Outpost of Freedom
May 16, 1995
Reno's last ditch
effort to cover the fraud
Sunday, May 14, 60 MINUTES featured 'General' Reno and Ron Noble, Treasury Department individual that oversees the BATF. What a show! It reminded me of the media blitz that occurred just over two years ago. You remember that blitz - where it took 50 days to condition Americans into accepting the murder of the Davidians, in their church. Fifty days of relentless "bull", directed at demonizing David Koresh and his followers so that they looked less than human. Less than human was the condition that was necessary to stage the final event, and conclude this "tragedy" that created such a blemish on the BATF and the FBI, and, perhaps, the entire government.
Interesting that this subject should come up now. After two years Reno, is willing to come "out of the closet" on the matter, and discuss what she had been trying to avoid. There is a reason for what she is doing. Its foundation lies in the fact that the events of April 19, 1995 have caused people to look for a reason for the bombing. In looking, it is obvious that the answers will be found in analyzing the events of February 28, 1993 through April 19, 1993. Back then the media campaign clouded the issue to an extent that many were unable to separate deceit from truth. Having no facts, only the fantasies of the government, their conclusions tended to be accepted as "truth" because so little else was available.
Since that time massive amounts of information have been brought forward. Some have been true, and some as deceitful as the FBI propaganda. The trial in San Antonio, in which 9 Davidians were convicted, probably shed the most light on the subject, even though very little of the evidence obtained by the FBI during and after the siege, managed to be exposed. After all, the FBI works for 'General' Reno, and their comrades in crime work for Noble.
Surprisingly, then, in the 60 Minutes interview, we see both Reno and Noble deciding that justice is what they want, not what the judicial system determines, even when they have a near absolute control over the evidence submitted. Let's look at some of what was said, and the facts, as determined through the judicial process.
Ron Noble claimed, "in fact, Koresh was rarely away from the compound." I'm not sure what he meant by "rarely", but testimony at the trial indicated that he had been in Bellmead just a few days before the raid, shopping.
Although the FBI psychiatrists suggested "backing off', the "hard core" FBI decided on glaring lights, loud, irritating noises, and encircling the church members with military tanks, military armed soldiers and military style snipers. Although we will never know for sure, we have the assurance of 'General' Reno that, "The information that was provided to me is, there may have been disagreements with how they negotiated as they went along. But, at that point the experts were telling me, negotiation was not going to get him to come out, voluntarily." She tried to think of every alternative, including tunneling under the church, but she claimed that she was "concerned for the safety of those inside", and was advised by the behavioral experts "that children for a siege that could last for a year - that it would have a lasting effect on them." Rather strange for someone who had ordered bright lights and loud noises, twenty four hours a day. She was advised, however, by a civilian Ph.D. (a psychiatrist) whose "judgment" was that the CS gas would not be injurious to the children. As a result, she approved the raid of April 19th.
The raid that was approved for April 19 was addressed in the "Justice Department Report" (at page 59), which stated that the plan "contemplated that the building would only be dismantled if after 48 hours not all the people had come out." So, gassing for 48 hours, was not considered to be "injurious" to the children. Larry Potts was one of those who approved that plan, as he approved the use of deadly force against all males at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. In this case, however, the dismantling of the building began within hours of the beginning of the raid. Didn't they wonder if tearing the building down would be "injurious" to the children? We also know from the trial that the underground area was gassed so that nobody could "escape" through the underground storm shelter. But, at the press conference that morning, Bob Ricks, FBI spokesman, told us, with regard to the children's ability to escape the gassing, that the children could seek refuge "underground", knowing, full well, that this would be impossible. Didn't they anticipate that this would also be "injurious" to the children?
Noble pointed out that "people are repeating false statements about what happened. And, they're taking those false statements and they're turning Koresh, this person who ordered the killing of BATF agents, this person who torched and set fire to the compound, and are making a hero out of him." Wait a minute - Testimony at the trial never proved who fired first, but the evidence was more suggestive that the government fired first, and that Koresh was standing partially outside, unarmed, when the gunfire began. As far as the fire, there was one agent , John Morrison, who claimed that he saw the fire being started. He was over six hundred feet away, in the house next to the undercover house, with an M-60 machine gun. When he got on the radio to get confirmation of someone starting a fire in the living room, of all the agents within a few yards of the church, not one could confirm this "sighting". Any claims as to who started the fire is based solely on speculation. Who has a right, as a government employee (public servant) to state as fact what was unable to be proven in court? Hitler had his Minister of Propaganda!
One of Reno's most ludicrous statements was, "I have thought about this almost every single day since April 19, 1993. It is the single hardest decision that I've ever made in my life. The FBI stood back and tried to resolve the situation over fifty one days. The whole effort by the FBI was to save human life." Perhaps this accounts for the deviation from the plan, which, if applied as approved, may have forced the Davidians to come out. It also explains why the FBI had men stationed around Mt. Carmel Center with M-60 machine guns (these are full blown belt fed weapons of WAR). Then Reno said that after learning what had happened, she would never do that again. I suppose that is the consequence when you give a bar attorney the power and authority of a military general who would have decades of experience before he would ever acquire that same authority.
I guess my biggest problem with the whole program is that the chief of the Justice Department refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of the trial verdict. We are not supposed to judge guilt or innocence, that is left to the jury. But, after the jury has spoken, it is all right for Reno to claim as true what was unable to be proven as true during the trial.
Justice is probably best described as "the lack of injustice". The condition, lack of injustice, means that the system works. Of course, it is incumbent, under our system, for the government to administer that justice. Until those responsible for the "injustice" of the murder of the Branch Davidians, or, at least, a trial which determines that no murders were committed, is held, there will continue to be a condition of injustice, which means that justice does not exist. This is true of the Weaver incident in Idaho, the Donald Scott incident in California, and many more crimes for which there was never a trial to determine whether those who fired the shots were guilty, or not. Until there is an absence of "injustice", there will be problems in this country that will grow and fester and result in more incidents such as what occurred in Oklahoma City. This attempt to redefine truth over Waco, to ease the tension that exists throughout the country, will serve only to fuel the tension, and the resulting dissatisfaction with government. These people are paid to serve us, yet they do little more than to attempt to deceive us. These are not our "public servants", they serve another master who cares nothing about you or me.
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