Waco Incident: Failure of Leadership?

¶ … Waco Incident: Failure of Leadership?

The Waco incident refers to the botched attempt in February / April of 1993 by the ATF and the FBI to raid Mt. Carmel -- the compound of the Branch Davidian religious sect in Waco, Texas -- in which about ninety people lost their lives. Although subsequent official inquiries into the incident absolved the ATF and FBI of any wrongdoings, credible evidence exists about a number of serious blunders committed by the people who conducted the operation. Moreover, a lack of effective leadership was on prominent display throughout the incident. In this paper I shall point out specific incidents of the absence of appropriate leadership during the incident and the cover-up by ATP and the FBI in the aftermath.

The tragedy at Waco was set into motion on the morning of February 28, 1993 when a force of 76 ATF agents stormed the compound that housed the Branch Davidians in an attempt to serve a search warrant and an arrest warrant for the sect's leader. In the gun battle which followed 4 ATF agents and 6 Davidians were killed. (Vizzard 1997) A subsequent House of Representatives inquiry report in 1995 indicated that there had been serious lapses in the command and control of the ATF raid and that the secrecy of the raid had been compromised. Moreover, it was reported that some bureau managers had attempted to cover up the fact that the raid commanders had given the go-ahead for the raid despite a warning by an undercover agent that the Davidians had prior knowledge of the operation. (Ibid., p. 155)

The botched attempt by ATF was not surprising considering the leadership crisis that existed in the bureau at the time. Even before the surprise raid was ordered by the ATF leadership on Mt. Carmel, there had been serious accusations of sexual harassment at the Bureau. So much so, that an ATF agent told a television network: "In my career with ATF, the people that I put in jail have more honor than the top administration in this organization." (Quoted by Lynch, 2001). Such an observation casts serious doubt about the quality of leadership at ATF who ordered the raid. Another surprising aspect of the ATF operation is that no attempt was made to arrest David Koresh in the days before the raid when he was frequently seen jogging and visiting bars outside the Mt. Carmel compound.

Soon after the failure of the raid, ATF surrendered control of the scene to the FBI and withdrew to a supporting role. Subsequent handling of the events proves that the leadership in FBI was similarly lacking. After 51 days of stand-off at Mt. Carmel during which unsuccessful negotiations were held with David Koresh for the surrender of the sect members, a massive assault with tear gas and tanks was ordered by the FBI. Soon after the attack, the Davidian compound was engulfed by fire in which 76 Davidians including 27 children were burned alive. The Davidians were "officially" blamed for starting the fire but on September 1, 1999 videotapes containing footage of pyrotechnic tear gas rounds being fired at the Mt. Carmel complex were seized from the FBI headquarters by the Justice department. Throughout the investigations, the FBI leadership maintained that none of its agents fired guns at the Davidians but examination of the videotapes by experts showed light flashes that could have been gun shots fired by the FBI. The crisis of leadership in the FBI is reflected in a letter addressed by the Federal Prosecutor to Attorney General Reno -- who had given the permission for the final raid. The letter states:.." facts may have been kept from you -- and quite possibly are being kept from you even now by components of the Department." (Quoted by Lynch, 2001)