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04/21/93
Editorial: Tragedy from start to finish
By Henry Tatum / The Dallas Morning News
Fifty-one days. Federal agents waited and watched for 51 days.
They analyzed every square inch of the Branch Davidian compound at Mount Carmel. They bugged the building. They played mind games with cult members. And they tried desperately to figure out what David Koresh, the self-styled messiah of this tragic flock, really wanted.
But when it all came to a fiery end, federal authorities proved they were no more capable of dealing with this religious sect Monday than they were when their deadly siege on the compound began Feb. 28.
Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Bob Ricks was visibly shaken when he stood before a roomful of reporters Monday afternoon and vainly attempted to say why his agency was unprepared for Branch Davidians to burn down their own building rather than surrender.
"I can't tell you the shock and horror that all of us felt when we saw those flames,' Mr. Ricks said. "It was, "Oh, my God. They're killing themselves.' '
With embers still smoldering at the compound site outside Waco, Attorney General Janet Reno and FBI officials tried hard to explain how the suicide deaths of as many as 86 Branch Davidian members never could have been anticipated. Yet the very nature of this standoff between federal authorities and the religious cult seemed to dictate that there would be a dramatic ending.
Throughout the endless number of days that law enforcement officers negotiated with Mr. Koresh to surrender peacefully, he delivered disturbing messages that should have been a sign of what could occur. The Branch Davidian leader told radio reporters early on that he expected to be "going back to join my father' if the confrontation continued.
But somehow Ms. Reno and Mr. Ricks seemed determined Monday to lay the entire failure of the siege at the feet of David Koresh. The FBI special agent pointed out how Mr. Koresh had lied to them. He said the fire Monday was "the final lie' because children were burned up with everyone else.
The FBI response seems contradictory. Just moments earlier, the agency said the blaze couldn't have been anticipated because nothing Mr. Koresh ever said during the 51-day standoff indicated he might do something so drastic. If he was someone who repeatedly lied to them, why would the FBI believe anything Mr. Koresh said regarding the prospects for a violent ending?
The Branch Davidian tragedy provides frightening evidence of what federal authorities are not yet willing to admit. Federal law enforcement agencies still don't seem to have a clue how to deal with the growing number of religious cults in the United States today.
Following the ill-fated Mount Carmel raid by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in February, the federal government's only real goal was to correct the terrible mess that had been made. With four Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents and at least a half-dozen cult members dead, the FBI was determined to negotiate a peaceful solution.
But as the days dragged on and federal authorities became increasingly frustrated by Mr. Koresh, the emphasis shifted to ending the standoff once and for all. Is it any wonder that agents were caught flat-footed when their decision to release low-grade tear gas into the compound was met with a suicidal blaze? By all appearances, it seems they had stopped thinking about what David Koresh might do.
There will be a federal investigation of the Branch Davidian debacle. Heads could roll. And policies almost certainly will be revised. But will the federal government truly be prepared the next time they receive complaints about a religious cult stockpiling weapons in preparation for their day of Apocalypse?
During the long weeks of waiting, newspapers and TV networks did a good job of showing us just how many other groups with messiah-like leaders are out there in the farmlands and back roads of this nation.
And there are plenty of people just like you and me who have given up on this fractured society and moved to the wilderness in search of their own destiny. Will federal agents be knocking on their door someday to find out if they are armed survivalists? The thought is a chilling one to me.
Make no mistake about it. David Koresh is responsible for the horrible deaths of those who blindly chose to follow him. But unless the federal government admits how poorly prepared it is to deal with religious cults and is willing to learn from its costly mistakes, the tragedy at Mount Carmel is destined to be repeated somewhere else.
Henry Tatum is an associate editor of The Dallas Morning News editorial page.
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