Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 20, 1993 TAG: 9304200281
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MITCHELL LANDSBERG ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The blame, federal officials insisted Monday, lay with David Koresh, presumed dead along with most of his Branch Davidian followers in the ashes of their fortresslike home near Waco.
But questions about the federal handling of the siege - from its violent beginning to its tragic end - won't be resolved quickly.
Why hadn't the FBI been willing to simply wait out the Branch Davidians? Why did the federal agents decide to strike when they did? Why weren't they better prepared for the possibility of fire, or mass suicide?
"It just seems to me law enforcement ran out of patience," said Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill. "The children and the women and the loss of human lives - wasn't there some other way and why wasn't it used?"
It was a long and frustrating road for the federal government from a botched firearms raid on Feb. 28 to Monday's horrifying blaze.
In the intervening weeks, the FBI tried every negotiating tactic in its quiver. It struck deals that were broken; it pleaded and argued and threatened; it shined bright lights and played loud music.
All for nought.
Among the questions facing the government is why the tactics were suddenly changed from negotiation and psychological warfare to aggressive, physical confrontation.
"At some point we had to up the ante," FBI spokesman Bob Ricks said. He added that the agency regretted the loss of life, but not its decision to increase the pressure on Koresh and his followers.
Ricks said the FBI acted because Koresh was continually fortifying and stepping up his provocations of federal officials. "His desire, and I've stated repeatedly, as much as I could without seeming overly dramatic, was that he wanted as many people killed in that compound as possible," Ricks said.
But Attorney General Janet Reno said the timing was based in large measure on the fatigue of the FBI's hostage rescue squad:
"We made some judgments based on the fact that experts told us that the hostage rescue team should not and could not remain in place for any permanent period of time without being relieved."
She also said authorities had received reports that children in the compound were being abused.
Reno said she and FBI officials had considered the possibility of mass suicide and decided there was nothing they could do to prevent it. She also said they had opted against keeping fire crews near the compound because firefighters would have been at risk from long-range weapons.
Speaking of the FBI, she said, "I think they carefully thought this out, developed it as part of a coherent and continuing plan. . . . I think they made the best, most informed decision they could under the circumstances."
The attorney general also said Monday's assault was consistent with an overall strategy that had been developed throughout the siege. But there were times when it appeared that the FBI changed its tactics after being frustrated and disappointed by Koresh.
"We will take whatever action that's necessary to get it resolved," Ricks said on March 22. "And again our ultimate goal from day one is to get it resolved peacefully."
But while the government wanted the siege resolved peacefully, it made it clear from the start that it wasn't willing to just sit back and wait. And Ricks and other federal spokesmen said repeatedly that they weren't satisfied with the pace of negotiations.
Asked on March 24 if the negotiators were growing exasperated, Ricks replied, "I think that's absolutely correct."
The next day, he conceded that the Branch Davidians were equipped to stay holed up "quite an extended period of time," perhaps as long as two years.
Last Wednesday, the FBI announced that it was breaking off plans for renewed telephone negotiations.
"Frankly," agency spokesman Dick Swensen said, "it's just seeming that it's not getting anywhere. And given that there's really not much reason to continue on."
by CNB