- yesterday
New Yorker correspondent Peter Boyer probes the political infighting inside the FBI's Waco command center and the Justice Department's Washington offices during the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian's compound.
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00:00www.Frontline.org
00:30with annual financial support of PBS viewers like you,
00:34with additional funding for this program
00:36from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
00:48Tonight on Frontline...
00:50You are under arrest. This standoff is over.
00:54The award-winning investigation of what really happened in Waco.
00:57My oldest son, his name is Cyrus.
01:00The film critics have called revealing, frightening,
01:05and a story that demands our attention.
01:11Tonight, correspondent Peter Boyer investigates
01:14Waco, the inside story.
01:17On that Sunday morning, as the ATF prepared its radar,
01:47the raid on the Branch Davidians and their stockpile of weapons.
01:51At its headquarters in Washington,
01:53the FBI was unaware of the gathering crisis in Waco
01:56that would soon consume the Bureau.
01:59They were focused on New York,
02:01where the World Trade Center had just been bombed.
02:03Somebody tried to blow up the World Trade Center.
02:06The magnitude of the explosion...
02:09The biggest terrorist attack in U.S. history.
02:11Our guest today, William Sessions, director of the FBI...
02:13I was eating lunch when one of the agents notified me
02:16from the command center
02:18that there was this horrible event
02:21down in the thought wake of Texas.
02:24From the command center in Washington,
02:28word was flashed to FBI agents around the country.
02:32When I first heard about it, I was home in San Antonio
02:35reading the Sunday morning paper.
02:37Our headquarters told us that what had occurred.
02:40It was very, very sketchy detail.
02:43I was rattling around getting my family ready to go to church,
02:46and the phone rings, and Jeff Jamar advised me
02:49that I needed to proceed to Waco as soon as possible.
02:53The FBI headed to Waco,
02:55where the ATF raid had become the longest shootout
02:58in American law enforcement history.
03:00Hello? Is this Wayne Martin?
03:04I hear a gunfire.
03:05God almighty.
03:06Hello?
03:06Wayne?
03:07I don't want to pull back!
03:08What?
03:09I don't want to pull back!
03:10Are you returning fire, Wayne?
03:13Oh, shit!
03:15What's the matter?
03:15The first FBI agents on the scene
03:17listened to frantic 911 calls
03:20between a deputy sheriff and one of the Davidians.
03:24Wayne!
03:25If they all better go,
03:27we're going to have to clean them all!
03:29Just remain calm.
03:30We're going to get it worked out, okay?
03:32The gunfight had lasted nearly an hour.
03:35ATF agents had been shot and were down.
03:38So were some of the Davidians,
03:40including their leader, David Koresh.
03:42Yes, this is Dave Koresh.
03:44This is who, sir?
03:44David Koresh.
03:46Mount Carmel Center,
03:47we're being shot all up out here?
03:49Okay, where are you?
03:50Well, where am I?
03:51I'm at Mount Carmel Center.
03:53Okay, hang on just a second.
03:54All right.
03:55Yeah, this is Lynch.
03:56Hey, Lynch?
03:56Yeah.
03:57This is David Koresh.
03:58Okay, David.
03:59The FBI listened in amazement
04:06as Koresh, in the midst of a gun battle,
04:09began to preach from the Bible.
04:11There are seven fields.
04:12All right.
04:12What reward did Christ receive in heaven?
04:14He received a book with seven fields.
04:17Now, in the prophecies, it says...
04:18All right.
04:19Let me, can I interrupt you for a minute?
04:21Sure.
04:21All right.
04:21We can talk theology, but right now...
04:24This is life.
04:25This is life and death.
04:26Yes, sir.
04:27Now, you need to learn Deuteronomy 32.
04:29Okay.
04:29But let me ask you this.
04:30The present situation,
04:32what ATF is wanting
04:34is to take their injured troop out of your area.
04:38Can they come now?
04:39The ATF agents were outgunned and out of bullets.
04:43The Davidians had a .50 caliber cannon,
04:45machine guns,
04:46and more than a million rounds of ammunition.
04:50Wayne, they're moving the man now,
04:51so tell your people not to fire.
04:53The FBI listened
04:55as a deputy sheriff pleaded for a ceasefire.
04:59Don't let someone fire on them.
05:00All they're doing is removing the wounded people.
05:04Please, emphasize that.
05:06Get to everybody.
05:07Don't let someone start firing.
05:10Hey, Vince.
05:11Yeah.
05:11Between you and me.
05:12Yeah.
05:13Both the guys move for dead.
05:14Both of them?
05:15Yeah.
05:16Don't let them fire.
05:19Okay.
05:21Yeah.
05:25Wayne.
05:26Stay with them.
05:27Don't let them fire.
05:29We're complying with what you've asked.
05:31Don't let some person fire
05:33and get this started again.
05:35We've made too much progress
05:36to back up now, okay?
05:38Work with me, Wayne.
05:39It looked like a defeated army.
05:42Get the word to your troops.
05:43We've made too much progress to back up.
05:45We were beaten.
05:46One shot's going to do it.
05:47It's hard for the agents to accept that.
05:56The ATF's defeat was complete.
06:12Now, Waco was the FBI's crisis.
06:20Lord knows, we all think we know a lot about what happened at Waco.
06:23But five months ago,
06:26in the basement of a Texas law firm,
06:28we discovered the Waco files.
06:307,000 government photographs, wiretaps,
06:34and hundreds of hours of telephone negotiation tapes
06:37that had never been revealed to the public.
06:39Together, they provide an extraordinary inside view
06:43of the FBI's 51-day standoff at Waco
06:46and the fiery conclusion that killed 75 Branch Davidians.
06:51These files unlock the real story of the Waco standoff.
06:55What was going on inside the minds of the men
06:57whose day-by-day decisions added up to disaster.
07:00My name is Jeff Jamar.
07:03I'm the special agent in charge of FBI operations here in Waco.
07:06According to FBI procedure,
07:08major events like Waco are run by the highest-ranking local agent,
07:13in this case, Jeff Jamar from San Antonio.
07:16It's J-A-M-A-R.
07:17First name's Jeff.
07:18Jeff is a very dynamic commander.
07:20He has a very domineering management style.
07:24He's a big man.
07:27He commands a significant presence.
07:31And if he walks into the presence of somebody
07:35that has not dealt with him before,
07:36it can be very intimidating.
07:38We've responded with necessary personnel and equipment.
07:41The one thing that we bring to it,
07:42what the FBI brings to something like that,
07:44is all of our resources.
07:45Our Haskis Rescue Team shows up
07:47with the backing of 10,000 FBI agents
07:49and everything that comes with that
07:50and all of our laboratory, all of our resources.
07:55And I could, whatever I needed there,
07:56I knew I could get.
07:59The FBI sends its elite tactical specialists,
08:03the hostage rescue team, known as the HRT.
08:08By instinct and training,
08:10they are inclined toward action.
08:13Crime's been committed.
08:14I'm talking to murder charges.
08:17And you've got to do something about it.
08:18You cannot just let those people sit.
08:22Sometimes known as ninjas,
08:24the HRT's job will be to surround and secure the compound
08:28and, if necessary, use force to go in and get the Davidians.
08:33They take up positions about 300 yards from the compound.
08:38Five and a half miles away,
08:40another very different FBI team
08:42sets up shop in an airplane hangar.
08:45Their orientation is not action, but talk.
08:50They are negotiators,
08:51whose job is to build trust with the Davidians
08:54and convince them to come out.
08:56It's like being in a submarine
08:57where you don't have access to the periscope.
09:00A windowless room
09:01where your only perception of reality
09:05is by what you hear.
09:06The files show the negotiators quickly discovered
09:10there were 46 children inside the compound,
09:1346 innocent bystanders
09:15and potential shields in the event of a breakout.
09:19And so the first thing they do
09:20is try to convince Koresh
09:22to let the children go.
09:24David, how could we resolve this?
09:27I mean, how could we save these children and women and...
09:31Give me the coverage.
09:33Okay, I'm going to get your scripture message
09:35to the radio station right away.
09:36The negotiators begin to bargain with Koresh.
09:39They offer him airtime
09:41to broadcast his message on the radio
09:43in exchange for kids.
09:45He agrees to send two children out
09:47every time his two-minute sermonette
09:49is read on the air.
09:51You give me your word?
09:52Hey, I gave you my word.
09:53So, we're going to get this message played on the radio.
09:56And one of the agents said,
09:58we can't do that.
09:59We can't do that.
10:00How can we do that?
10:02And I remember saying to him,
10:03look, we're going to read the Bible
10:05from cover to cover on the radio.
10:08If you'll send out one child,
10:09one child, that's what we'll do.
10:11You've got to give me word for word
10:13what you want it to say.
10:14Slow now, I've got to write it.
10:16Okay.
10:17My God, who sits on the throne.
10:19My God, who sits on the throne.
10:23It was electric.
10:27The first few kids that came out,
10:29each one of these kids
10:30were brought back into the negotiation cell
10:32at the FBI command post.
10:34Some of these little critters
10:36would be brought up
10:37and sat on the negotiators' knees
10:39as we called back into the compound.
10:41And they were put on the phone
10:42with their parents
10:43and allowed to speak to David
10:45or whoever.
10:46And these were precious kids.
10:48Hi.
10:49How you doing?
10:50Fine.
10:50As the children are released,
10:52they call their parents
10:53back inside Mount Carmel.
10:55I'm all right.
10:56Did you treat me good?
10:57Yeah.
10:58Okay.
10:59Remember what I said.
11:00God sits on the throne.
11:02Yeah.
11:03Sir, someone in that tank.
11:04Did you see it?
11:05One of them big old tank-like things?
11:08Yes.
11:09Were you kind of nervous?
11:10No.
11:11It was bumpy.
11:12That was the only thing.
11:14Over the next 24 hours,
11:1618 children are released.
11:18Yeah, the guys are nice.
11:19Negotiations seem to be progressing.
11:22But the FBI,
11:23familiar with bank robbers
11:24and political terrorists,
11:26is confounded by Koresh.
11:29There had been some question,
11:31are we dealing with
11:32a delusional personality
11:33or are we dealing with a con man?
11:36Does this guy think he's Jesus Christ
11:38or is he just a con man
11:40who's using religion
11:41to deceive all the rest of the people
11:44coincide?
11:45Negotiators decide to deal with Koresh
11:47as if he believes he's the Messiah.
11:50I'm going to give you something
11:51to think about.
11:52All right.
11:52If I was able to get,
11:54I mean, a major,
11:55major broadcast of your word out...
11:58Giving Koresh local radio time
12:00had won the release of some kids.
12:02Some major things.
12:03Building on that,
12:04the FBI offers Koresh
12:05a nationwide audience
12:07if everyone comes out.
12:09...maybe a Ted Koppel or something.
12:11I mean, something dynamic.
12:12You know, Ted Koppel,
12:14I mean, who's watching that?
12:15I mean, we need to watch
12:17to get it to the people
12:18who are religious.
12:19I reached out
12:20for the Christian Broadcasting Network
12:22where we could facilitate
12:23not only national exposure,
12:25but also a religious exposure
12:27that we thought we would get,
12:29you know, twice the impact
12:31with Koresh.
12:32But if we were going to facilitate it,
12:34we needed to have guarantees.
12:36Okay, so what do they want me to say?
12:38Okay, let me read it to you again.
12:40All right.
12:40I agree.
12:41I agree.
12:42That upon the broadcasting of this tape...
12:45That upon the broadcasting of this tape...
12:47...to come out peacefully
12:50with all the people.
12:52Immediately.
12:54My name is Dave Koresh.
12:57I'm speaking to you
12:57from Mount Carmel Center.
12:59The first thing
13:00that I would like to introduce...
13:01We worked out a surrender plan
13:03in minute detail.
13:05And that's what you want.
13:06So you want a plan.
13:07You want a surrender plan
13:08because you put that in their heads.
13:10If they can visualize,
13:11and you actually use those words,
13:12can you picture this?
13:13Can you visualize?
13:14Okay, you're going to come out
13:16the front door.
13:17You're going to turn left.
13:20And then the four men,
13:21the other children,
13:23and the women...
13:24Everybody I know
13:24had their bags packed.
13:27We all figured David
13:28was coming out
13:29and there was a lot of crying
13:31and prayer
13:31and that kind of stuff going on.
13:33It took quite a long time
13:34for everybody in there
13:35to squeeze through the crowd
13:37and give him a hug.
13:38Hey, can you check on the status?
13:40Where's David?
13:40They're actually
13:41seeing a prayer phone right now.
13:43We need them to get out the door.
13:45Right now.
13:46Yeah, okay.
13:46I'll go right now.
13:47All right.
13:47The buses were ready to go
13:49to pick these people up.
13:51The resources were in place
13:52to get medical attention
13:54to those that had been injured,
13:55to everything.
13:56Jim, Steve here.
13:58Oh, Steve.
13:58We're right now
13:59going to put him
14:00on the stretcher.
14:01Steve Schneider
14:01is David Koresh's chief aide.
14:04One point in time,
14:05we're talking to Steve Schneider
14:07and Steve says,
14:08the kids are all lined up.
14:09They've got their coats on.
14:11They've got their...
14:12Some of them had little lunch pails
14:14and teddy bears
14:15and they're at the front door
14:17and they're ready to go.
14:18And we said,
14:18Steve, we're ready.
14:19Let's do this.
14:21I just talked to them.
14:22He's been going through
14:23a lot of anguish.
14:24And what the guy just went through,
14:25I've never seen anything
14:26like it before,
14:27but he wanted me
14:28to remind you
14:29to read Psalms chapter 2
14:31and then he wanted me
14:32to read to you
14:33Revelation 18.
14:35Steve, but what is this?
14:36Did you ever read
14:36the story of Christ
14:37when he hung on the cross
14:38where he actually
14:39perspirations of drops of blood
14:41because of the anguish?
14:43Can I just read
14:44Revelation 18 to you?
14:45In just a minute, Steve.
14:47Everything's ready
14:47to go right now,
14:48but all of a sudden,
14:50I mean,
14:50he started praying.
14:52He gave us his word.
14:54I know that.
14:55I'm aware of that.
14:56That after the message
14:57was explained.
14:58Yes, but what if there
14:59is a higher power
15:00than you and I
15:00that speaks to an individual?
15:02What do you do?
15:03That's the question.
15:04This is why he said,
15:06be aware of who
15:07you're dealing with.
15:08Just remember
15:09that David told the world
15:11that he was coming out.
15:13Can I read
15:13Revelation 18 to you?
15:14Steve, I want him
15:15to come out.
15:16I understand.
15:18When does he plan
15:18to come out?
15:19He said,
15:20his God says
15:21that he is to wait.
15:22How long?
15:23Look, I know
15:25in this world
15:25you don't believe
15:26that there is
15:27a supernatural power
15:28that speaks audibly
15:29to a person.
15:30Is David a man
15:31of his word?
15:32He always has been.
15:33What does trust
15:34mean to you?
15:35Exactly what it
15:36means to you.
15:37I got commanders
15:38and they are
15:38losing trust in me.
15:40His God has told
15:41him to wait.
15:42I was devastated.
15:44I was embarrassed.
15:45I was,
15:45I now have to go in
15:46and tell the
15:47on-scene commander
15:48and other commanders
15:49that we've been
15:50thoroughly and
15:51completely duped.
15:52God told him
15:53to wait.
15:54Okay, well now,
15:55where are we?
15:56We're,
15:57now we have
15:57to get a perimeter.
15:59They're not coming out.
16:01So we had to get
16:02control,
16:02we had to get a perimeter
16:03and we had to get
16:03our people in place
16:04safely.
16:06That's what led
16:07to our appearance
16:09of greater control.
16:11We built,
16:11you know,
16:12fake sniper positions.
16:14You know,
16:14wasn't anybody there
16:15but it looked
16:15like there was.
16:16To be sure,
16:18there are real
16:19snipers in position.
16:21We are the negotiators' eyes.
16:23They don't get to see
16:24sentries cleaning
16:25their weapons
16:25up in the windows
16:26watching us
16:27and when the person's
16:28cleaning their weapons
16:29and stacking
16:30their ammunition
16:30and we're watching that,
16:31we're relaying that back,
16:32we know they're not
16:33getting ready to come out
16:34on a bus
16:34and give up.
16:35The hostage rescue team
16:37already doubts
16:38the Davidians
16:38can be talked
16:39out of the compound.
16:41So here's
16:42Jeff Jamar's dilemma.
16:44His tactical guys
16:45want to show force.
16:46His negotiators
16:47worry that showing force
16:48will only undermine
16:49the fragile trust
16:50they're building
16:51with Koresh.
16:53I heard some crunching
16:54or something.
16:55I looked out the window
16:55and I see
16:56one of your tanks
16:57ran over the guard shack.
16:59I thought that was
17:00pretty cute.
17:01What now?
17:01The tank just ran it over.
17:04You're kidding?
17:05Huh.
17:06I know that they've been
17:07ordered not to go in there.
17:09We need to start
17:09tightening the pressure
17:10down on those inside.
17:12We say the more
17:12uncomfortable we make
17:13them inside,
17:14the more apt they are
17:15to try to negotiate better.
17:17You can't deal
17:18with a cohesive group
17:20like it's a group
17:22of bank robbers
17:23because the things
17:25you could do
17:25to bank robbers
17:26and make them come out
17:27simply drives
17:29the Davidians together.
17:30I mean,
17:31if you look at the core
17:32of a nuclear bomb
17:33and it's this tightly
17:34packed ball of uranium
17:37and what makes that
17:38so powerful
17:39is that it's
17:39so tightly packed.
17:41The Davidians
17:42were tightly packed
17:43and all we did
17:44was compress it
17:45even more
17:46and made it
17:47more volatile.
17:48You want to go
17:48knuckles to knuckles
17:49now.
17:50You want to have
17:50an all out, right?
17:52Koresh is furious.
17:53You have always
17:55been lying.
17:56This is what
17:57the negotiators feared.
17:58The divide between
18:00the HRT
18:00and the negotiators
18:02widens.
18:03Oh yeah,
18:03you're acting
18:03lamb-like.
18:04You're saying,
18:05if you ask
18:06a hostage rescue team
18:08guy what he thinks
18:09of negotiators,
18:10they would see them
18:10as a bunch of pussies.
18:13The negotiators
18:15might look at these guys
18:17as something
18:18a little disturbed
18:19in the sense
18:20that these guys,
18:21you know,
18:21want to get up
18:22in the morning
18:23and want to,
18:24you know,
18:25breach a door
18:25and want to,
18:26you know,
18:26drive a tank
18:27and, you know,
18:28there's something
18:28kind of a little
18:29unusual about a person
18:31who gets some sort
18:32of a charge
18:33out of wanting
18:34to do those kinds
18:34of things.
18:36On occasions,
18:37I made a number
18:38of trips up
18:39to the tactical sites
18:41located right out
18:42in front of the compound.
18:43There was one time
18:44when there was
18:46a notation
18:47on one of the
18:48portable outhouses
18:50up front
18:50that said,
18:51Sage is a Davidian,
18:53obviously written
18:54by one of the
18:54tactical guys.
18:55Yeah, I don't know.
19:00I was in a position
19:01where we had,
19:03we didn't have
19:03an outhouse.
19:05That would be
19:06very symbolic
19:09of the frustration.
19:11There was a high
19:12level of frustration.
19:13There was this
19:14tremendous chasm
19:15between negotiators
19:17and the tactical team.
19:18I mean,
19:18just, you know,
19:19if you could see
19:20the body language,
19:20it would have been
19:21closed up,
19:22had to decide
19:22like this.
19:24By day seven,
19:25with no new progress,
19:27Koresh won't come
19:28to the phone.
19:29Even when the FBI
19:30offers something
19:31the Davidians
19:32desperately need,
19:33milk for the children.
19:34We told David
19:35that if two of the
19:37children come out,
19:38six gallons of milk
19:39go in.
19:39It's as simple as that.
19:41If two of the children
19:42come out,
19:42six gallons of milk
19:43for them.
19:43Hello?
19:44Well, he said
19:45kiss my ass.
19:47Well, I kind of
19:48expected something
19:48like that.
19:49The FBI is running
19:50a time-honored
19:51law enforcement ploy.
19:53Koresh now sees
19:54them as the bad cop.
19:56To play the role
19:56of good cop,
19:58they bring in
19:58the local sheriff.
20:00What I was told
20:01that he was not
20:02coming to the phone
20:03to talk to them,
20:05and I was asked
20:05to get on the phone
20:06and see if I could
20:07get him to the phone.
20:08I'm not a negotiator
20:09or a skilled person.
20:10All I know to do
20:11is head down
20:12and talk to some
20:12harsh sense.
20:13Well, here's the thing,
20:14Mr. Harber.
20:14What they're saying now
20:15is that they want
20:16four more kids
20:17before they send us
20:18the milk.
20:18Well, would that help
20:19to get the milk
20:20out there to you?
20:21It'll definitely
20:21help the babies.
20:22All right.
20:23I'll work that out.
20:24Now, I wanted to sit
20:25here and talk
20:25from my heart to you
20:26and let you know...
20:27Finally, the milk
20:28is delivered.
20:29We're concerned about
20:29y'all, and we care
20:30for you.
20:30No children are released.
20:32God told me to wait.
20:34It's not a total loss.
20:36The FBI also sends
20:37in tiny listening devices,
20:40bugs, buried inside
20:41the milk cartons
20:42and their styrofoam
20:43containers.
20:44Ready to all?
20:46Right.
20:46Keep those children
20:47under control.
20:48They're only seeing
20:49you there today.
20:50It was very chancy.
20:52He would send them in
20:53and you know
20:55where he would end up.
20:56There was one instance
20:57where it ran for a long
20:59time.
21:00In fact, it was very
21:00effective, and it was
21:01in a room where
21:02Koresh was.
21:02Now they're going to
21:04blow their heads off.
21:05The first couple days
21:16belong to the negotiators.
21:17You've got to give them
21:18their shot to do it.
21:19But the longer the tactical
21:22people wait, the less chance
21:25they have of being
21:26successful.
21:27Time is on the favor of the
21:28people inside.
21:29There's the 10-day rule.
21:31We use these things over in 10
21:32days, okay, if you think
21:34about it.
21:34If you think about all
21:35these crises, not many
21:36last past 10 days.
21:39And so on the 10th day,
21:42special agent in charge
21:43Jamar turns off the
21:44electricity inside the
21:46compound.
21:48That night it was going to
21:49be 20 degrees, and the
21:52thought process was, if
21:53we're going to be cold in
21:54the dark, let them be cold
21:56in the dark too.
21:57When I heard that the
21:57electricity was cut off, I
21:59thought, forget these guys,
22:00forget it.
22:01The downside was
22:02significant.
22:03It could set us back days
22:06in our ability to continue
22:08to negotiate a reasonable
22:10settlement.
22:11I'll be honest with you,
22:12John, I'm not even
22:13interested in anything you've
22:14got to say today.
22:15But again, Koresh stops
22:17talking, and the next day
22:18Jamar orders the electricity
22:20turned back on.
22:21Koresh is in control, and
22:23here the FBI go in to take
22:25control, and they can't do
22:27anything except piss the guy
22:29off, so what do you do?
22:33This is David Koresh, Steve
22:35Schneider filming, the date
22:37today is...
22:37What Jeff Jamar does is
22:39tilt back toward his
22:40negotiators.
22:41They want Koresh to make a
22:43home movie.
22:43David, anything you'd like
22:44to say?
22:45We just thought we'd kind
22:46of break the ice and allow
22:49people to see just exactly,
22:50you know, what kind of people
22:52we have here.
22:53I'd like to start off first
22:55fall with my oldest son.
22:57His name is Cyrus.
23:00Come sit over here, son.
23:01We sent the camera in to try
23:03to get intelligence out.
23:04How old are you?
23:05We wanted to see, first of
23:06all, how the kids were
23:07faring.
23:08Say hello to everybody.
23:09We also wanted to determine
23:10by this time whether or not
23:11the kids had clean hair.
23:14If they have clean hair, are
23:15they worried about water?
23:17No.
23:18Have faith in God?
23:19So there was a lot of
23:20intelligence-gathering effort
23:21there.
23:22Wave to all your friends out
23:23there that's been taken to
23:25the people on the outside.
23:27Yeah, this is our little
23:28girl changes.
23:29I sat there for hours and
23:31looked at the tapes of David
23:32Koresh and these kids that
23:34sat on his lap.
23:35I wanted to know Koresh, but
23:38I also got to know the kids.
23:40And I knew the potential for
23:43danger for those children if
23:46we went tactical.
23:47Show him daddy's face.
23:52David milked that for all
23:53it's worth.
23:54That's a prime example of,
23:56we sent this in to acquire
23:58something, he sent it out to
23:59obtain something.
24:01We sent it in to acquire
24:02intelligence, he sent it out
24:04to manipulate us.
24:05And we both obtained our
24:07objective.
24:07What would you like to do to
24:08Dave?
24:10Go on the swings.
24:12Wave.
24:13I saw the ability for Koresh
24:16to use the children.
24:19I mean, I saw psychological
24:21warfare on his part by using
24:23that videotape.
24:24Bobby's waving.
24:25And I saw the just total
24:30innocence of children.
24:33I saw David Koresh and the
24:39other Davidians just totally
24:41abdicating their responsibility
24:43as parents.
24:44And I don't think there's any
24:45higher call.
24:47And I think they abdicated that
24:48responsibility to their children.
24:50And I think that's a real shame.
24:54Okay.
24:55So here's your little grandbaby,
24:57Isabel.
24:59She's happy.
25:00How much do you love me?
25:02How much?
25:03Huh?
25:04Say hi, Jim.
25:05Hi, Jim.
25:06Hello, John.
25:07Hello, John.
25:08Gary.
25:09Gary.
25:10Can you say your ABCs?
25:11Why don't you come and sing with me?
25:30Maybe they'll come and sing with us someday.
25:32I love you, minor.
25:38Stymied on the ground in Waco, the FBI was also enduring unprecedented tumult at the top.
25:46Its director, William Sessions, was under siege, battling charges of ethical impropriety and an open
25:52insurrection from his senior staff.
25:56Things were no more settled at the Justice Department, which oversees the FBI.
26:02President Clinton had already lost his first two nominees for attorney general.
26:06I, Janet Reno, will well and faithfully perform the duties of the office...
26:11On the 13th day of the Waco standoff, his third choice was sworn in.
26:15General Reno, congratulations.
26:17Janet Reno was a stranger to Washington, a stranger to the city's bureaucratic intrigue.
26:22She was effectively alone at the Justice Department she now ran.
26:27And her first day on the job, she inherited both Waco and the FBI's leadership crisis.
26:34She had no confidence in director Sessions.
26:37She felt that he should avoid embarrassing the president by stepping aside.
26:43So it was difficult.
26:44She treated him with respect, but at the same time, she wanted him to go away.
26:49And he wouldn't go away, and that just added to the difficulties of the moment.
26:59Back in Waco, nothing new.
27:02There's a lot of downtime in these situations, where we would sit over coffee and go,
27:08Jesus Christ.
27:11You know, God damn, this is just, you know, where is this going?
27:15How's the food holding up?
27:16The food's okay.
27:17There's no pizza yet.
27:18The Davidians were well-equipped, well-prepared, plenty to eat.
27:22We had pizza the other night.
27:24The FBI personnel, the food that we had was basically Domino's pizza.
27:28You saved two pieces, and you never came home and it got hollow.
27:30Well, in essence, the hostage negotiation personnel became hostage to the Davidian standoff.
27:38On the forward line, the ninjas are restless.
27:44You're a teacher, and you've got a kid that's misbehaving.
27:47How many times are you going to tell that kid to stop it before you take another attack?
27:51And we just, we asked, and we asked, and we asked, and they just wouldn't come out.
27:55So sooner or later, you have to do something.
27:57If you people would back off and leave these people, just have a day or two, or at least
28:03some time to think about what's going on, you might see some different choices.
28:07Okay.
28:08But these kind of tactics, they've shown their asses to us, they've flipped us the finger.
28:13The things that they're doing causes these people to want to stay in here all the more.
28:17Sometimes our big bosses don't always understand what's going on in terms of our conversations
28:22with you.
28:22In their isolated post, negotiators are desperate, hoping to reestablish a link with Koresh.
28:29They make their own family album video.
28:31Gary mentioned that we're all family men.
28:34I'm proud of my family.
28:35I can tell from the tapes and conversation with you all that you're proud of them as well.
28:40That's not just rhetoric.
28:42I mean, we can show you pictures.
28:43I have a picture here of my son.
28:45You know, look at the picture.
28:46He certainly is his father's son.
28:48I have a family, too.
28:49And these other gentlemen who have talked to you, they have family.
28:52More than 20 different negotiators have tried and failed to talk the Davidians out.
28:58So Jamar again calls on the only negotiator who seems able to get through to Koresh.
29:03Let me ask you, David, man to man, what can we do right this minute to get things moving
29:08so we can get this thing maybe resolved today?
29:11Well, you can tell these agents that as an American citizen, somebody has stepped on my property
29:17and there's going to be some butt whooped over this.
29:19Either it's my butt or it's going to be their butt.
29:22What can I do?
29:23You tell me because I'm just an old dumb country sheriff in a lot of ways.
29:27If y'all had called us up and said you had a warrant for us, I'd have met you in town.
29:31David, I've laid awake thinking about that.
29:34And really, I'd like to sit down and just talk face to face with you.
29:37I wanted to meet with Vernon, but he was injured and couldn't come out of the compound
29:42and I wasn't permitted to go into the compound.
29:45We decided to try to do something that, as a negotiation instructor,
29:49I teach that you only do as a last resort.
29:53And that is to orchestrate a face-to-face negotiation.
29:58Okay, subjects are approaching. It's 4-23.
30:01Am I nervous? Sure. I'm very nervous.
30:03We know that this is a dangerous situation.
30:07If anyone inside that compound had elected to take his own action, then I'm dead.
30:12Jack's dead.
30:14And we have another 28th of February.
30:16We're about 100 yards down the road.
30:19We pulled down the driveway.
30:21I'm looking out the port, wondering when it's going to stop,
30:24if we're going to go up and knock at the door.
30:26And we're beyond halfway down the driveway when the Bradway finally stops.
30:31Wayne, this is Byron.
30:33Byron, we'll talk to you Sunday night.
30:37We appreciate you all very much.
30:38I stepped out of the back of the tank and went out 15, 20 yards to meet them.
30:43I'm wired for sound.
30:45I've got microphones, tape recorders, everything taped to my body,
30:49and I'm wearing my son's blue Nike jacket,
30:52because it's the biggest jacket I could get.
30:54So I step out from behind the protection of that Bradley,
30:58and it's the longest step I've ever taken.
31:00It needs to be involved.
31:01I don't understand why we...
31:02The HRT is watching and ready.
31:05I'm covering them with my weapon, and we're saying,
31:07well, this would be almost one of the ideal times to take out some of the leadership
31:10if we just grab them, snatch them,
31:13because they were, I don't know, 10 yards in the back of that Bradley,
31:17and just to jump out and grab them and drag them in,
31:21and handcuff them, and you're under arrest.
31:23That's it.
31:24Simple as that.
31:24But one of the supervisors from the team in that lead track,
31:29he says, no, you can't do that.
31:33We go by a document here, the Bible.
31:36They had not met Byron Sage, and to just walk out and say,
31:40we trust you, we know you've got guns in there,
31:42but I'm going to walk out here where anyone wants to shoot me, they can do it.
31:48You're walking out here where if anyone wants to shoot you, they can do it,
31:51because we're right out and with no protection.
31:55And if we can trust each other to do that,
31:58why can't we trust each other to go on and resolve this thing?
32:01Steve seemed to be very genuine, very matter-of-fact, good eye contact.
32:08Wayne was very nervous.
32:09He was dressed in a three-piece suit, kind of dancing from foot to foot.
32:13And there's a point where Wayne says he doesn't know what the United States stands for
32:20or whether or not the Constitution's been suspended or whatever.
32:23Can I answer that for you?
32:24And I told them very matter-of-factly, I said,
32:26there are two documents that I would give my life for.
32:29One is a Constitution, and one is the Bible.
32:33And I would give my life to defend both of them.
32:36That's why I'm standing here in plain sight of...
32:38And I'm looking Steve dead in the eye.
32:40I think that meant a great deal to him.
32:42I think that from that point, he said, I believe you.
32:45Byron, I can honestly tell you I believe everything you've said.
32:48I'm going to do all I can to go back and relay everything that you've said in the manner you have.
32:53Byron felt he reached Steve.
32:55He really felt that there was a connection there.
32:57They agreed to meet again.
32:59Well, I believe, and this is one instance where the microphone that we had inside was in Koresh's room
33:05when they returned to report their version of what went wrong.
33:08I believe Koresh picked up something there that maybe that Steve...
33:23I don't think he was very worried about Wayne Martin, but I think he might have been concerned about Steve,
33:26so he didn't permit another face-to-face.
33:27Koresh vetoes any more face-to-face meetings.
33:32Jamar answers that setback by allowing the HRT to begin blasting noise and music into the compound.
33:40Once again, the negotiators are unaware of the HRT's tactics.
33:44Koresh fights back, aiming his own speakers at the FBI in a weird, all-night battle of the band.
34:14He had his little band in there, and all of a sudden, he starts playing, and we were 200-plus yards away,
34:26and we'd had to yell at each other to hear.
34:29And it went on for several hours, this concert, rock concert.
34:33Just showing us that his speakers were more powerful than ours.
34:36On March 21st, a surprise.
34:56Some more Davidians come out.
34:58Kathy, she will be coming out in the morning.
35:00On the 21st, we got seven people out.
35:03Very significant from a negotiation standpoint.
35:05That's the most significant number of people that we had come out.
35:09But for Jeff Jamar, seven is not enough.
35:13Mom!
35:14Oh, no!
35:15They're going to do it, pal.
35:16All the cars are going.
35:17He ratchets it up, ordering the HRT tanks to clear away the Davidians' cars and motorcycles.
35:23How can they do that?
35:25That's evidence.
35:26Look at all the boys.
35:27You know, you just get to the point where you're to heck with them sort of thing.
35:31You just don't believe anything they say.
35:33Here we are working with you and thinking we're getting somewhere, and bingo, I mean, you know.
35:38We were on a roll, just things were starting to pick up, and bang.
35:42The decision is in direct contradiction to the negotiation efforts.
35:47Was that a mistake?
35:50Timing-wise, from a negotiation standpoint, I think it was an abysmal mistake.
35:54David said, isn't it true?
35:55Every time we've complied with you people, something like this comes up.
35:58I talked to David, you know, and he said that the...
36:00Well, he just told me now, just right now, he says, no one's coming out.
36:04Yeah.
36:04Nobody.
36:04The Davidian exodus from the compound stopped late in the day on March 21st.
36:11Sage continues to press for a negotiated end, but privately, his anger and pessimism about
36:17the negotiations and David Koresh are growing.
36:21Although David Koresh said, these people can come out at any time, they're free to leave
36:26at any time.
36:28He had them, remember, he had them completely and totally convinced, deceived, that he was
36:34their Messiah.
36:36And for them to come out, they had to go through what he called an exit interview, which meant
36:42that you or I, before we were allowed to come out, had to go up and talk to David.
36:47And David would say, you're free to go, but you need to realize that if you leave, you're
36:51leaving your eternal salvation here, and you're going out to the beast.
36:55But that's your decision, you're free to go.
36:58Now, how many people are going to run out the door?
37:01Obviously, very few.
37:03Sage and the negotiators had been playing Koresh's game, granting that his messianic claims were
37:09sincere.
37:11Exasperated now, Sage decides to find out once and for all whether Koresh really believes
37:16he's Christ.
37:17You went back on your word.
37:18That is a lie.
37:19That is not a lie.
37:20That is a lie.
37:21If you will find out in the judgment, you know as well as I do that you're challenged
37:26to open these seven seals.
37:28It's garbage.
37:28It's a false hope.
37:29And you know that.
37:30No, it's not.
37:30So you are now claiming clearly and simply that you are the Christ.
37:34That's where you remain ignorant.
37:36If you are standing right at the door looking at in the face.
37:39David.
37:40My own personal commitment.
37:42My own personal faith.
37:43I tell him that I am absolutely confident in my salvation and he's not in a position
37:49to challenge it.
37:51Now, if anyone was in a position to try to challenge my faith as a Christian, it would
37:56be someone that perceives himself to be Christ.
37:59He does not assume that posture.
38:01From that point forward, it is absolutely patently clear, in my mind, what we're dealing with.
38:08This guy is not delusional.
38:10He is not a messianic complex.
38:13He does not buy off on his own con.
38:18The siege has gone on now for 23 days.
38:2123 days of two competing solutions, talk and action.
38:26Jamar, the agent in charge, has signed on for action.
38:29He makes it clear to Sage that his mind is made up.
38:34Byron Sage, the most visible negotiator, then recommends in writing an escalation of tactical
38:39measures, including tear gas.
38:42You signed on.
38:43Absolutely.
38:45I mean, this is kind of a radical departure for a negotiation team to recommend tear gassing.
38:50But we're now, what, 23 days into a siege, haven't had a child out since the 5th of March.
38:58The HRT are ready with a plan.
39:02It's simple, aggressive, and quick.
39:05Under the cover of darkness, they would take the compound with Bradley tanks and gas.
39:10The Davidians, overwhelmed, would come out.
39:14They are ready to act, but first, the plan must be approved by Washington.
39:18The record shows that using tanks and gas on a compound still holding 25 children was a tough
39:26sell to this attorney general.
39:28As a local prosecutor, Janet Reno had built a reputation as a zealous child advocate.
39:35And on Monday, April 12th, she said no to the gas plan.
39:39The FBI didn't relent.
39:42They came back at the attorney general.
39:44The plan's too aggressive, she said.
39:46Then they'll water it down.
39:49She worried the Davidians might use the children as shields.
39:52If they did, the FBI promised to back off.
39:56Most of all, she worried that the gas would permanently damage the children.
40:00A military expert assured her the gas was safe.
40:04For five days, the FBI tried to eliminate her objections.
40:10After the Waco fire, Reno would say again and again that she authorized the gas plan
40:16because children were being abused.
40:18We had had reports that they had been sexually abused, that babies had actually been beaten.
40:23I asked when I first heard that for them to verify it.
40:27And again, that was the report that was brought back.
40:29When she said, I was told the babies were being beaten.
40:32And I said, what do you mean?
40:35Babies were being picked up and beaten?
40:37Yes, I was told, babies were being beaten.
40:39Then she will have to say who told her that.
40:41Certainly, I did not.
40:42She says she doesn't remember.
40:44Well, if it was impressive, something that impressed her tremendously,
40:47then she's responsible for what she heard.
40:50But FBI documents uncovered by Frontline confirm
40:54that as the Bureau was pressuring Reno to approve the gas plan,
40:57someone in the FBI told her that children were being abused at Waco.
41:04But the FBI knew that children were not being beaten during the standoff.
41:08At the time, what she said was, I was told that babies were being beaten.
41:13She told me that she was told that.
41:15Webb Hubble told me that he heard her being told that.
41:18Did you tell her that?
41:20No.
41:20It is still not known who had told Reno about the child abuse.
41:25But on Friday, April 16th, she changed her mind and approved the gas plan.
41:32The FBI is ready.
41:34But will the Davidians play the role the FBI has scripted for them?
41:38When the gas goes in, will they come out?
41:41When we asked Koresh if they would consider suicide,
42:02the response was survival-oriented, was long-term in nature.
42:07But there were warnings.
42:11I did everything I could to alert people to what I thought was Koresh's plan
42:17and how I thought we were being sucked in
42:19or pulled right into a snare that he had set for us.
42:24I said, you don't understand.
42:26This guy is not coming out.
42:28And if we continue the way we're doing,
42:30everybody's going to die inside that compound.
42:33Behold, the Lord will come with fire.
42:35The church will be with flaming torture.
42:38When the Davidians spoke of death, they often talked about fire.
42:42Don't burn the building down.
42:43Don't burn our building down.
42:45Do you have any way of fighting fire in there?
42:47Do you have any fire extinguish things?
42:48I think there might be one.
42:50The FBI knows that Mount Carmel is a fire trap.
42:54Part of our job was to call back the descriptions of each section of the building.
42:58And it was very shoddily put together.
42:59It was just thrown up.
43:01And sometimes we would even see inside through an open door window
43:04and see that there might be hay or straw stacked in hallways.
43:07There was clothing laying here and there.
43:10And this place, it was indeed a tinderbox.
43:13Yet incredibly, the FBI has not developed a fire protection plan
43:17for when they gas the compound.
43:20Nowhere in the 568-page assault plan submitted to and signed by Janet Reno
43:26is there a fire plan.
43:28The FBI isn't worried about a fire.
43:30And they're not ready to fight one.
43:35It is Sunday night, April 18th.
43:38The assault is scheduled for early the next morning.
43:42The Davidians have no idea what's coming.
43:45My thoughts as I fell into a troubled sleep that night.
43:50I didn't think the gas would bring him out.
43:52I feared for a mass suicide.
43:59And I just saw the whole thing blowing up on our face
44:01and those kids dying.
44:04It's a really interesting way my mind works.
44:06It was not that I'm hyped or anything.
44:10It was just, now's the time to do this.
44:12Let's get started.
44:18It was still dark when we started.
44:21And it would be light soon so we could see.
44:24But it was dark so they couldn't see us.
44:28I go up to what we call Sierra One Alpha,
44:31which is right across the street from the compound.
44:34And at 5.59, I place a call into the compound.
44:40My heart's in my throat.
44:42I'm hoping that this is going to be, you know, okay.
44:47We've had enough. We're coming out.
44:48Hello.
44:50Hey.
44:50Yes.
44:51This is Byron Sage.
44:52We're in the process of placing tear gas into the building.
44:56This is not an assault.
44:58We are not entering the building.
45:00Everybody grab your masks.
45:02Everybody grab your masks.
45:04We knew they had gas masks.
45:06We knew they had plenty of automatic weapons.
45:09We use the shoes.
45:10We knew they had a permit.
45:10WeYes.
45:11We have their hands night.
45:15We meet.
45:15We hear women.
45:16We're not entering it.
45:16And that first tracked vehicle that had the tear gas
45:19looked like it was lit with sparkors.
45:21It was taking so many rounds bouncing off of it.
45:26The FBI had told Attorney General Reno
45:29they planned to slowly insert the CS gas
45:32over a period of 48 hours, forcing the Davidians out.
45:37But the gunfire meant the Davidians were not coming out,
45:40and the rules of engagement allowed the FBI
45:42to now dramatically escalate the operation.
45:45They will use all their gas in two hours.
45:51On the overhears, you could still hear people talking,
45:55so I knew they didn't have gas masks on,
45:57so I knew the gas wasn't driving them out of that compound.
46:01Early that morning, the Weather Service
46:04had issued a wind advisory for Waco.
46:06It had gone unheated by the FBI.
46:09And now, the 31-mile-an-hour gusts
46:12were blowing the gas right out of the building.
46:15So the HRT now pushes the tanks deeper into the building,
46:18trying to corral the Davidians.
46:22They expect the women and children
46:23to make a run for a school bus
46:25buried in one corner of the compound.
46:28Our theory was to get gas in that area
46:31that leads to the underground bus
46:32to deny them getting in there
46:34and to get into that hallway
46:37and gas that hallway first off
46:38so they wouldn't run in and down and get in the bus
46:41and be even in a more defensible position
46:43than they already are.
46:45The women and children end up in a bunker
46:50underneath the tower
46:51where the weapons and ammunition are stored.
46:58Overhead, the FBI's infrared radar
47:00gives the clearest view of how the fire broke out
47:03almost simultaneously
47:05in three separate sections of the compound.
47:08The time to come out is now.
47:10If you can't see your way through,
47:12walk towards the sound of the speakers.
47:15David, don't do this to your people.
47:17During the course of the morning,
47:19we've given them specific instructions.
47:21With the fire, it becomes a plea
47:24and continues to a very pointed plea
47:28towards the end of what ultimately was
47:31a half hour of just anguish.
47:34Don't do this to your people.
47:36I had to physically turn around
47:38away from the monitor
47:39to keep my mind focused
47:40on what I was trying to broadcast to those people
47:43because not a person had come out
47:47up until this time.
47:50We're waiting on some direction from God
47:53and what do we do now, you know?
47:55And even Wayne Martin,
47:57he kind of had his back against the wall
47:59and just slid down into a sitting position.
48:01He says, Wayne, what do you think we ought to do?
48:03And he says, I guess we just wait on God.
48:06And the next thing we knew,
48:07we're just surrounded in, as I say,
48:09smoke and heat and flames.
48:14My first thought was
48:16that he's burning the crime scene.
48:19And I expected people to come out.
48:21If that place is on fire,
48:22they're coming out of there.
48:24I mean, we expected it instantly.
48:25And then when they didn't,
48:29it was just horror.
48:30I mean, it was just a feeling of absolute horror.
48:34And I think almost everyone there
48:37had the same reaction.
48:40We're all there in the command post,
48:42and you could see the expressions
48:47on everyone's face
48:48that they couldn't see anyone coming out.
48:54And there was someone made the statement,
48:58why aren't they coming out?
49:01Where are the kids?
49:02Excuse me.
49:23Only nine of the 84 Davidians
49:26would escape the flames.
49:28At some point,
49:29I just made a dive
49:31and landed on this sheet rung
49:33and just kind of slithered out
49:34headfirst over it.
49:35And I kind of looked over my shoulder,
49:37and I'd just come through this hole,
49:38and I'd look back,
49:39and this hole was just a mass of flames.
49:41You know, I'm going,
49:42my God, I'm the only one that got out.
49:43I couldn't believe it.
49:44You know, and I'm thinking,
49:45the other guys don't even have a chance.
49:50Nobody was coming out.
49:51It was unbelievable.
49:53So the only thought was
49:55that they had to have gotten to the bus,
49:57and now they're in there.
49:58And we immediately started to clear that area
50:01of the burning debris
50:02to get into the bus.
50:05Six minutes into the fire,
50:07the fire department has called.
50:09But fearing they might be shot,
50:11Jamar holds them at the perimeter.
50:14I remember saying to them,
50:15they're not getting in
50:16until we were still safe.
50:18And that took several minutes.
50:19Once the fire trucks were in,
50:26the hope was to get over to the bus area
50:29and see where the children were.
50:31And that was the rush,
50:33to see if there's survivors
50:34and primarily children in that bus.
50:38HRT had made an effort
50:40to gain access to the bus,
50:42the Burien bus.
50:42It was about 12.30.
50:45I walked over to the site
50:47in shock, basically.
50:53And the first thing I asked
50:55is, where are the kids?
51:00Nowhere.
51:03What do you mean nowhere?
51:05They had not come out.
51:08They'd been consumed.
51:15It took a week for the compound
51:17to cool down enough
51:19to permit a close examination
51:20of the physical evidence.
51:23Expert testimony
51:24at the congressional hearings
51:26seemed to prove
51:27the Davidians lit the fires.
51:29Got the fire?
51:30They got the camera right here?
51:32Right here.
51:33The audio bug tapes
51:34from the morning of the fire
51:35were the critical evidence.
51:37What do you got?
51:38Hey, you can talk about it.
51:40Oh, you can talk about it.
51:42Any?
51:43You want to score?
51:44No.
51:46You want to score already?
51:48No, no, no.
51:49I want one here.
51:50I wish I got more hands.
51:54And how did the Davidians die?
51:57Was Waco a mass suicide?
51:59The medical answers are mixed.
52:02David crashed out of gunshot wound
52:03and he had a single gunshot wound
52:05to his forehead.
52:07Schneider had a single gunshot wound
52:09of his mouth,
52:10of his upper palate.
52:13Altogether,
52:14there were 20 people
52:15who died as a result
52:16of gunshot wounds
52:17on that particular day.
52:19Some 27 additional bodies
52:21were buried deep within the bunker.
52:24These were commingled bodies
52:25and all of these
52:27were women and children.
52:28They were huddled together,
52:30some of them.
52:31They were covered with blankets.
52:32Some of them had face masks.
52:35And most of them had died
52:37as a result of smoke inhalation
52:39or suffocation.
52:40But there were at least three kids
52:43who had been shot to death.
52:44And one was stabbed to death.
52:51There is no escaping the judgment
52:53that Waco was a monumental failure
52:55for the FBI.
52:57It seems unbelievable now
52:59that the FBI would choose
53:01to send tanks and tear gas
53:03into a building full of children.
53:05But they had never encountered
53:07anyone like David Koresh.
53:10He resisted their talk.
53:12He laughed at their tactics.
53:14And finally,
53:15he lured them to a course
53:16whose obvious dangers
53:18they could not see.
53:20Perhaps the FBI's greatest failure
53:22was that they let him
53:24write the final act.
53:35To investigate the Waco file further,
53:40visit Frontline Online.
53:42Learn more about the key participants
53:44in the standoff.
53:46Hear more of the taped conversations
53:48between the Davidians
53:49and the negotiators.
53:50Well, would that help
53:51to get the milk out there to you?
53:52It'll definitely help the babies.
53:54Read the viewer discussion
53:55about the program
53:56and much more
53:57at Frontline Online
53:59at www.pbs.org.
54:05Next time on Frontline,
54:11we know he has them.
54:12The objective was
54:14to get rid of Iraq's weapons
54:16of mass destruction.
54:17We had a chance
54:18to destroy them.
54:19And in 1999,
54:20they are still there.
54:22What happened?
54:24Frontline investigates
54:25the charges that a UN mission
54:26to destroy Saddam Hussein's weapons
54:28was destroyed by the CIA.
54:31I didn't kill UNSCOM.
54:32The United States killed UNSCOM.
54:33Spying on Saddam.
54:36Next time on Frontline.
54:40Waco, the inside story
54:42is available on home videocassette
54:44for $19.95,
54:45plus shipping and handling.
54:47To order, call 1-800-255-9424.
54:51Now it's time for your letters.
55:11Here are some of the responses
55:12to tonight's program
55:13after its first broadcast.
55:14I was astonished at your conclusion
55:16that the FBI had failed miserably,
55:18although this certainly
55:19could not be considered
55:20a success for the FBI.
55:22I got the impression
55:23that these FBI agents
55:24acted compassionately
55:25and professionally
55:26in dealing with an armed psychopath
55:28who thought nothing
55:29of sacrificing the lives
55:31of those who had blindly followed him.
55:32Joe Davies.
55:34The opposite perspective
55:35came from a viewer in Alaska
55:36who wrote,
55:37Our government arm
55:39of law enforcement
55:40is out of control.
55:41This whole show on Waco
55:42was nothing more
55:43than a whitewash
55:44to protect the BATF
55:45and the FBI.
55:47It was with sick despair
55:48that my family and I
55:49watched the ATF
55:50and the FBI members
55:52plan and squabble
55:53over how to rid Waco
55:54of David Koresh
55:55and his followers.
55:56Did he murder anybody?
55:57Did a rubber bag?
55:59Americans killed
56:00American women and children
56:01and then assumed
56:02to philosophically theorize
56:04about it on camera,
56:05Jean Kranick.
56:07For more of this discussion,
56:08visit Frontline's website.
56:20Funding for Frontline
56:22is provided by
56:23the annual financial support
56:24of PBS viewers like you.
56:27With additional funding
56:28for this program
56:29from the Corporation
56:30for Public Broadcasting.
56:34This is PBS.
57:04of PBS.
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56:26
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