A Murder Primer

The last time I looked there was no statute of limitations on murder.

So, there should be no limits on its investigation or reconsideration by law enforcement authorities and the press.

Last week, we discussed the incredibly audacious decision of former Attorney General Janet Reno to visit Waco, Texas, next month. She accepted an invitation to highlight the President's Forum at Baylor University on September 13^th. Her speech is expected to focus on her sordid recollections of April 19^th,1993 and the decisions she helped make that doomed 85 members of the Branch Davidian sect including 25 innocent children.

After reviewing the documentary, "Waco, a New Revelation," by Michael McNulty, one must agree with former FBI agent, Dr. Frederick Whitehurst, who said, "I am convinced the American people have never been told the whole truth about the matter."

Indeed.

Layer upon layer of lies has been heaped upon the scorched corpses of the Waco victims, forming an airtight coffin of deceit that no Congressional investigation or federal re-enactment has been able to penetrate.

After $20 million dollars worth of cover-ups, there are several things we do know for sure…

1. Temperatures in the Branch Davidian religious retreat hovered at 3000 degrees Farenheit during the height of the inferno.

2. Listening devices planted by federal informers and members of the U.S. Army Delta Force proved the government knew of Branch Davidian plans to spread flammable materials around the compound, putting the lives of the children at risk.

3. CS gas, banned by international convention for use in warfare, was inserted into the Branch Davidian compound for six hours straight in violation of the government’s own protocols calling for its dispersal over a 48-hour period. This effectively gave those inside no opportunity to rethink their position and safely exit the buildings.

4. The children inside the bunker were gassed for two hours straight. Then, according to experts, a shaped charge was dropped onto the roof of the building, probably killing everyone inside, instantly.

5. The leader of the FBI sniper Blue Team at Waco, Lon Horiuchi, claimed he fired no shots at those within the compound on the day of the assault but four spent shell casings were later found at his position. He was also the sniper who killed Vicki Weaver during the stand-off at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

6. Delta Force operatives were on the ground, participating in the assault in clear violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.

7. Evidence that would have pointed to government wrongdoing was destroyed, lost or sealed from public view.

8. Electricity was cut-off to a makeshift morgue allowing the bodies of the deceased Branch Davidians to decay, skewing forensic results.

9. Forward Looking Infra-Red or FLIR experts confirmed gunshots were fired from behind a government armored vehicle at the only escape route as the building was going up in flames. About 15 bodies of gunshot victims were found at that location.

10. The Danforth re-enactment of the Waco debacle was allowed to proceed using different weapons and gunpowder than those carried by government agents during the final assault. The longer gun barrels and military style ordinance produce significantly less "flash" than was employed in real time on April 19^th, 1993. This clearly negates government claims that infrared flashes were only sunlight shining off shattered glass.

There are so many other questions we must ask.

Why did the widow of White House Counsel Vince Foster say he was so depressed about the Waco holocaust in the days leading up to his death? Why was the Waco file he kept in his office removed with a box full of other documents and taken to the office of First Lady Hillary Clinton for "review?" Why did the ATF reject the option of arresting David Koresh while he was out jogging or in town for supplies, preferring instead to endanger the lives of scores of innocent residents of Mt. Carmel?

The lies we heard in the media during the standoff, eight years ago, ring as hollow today as ever. There were charges the children were being abused. Yet, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Social Services later described the kids of Mt. Carmel as "smart, well educated, well cared for children."

Koresh was demonized as a religious nut case…but since when is sincerely holding to your own faith a crime in this country.

No, however you slice it, what happened that day at Waco, Texas was murder…plain and simple. And the smoking gun belongs to the U.S. government.

Janet Reno may not confess that to the good folks of Waco when she arrives there, next month, to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown baby. She may never have to explain that to one of the "bought and paid for" jurists that so infest the 21^st century American justice scene.

But we suspect she will have to face a higher court, someday…and answer to a Judge who rules in righteousness.

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