In the post-9/11 world, government power is growing to protect us from terror. But history shows government power leads to government abuse. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the infamous 1993 siege in Waco, Texas one of the most horrifying abuses of government power in United States history, and one with lessons about the danger of laws like the USA PATRIOT Act.
On Monday, Nov. 3, the Libertarian Society showed “Waco: Rules of Engagement.” An emotional and powerful documentary, it presents strong evidence that the U.S. government overstepped its authority in its raid on David Koresh’s compound in Waco in 1993. There are appropriate steps the legal system should take before determining guilt: first investigate, then arrest, prosecute, convict, sentence, and only after all these steps have been taken, execute. Instead, the FBI found David Koresh and the Branch Davidians to be guilty first.
They tear-gassed, shot and burned 76 people, including 27 children. The FBI, under the order of Attorney General Janet Reno, used a chemical banned in international warfare against the Branch Davidians, including the children they knew did not have gas masks. After they let the compound burn to ashes, the FBI then investigated their own offenses. The evidence of an obvious cover-up by the FBI and Attorney General Janet Reno presented in this documentary is appalling and inexcusable.
Ten years later, we can not forget this tragic event. The different lifestyle the Branch Davidians chose was deemed wrong by our government. That judgment gave the FBI the justification they needed to go after innocent men, women and children. No matter what we think of how they lived their lives, the rights of the Davidians should have been protected.
In the post-9/11 world, the United States government is finding new ways to protect us from terrorist attacks. But with the USA PATRIOT Act, procedures intended to protect our rights from government abuse have been loosened. How can we justify easing these safeguards when the government has so terribly abused its awesome powers in events such as Waco? Before easing the protections that safeguard our liberties from the abuse of the federal government, we deserve assurance that something like Waco will never happen again. The first step is admitting to ourselves the unjustified horror of what happened there.
Laura Barnett Libertarian Society President CAS ’04