The PBS site, pbs.org, has a Frontline report on Waco in which they reveal that the reports that lead to Reno's order to storm the compound were bogus.
The local PBS station here had an excerpt from the series which detailed that the reports of child abuse were fabricated and the documentation for that was later found secreted in the basement of a law firm.
PETER J. BOYER: The ATF defeat was complete. Now Waco was the FBI's
crisis. Lord knows we all think we know a lot about what happened at Waco. But
five months ago, in the basement of a Texas law firm, we discovered the Waco files_ 7,000 government photographs, wiretaps and hundreds of hours of telephone
negotiation tapes that had never been revealed to the public. Together they provide
an extraordinary inside view of the FBI's 51-day stand-off at Waco and the fiery
conclusion that killed 75 Branch Davidians. These files unlock the real story of the
Waco stand-off, what was going on inside the minds of the men whose day-by-day
decisions added up to disaster.
....
PETER J. BOYER: The HRT are ready with a plan. It's simple, aggressive and
quick. Under the cover of darkness they would take the compound with Bradley
tanks and gas. The Davidians, overwhelmed, would come out. They are ready to
act, but first the plan must be approved by Washington.
The record shows that using tanks and gas on a compound still holding 25 children
was a tough sell to this attorney general. As a local prosecutor, Janet Reno had built
a reputation as a zealous child advocate. And on Monday, April, 12th, she said no
to the gas plan.
The FBI didn't relent. They came back at the attorney general. "The plan's too
aggressive,'' she said. Then they'll water it down. She worried the Davidians might
use the children as shields. If they did, the FBI promised to back off. Most of all, she
worried that the gas would permanently damage the children. A military expert
assured her the gas was safe.
For five days the FBI tried to eliminate her objections. After the Waco fire, Reno
would say again and again that she authorized the gas plan because children were
being abused.
JANET RENO: [ABC News "Nightline''] We had had reports that they had been
sexually abused, that babies had actually been beaten. I asked when I first heard that
for them to verify it and, again, that was the report that was brought back.
PETER J. BOYER: When she said, "I was told that babies were being beaten and I
said, 'What do you mean? Babies are being picked up and beaten?' 'Yes,' I was
told, 'babies were being beaten' ''_
WILLIAM SESSIONS: Then she will have to say who told her that. Certainly, I did
not.
PETER J. BOYER: She says she doesn't remember.
WILLIAM SESSIONS: Well, if it was impressive_ something that impressed her
tremendously, then she's responsible for what she heard.
PETER J. BOYER: But FBI documents uncovered by FRONTLINE confirm that
as the Bureau was pressuring Reno to approve the gas plan, someone in the FBI
told her that children were being abused at Waco. But the FBI knew that children
were not being beaten during the stand-off. [interviewing] At the time, what she said
was, "I was told that babies were being beaten.'' She told me that she was told that.
Web Hubbel told me that he heard her being told that. Did you tell her that?
WILLIAM SESSIONS: No.
PETER J. BOYER: It is still not known who had told Reno about the child abuse,
but on Friday, April 16th, she changed her mind and approved the gas plan. The
FBI is ready, but will the Davidians play the role the FBI has scripted for them?
When the gas goes in, will they come out?...
pbs.org |
