBI sniper killings of Randy Weavers family at Ruby Ridge in Aug. 1992 made the final push on McVeigh.  We’ll never know.  I am in no way trying to make excuses for the terrible thing McVeigh did.

Thinking back to early 1993 when the first raid took place and four AFT agents were killed, I thought the ATF had overstepped its authority and wondered if maybe they got what they deserved.  I no longer wonder about this.  The evidence is overwhelming that the ATF and the FBI were way out of line, used excessive force and then tried to cover it up.

I would not be surprised that some will disagree with my thoughts and opinions.  I strongly urge everyone to view the documentary with an open mind and come to his or her own conclusions.  The video is available at Hollywood Video and Blockbuster, among others.

For more information or to purchase the video, go to,

 http://www.waco93.com/ 

 http://www.waco93.com/newyorkpress.htm

 http://www.waco93.com/faq.htm

 www.rubyridge.com

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