Web Opinion by Todd Beezley

Waco Revisited

 

Just when you thought you had heard the last of the stand-off at Waco, Texas that claimed the lives of about 80 members of the Branch Davidian sect, mostly women and children; here comes new evidence that may compel the case to be exhumed.

Remember that "bought and paid for" Danforth Report, released last year? It appeared to exonerate Federal agents, placing responsibility for the alleged suicides squarely on the charred shoulders of David Koresh and his faithful followers.

What was allowed to pass as an "independent recreation" of the April 19^th, 1993 holocaust purported to settle one key question once and for all. The government claimed flashes of light that appeared on a videotape taken by a plane circling the retreat center at an altitude of 4 thousand to 6 thousand feet were reflected sunlight…nothing more. Lawyers for the Branch Davidians had represented those recorded FLIR markings as gun barrel flashes, proof that FBI agents were firing into the building, preventing occupants from escaping shortly before it burned to the ground.

The fact that the Danforth recreation was conducted by the British subsidiary of a major American defense contractor was never seriously reported by the mainstream media.

Now comes word from an Arizona-based optics specialist that indicates law enforcement officials probably did, indeed, open fire on the Branch Davidians during the final assault. Barbara Grant took two years of painstaking study public last week during her address to the Arizona Optics Industry Association luncheon. She used temperature fluctuations caused by flashes on the official government videotape to undergird her scientific conclusions, adding, "I believe the most likely explanation of the flashes is gunfire."

While not claiming her observations to be 100 percent conclusive, Grant says her work shows the government’s broken glass theory is flawed. She concludes light flashes from shattered windows would appear as a "vague glow"…not as the flashes that appeared on the video.

A public affairs press assistant at the Justice Department, Casey Stavropoulos, had no comment on Grant’s findings.

The challenge for patriotic Americans in this post 9-11 climate is to dare our government to take the high road in rooting out the truth wherever it may lead. A blind jingoism that sings, "My country right or wrong," must somehow be replaced by one that demands, "My country…right."

How can we motivate our power establishment to seek that cherished destination? We’ll discuss tactics and strategy for the improvement of America in our next message.

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