Waco Fourteen Years and Still No Answers

David Koresh joined the Branch Davidians in 1981, in 1990 he became the leader of the Branch Davidians, approximately three years later, he died along with 79 others, 21 of whom were children. David Koresh was a taken name, his given name you may know, if you don't and you'd like to know it, e-mail author at: drichard1@hotmail.com

"Some former members of Koresh's group alleged that he practiced polygamy with underage brides, physically abused children, and stockpiled illegal weapons. Eventually, legal authorities investigated these charges. On February 28, 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) conducted a raid on Mount Carmel, a structure known to house the Davidians. The raid resulted in the deaths of four agents and six Davidians after the Davidians refused the demands of federal agents. Following this confrontation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) laid siege to Mount Carmel for 51 days, during which time the FBI and BATF conducted around-the-clock operations including psychological operations (psyops) on the occupants of the complex.

The government's siege on the Branch Davidians ended on April 19 when federal agents released CS tear gas into the compound. Fires later broke out and spread quickly through the buildings, killing approximately 79 Branch Davidians, 21 of whom were children. Autopsies confirmed that many of the victims, including David Koresh, had died of single gunshot wounds to their heads.

The government conducted an investigation, launching a special inquiry before the Danforth Committee.

The Danforth Committee issued a report concluding that Davidians started the fire on the inside. However, in 1999 the FBI admitted that the testimony they gave before the Danforth Committee was false. The FBI now admits to using Flite-Rite pyrotechnic grenades on the day of the fire but not in the area of the main compound. The details of their use remain in dispute.

The government put some of the survivors on trial. All were acquitted of conspiring to murder federal agents but some were convicted of aiding and abetting voluntary manslaughter." [Wikipedia, 2007]

But the death of David Koresh and his followers challenge us at a deeper level with questions not easily answered. Why would people allow someone to take that amount of control over their behavior and the direction of their lives? Unfortunately, we won't get a chance to ask.

The question that stays with people, why after this time is it still spoken of, if it was a clean cut operation, if it was done by the book, was the book wrong, or was something else going on? Unfortunately, we won't get the chance to ask.

Was the activity that brought down the federal authorities on this small band, localized to Waco, or was this a beginning of something larger? Unfortunately, we won't get to ask.

So the final analysis of why people allow someone to take over is still out, what can be done to prevent any type of this recurring in the future, is still out, and answers can't be researched. It may be that the greatest tragedy of Waco is the loss of those lives- but not for the obvious reason.