Apocalypses Theme Essay, Research Paper

"All I smelled was rotten bodies," Texas Ranger, Roy Coffman said

during his testimony at the murder and conspiracy trial of 11 Branch Davidians.

The dead were found in the rubble of the April 19 fire that destroyed the

compound, killing more than 75 Branch Davidians, including the sect’s leader,

David Koresh, and 17 children. Perhaps the worst case of the federal

government’s overreaching in American history, the 1993 Waco tragedy has caused

Americans to ask the question of how much military involvement will citizens

allow in their everyday lives before they lose their rights as individuals. In

February, 1993, 4 federal agents were killed in an assault on the compound of

the Branch Davidians, a cult group just outside of Waco, Texas. The Bureau of

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (the ATF), a unit of the Treasury Department

implemented the operation on the grounds that members of the Branch Davidians

possessed illegal firearms and explosives and committed physical and sexual

abuse, especially against children. Their goal was to arrest David Koresh, a

self-proclaimed apocalyptic prophet and the leader of the cult, and seize the

group’s weapons. After this disaster, in which about a half-dozen cult members

died and several federal agents were wounded, the ATF was replaced by the FBI,

whose reputation for professionalism promised a quick resolution of the conflict

and an end to the siege. It seemed as if America could breathe a sigh of relief.

Negotiations began, and soon some of the Branch Davidians left the compound. Yet

the talks ultimately ended up breaking down and finally ended. All utilities

including water, electricity, and telephone were cut off. Davidians were then

bombarded with a psychological attack which included 24 hours of glaring from

high powered lamps that kept the compound lit all night, and 24 hours of blaring

music that included sounds ranging from Buddhist monks chanting to rabbits being

killed. This barrage was intended to weaken the will of those inside the

compound who were now largely cut off from contact with the outside world. On

April 19, the FBI, in what appears to have been a terrible decision, began

another assault. It included knocking holes in the outer walls of the compound’s

buildings with a tank and spraying tear gas into the interiors. Of course, the

FBI did not describe this as an assault, but as closing the periphery and

increasing the pressure on cult members to surrender. In particular, the FBI

hoped that the women would pack up and leave with their children–that their

maternal insticts would take over . Instead the compound went up in flames. Over

75 cult members were burnt alive in a blaze that the FBI says was started by

cult members. Some factors point to this being a mass suicide, yet surviving

Branch Davidians have said that the fires started when the assault on the walls

of the compound spilled fuel from kerosene lamps. Six years after the Waco siege

came to its violent end, citizens are angry and shocked about details just

recently unfolding concerning the raid that left more than 75 dead. Allegations

that military personnel were present and participated in the raid on the

Davidian compound raise serious questions about mingling of military and

civilian forces in direct violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which

forbids such deployment. Just one day after the siege ended in flaming terror,

President Clinton gave the American people a glimpse of what to expect from the

government. The government could not be responsible for, "the fact that a

bunch of fanatics decided to kill themselves," he said. He then warned that

"there is, unfortunately, a rise in this sort of fanaticism across the

world. And we may have to confront this again." The tragedy at Waco by no

means is the first or only example of violations of Posse Comitatus, but it does

prove the volatility that can result from mixing special- operations troops and

civilian law enforcement. Separation of civilian and military forces has long

been an American tradition but under the guise of the "war on drugs"

and "war on terrorism," Congress in the last two decades has enacted

legislation allowing military intervention in civilian law enforcement, which

many believe violates the law. The distinction between military and civilian

forces can rarely be identified. Every law enforcement officer, office, agency

or department in the United States lives by the same use-of-force policy. Police

may use force only to the level necessary to neutralize a situation and may use

deadly force only to protect themselves or the lives of others. They are trained

to consider individual rights of the citizen, regardless of the severity of the

crime. On the other hand, the mission of the military is national security.

Soldiers are trained to use deadly force on an enemy. Whatever term is applied,

the fact remains that United States troops are participating in civilian

law-enforcement activities inside the United States. Often the outcome is

frightening and, as in the case of the raid on the Branch Davidians, can be

disastrous. "It’s a slippery slope," GOP Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia

warned recently, toward the militarization of civilian law enforcement. There

isn’t a more fundamental issue in our society than keeping civilian law

enforcement separate from military. The line was completely blurred at Waco, and

because Posse Comitatus has never been prosecuted, this will be one of the most

important areas of the upcoming hearings in Waco." Right wing Conservatives

such as the Christian Coalition and members of the NRA agree with Liberals on a

rare occasion that the government did more than just overstep its bounds in the

Waco siege but murdered over 75 people for reasons yet to be concretely

established. They believe that the more the military begins to intervene in

every day life the faster people’s individual right’s are removed. These rights

are included in these amendments which bear particular importance to this issue:

1st Amendment (freedom of Speech); 2nd Amendment (right to Bear Arms); 10th

Amendment (all powers not delegated to the United States are reserved to the

states or to the people); and the 14th ( no man can be deprived of life,

liberty, or property without due process). The Clinton Administration and most

other lawmakers tend to lean more towards the middle and to agree with the

government on the issue of the Waco siege. Their philosophy: the government is

always right. Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin was quoted in a 1995

article in The New Republic as painting the critics of the government’s action’s

as "opponent’s of law enforcement." "I fear some may try to use

(the waco) hearings," he wrote, "to serve another agenda: to erode

public support for federal firearms laws…by undermining public confidence in

the men and women who enforce those laws." Member of the Clinton

Administration, Attorney General Janet Reno, took full responsibility for the

operation and it’s disastrous outcome. According to Attorney David B. Kopel and

Criminologist Paul H. Blackman, authors of No More Wacos…, the day after Reno

made this statement she received a call from the president who told her,

"That-a-girl," to show his support. Perhaps she did her best in

approving what now appears to be a senseless assault. "It is a reminder

that you try to make the best judgment and you take the consequences," Reno

was quoted in a 1994 New York Times article, "you accept responsibility and

you move ahead, trying always to figure out what you can do better,"

{Subcommittees in the investigation into the activities of federal law

enforcement agencies found Reno’s decision to approve the FBI’s plan to end the

Waco standoff on April 19, 1993 "premature, wrong, and highly

irresponsible." The subcommittees also sighted her negligence in

authorizing the assault to proceed. According to them, Reno knew or should have

known that the plan to end the standoff would endanger the lives of the

Davidians inside the residence, including the children. She was also aware or

should have been aware that there was a risk to the FBI agents, society as a

whole, or to the Davidians from continuing this standoff and at the possibility

of a peaceful resolution continued to exist. The attorney general knew or should

have known that the reasons cited for ending the standoff on April 19 lacked

merit. The negotiations had not reached impasse. The FBI Hostage Rescue Team did

not need to stand down for rest and retraining for at least 2 more weeks after

April 19, and if and when it did stand down FBI and local law enforcement SWAT

teams could have been brought in to maintain the perimeter. And while physical

and sexual abuse of minors had occurred, there was no basis to conclude that

minors were being subjected to any greater risk of sexual abuse during the

stand-off than prior to February 28. The final assault put the children at the

greatest risk.} There is no doubt that law enforcement is a noble and necessary

element to government, but at Waco the Clinton Administration acted coarsely,

thoughtlessly and lethally, and then refused to consider critically what it had

done. A perfect example of this callousness is reflected in Attorney General

Janet Reno’s decision use C.S. gas (tear gas) for forty-eight hours despite the

presence of babies who cannot be protected by the masks. According to Alan Stone

a professor of law and psychiatry at Harvard Law School, the attorney general

maintained that she had been assured that the gas would not cause permanent harm

to the babies, but medical literature contains convincing evidence of the life

threatening risk. The overreaching of government and military in the Waco siege

resulted in a situation comparable to those of Nazi germany during World war II,

and it is clear that in order for America to remain a free society our country

must do everything in its power to prevent events such as thus from ever

happening again.

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"Apocalypse Now." Editorial. New Republic 21 Aug. 1995: 7. 3.

Associated Press. "Agents Dismissed in Raid on Sect Say They Were Blamed

Unfairly." New York Times 13 Nov. 1994: 38. 4. "Clinton & Co.:

Koresh’s Children." Editorial. The Nation 23 May 1994: 689. 5. Hamm, Mark

S. Apocalypse in Oklahoma: Waco and Ruby Ridge Revenged. Boston: Northeastern

University Press, 1997. 6. "A Jury Judges Waco." Editorial. New York

Times 1 Mar. 1994: 22. 7. Kopel, David B. and Paul H. Blackman. No More Wacos:

What’s Wrong With Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It. Amherst: Prometheus

Books, 1997. 8. "The Land of the Free." Editorial. The Economist 21

Dec. 1996: 29-32. 9. O’meara, Kelly Patricia. "Deadly Force and Individual

Rights." Insight on the News 8 Nov. 1999: 14-15. 10. "Prosecution

Completes Case Against 11 Koresh Followers." New York Times 16 Feb. 1994:

17. 11. Reavis, Dick J. The Ashes of Waco: An Investigation. New York: Simon

& Schuster, 1995. 12. "Redoubled Standards?" Editorial. National

Review 1 Nov. 1993: 16. 13. Shafer, Richard. "Terrorism and the Media: From

the Iran Hostage Crisis to the Oklahoma City Bombing." Journalism and Mass

Communication Quarterly Autumn 1996: 770-72. 14. Stone, Alan. "Burned by

Waco." Editorial. The Nation 28 Aug. 1995: 188. 15. "Team U.S.A."

Editorial. The Nation 1 Nov. 1993: 483. 16. "Texas Officer Recalls Horror

in Rubble of Cult Compound." New York Times 14 Jan. 1994: 24. 17. Verhovek,

Sam Howe. "Murder Case Against 11 Cult Members Goes to Jury." New York

Times 24 Feb. 1994: 14. 18. Verhovek, Sam Howe. "Texas Sect Trial Spurs

Scrutiny of Government." New York Times 10 Jan. 1994: 10. 19. "Waco

Inferno Remembered by Davidians." New York Times 18 Apr. 1994: 10. 20.

"The War in Waco." Editorial. The Nation 10 May 1993: 615. 21.

"With Morbid Ideals." Editorial. National Review 15 May 1995: 18. 22.

Zesch, Lindy. "Hate Wave." Editorial. American Theater July 1995: 3.