DATE=7/24/2000
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=FINAL WORD ON WACO
NUMBER=6-11937
BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-3335
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
INTRO: One of the most controversial federal law
enforcement actions in recent years, happened at a
farm outside Waco, Texas. A heavily armed religious
cult, the Branch Dividians, was surrounded by federal
agents. The officers were trying to arrest the
group's leader David Koresh. A shootout occurred,
followed by a 51-day standoff. At the end, the
complex caught fire, and about 80 people, many of them
women and children, died.
Now, an interim federal report has exonerated
government agents from causing the fire or the deaths.
It has not ended the controversy, at least in the
press, and we get some samples now from __________ in
today's U-S Opinion Roundup.
TEXT: The report was commissioned by the Justice
Department, after belated allegations of Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) misconduct connected to
the 1993 incident surfaced in the press. Former
Missouri Senator John Danforth spent months gathering
testimony and questioning various officials before
announcing his findings.
His interim report says the F-B-I did not start the
fire that roared, unchecked, through the compound, nor
was it guilty of an extensive cover up of details
about the standoff. His final report is expected three
months from now.
Some U-S newspapers take the report at face value, and
are glad it has given a final answer to many questions
about the actions and motivations of the several
federal agencies involved at Waco.
In that small, central Texas city itself, The Waco
Tribune-Herald remains perplexed that so many other
questions remain unanswered.
TEXT: Special Counsel John Danforth believes he
has answered "four dark questions." That leaves
dozens that forever may beg for light.
Unfortunately, even with a staggering ten
million dollar price tag, the Danforth probe
into the 1993 events at Mount Carmel [Editors:
the name the Branch Dividians gave to their farm
complex] was way too limited to put to rest so
many concerns and suspicions.
TEXT: The Washington Post, which points out Mr.
Danforth did not address the issue of law
enforcement judgement, which many observers suggest
was flawed, calls the interim report: "Case Closed.
VOICE: Though unsurprising, his conclusions
represent a welcome clarification of the record
on this seemingly endless saga. The big
picture, according to Mr. Danforth, is that the
F-B-I did not start the fire that consumed the
Waco compound or shoot at the Branch Davidians;
the military was not improperly used; the fire
was set, after all, by the Branch Davidians
themselves. "The blame rests squarely on the
shoulders of David Koresh," Mr. Danforth said.
... But a judgment can be reached about the F-B-
I's role ... In the final analysis, [its] record
in the Waco raid is not one to be proud of.
TEXT: Boston's Christian Science Monitor says:
VOICE: The tragedy at the Branch Davidian
compound near Waco ... will continue to be one
of the darkest episodes in the history of U-S
law enforcement. It should not, however, be
recorded as a terrible example of reckless
behavior by federal agents. The [Danforth]
report ... directly counters the widespread
public perception of police misconduct at Waco.
... [It] comes on the heels of a jury verdict in
a wrongful death suit brought by surviving
Davidians ... [which] ... said the government
was not negligent in its handling of the affair.
TEXT: Across town, The Boston Globe takes note of two
separate verdicts on the tragedy, which essentially
reached the same conclusion.
VOICE: Former Senator ... Danforth, a
Republican appointed by Attorney General Janet
Reno ... concluded in a preliminary report ...
that government agents did not start the fatal
fire or shoot at those in the compound. ... His
report came just a week after five jurors who
heard extensive testimony in a civil case in
Waco advised a judge that there was no federal
negligence in the deaths of nearly 80 Davidians,
including 20 children. While that judge's
ruling and [Mr.] Danforth's final report are
still to come, it is clear that wild charges
against government agents were based in evidence
that was thin to nonexistent. Although the
government has been at least preliminarily
exonerated of criminal or civil liability, its
actions have not been applauded and do not
deserve to be.
TEXT: The Savannah [Georgia] Morning News on the
other hand, is "unsatisfied with the conclusions" of
the report.
VOICE: Mr. Danforth said federal agents did not
start the fire that consumed the compound nor
did they shoot at Davidians ... Forensic
evidence can support those conclusions. But
it's much harder to swallow [Editors: slang for
"believe"] the preliminary report's approval of
the way the government used military force
against civilians - - many of them women and
children. ... Indeed, the entire ...standoff
resulted from federal agents choosing a gung-ho
[Editors: "extremely aggressive"] assault of the
compound to arrest sect leaders David Koresh ...
when they had numerous opportunities to detain
him peacefully off the property.
TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of
comment on the newly produced, interim report about
the Waco religious cult disaster in 1993.
NEB/ANG/PW
24-Jul-2000 15:41 PM EDT (24-Jul-2000 1941 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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