The stand-off between David Koresh and his followers, and the United States Government dragged on for weeks. Reading through his life, as we have done in this book, we have learned two important facts: (1) Koresh deeply feared arrest and imprisonment. (2) Former followers who had left the place said he spoke of a possible mass suicide, and, to get his group used to the idea, he had them practice for it on several occasions.

After the initial ATF raid, on Sunday, February 28, 1993, when several were killed or wounded, there had been remarkably little action. In fact, little more than conversations, broadcasts, negotiations, admissions, denials, agreements, reneging, anger, and waiting had occurred. Men, armored carriers, and tanks had been brought in. A command station had been set up, and a small army surrounded the compound.

Over a million dollars a day was spent on the government's side of the stand-off. The needs of those inside were far less. They had enough food to last a year, and a hand-pump well inside the house. When would it end? How would it end?

Former followers of Koresh knew very well how it would end. They said that, if he had his way, he would not leave that building alive.

The terrible crisis in that compound, 10 miles east of Waco, will remain a terrible tragedy long after it is concluded. Either it would end in mass suicide or in prison sentences for several of the key men in the compound. Women defiled by Koresh would have to live with the burden of what he did for years to come. The families of several government agents would long wonder why such crazy people are still in the world. Many will question whether all Christians were like the people in that compound, when, in reality, those people were not Christians. Christians just do not shoot and kill people and indulge in such hideous adultery.

The tragedy of Waco will be with us for years to come, yet it was such a senseless tragedy.

Before Jim Jones killed all his followers in 1978, he would practice having them drink juice, then laugh and say, "See you just drank poison! I just healed you!" So they were ready when the real thing came. Both Jim Jones and David Koresh have promised their followers that, if they died following their leader, he would resurrect them.

WORDS OF WARNING

Warnings were given, long before the fiery end. They came from former followers of David Koresh or from reporters who interviewed them:

"I do know Vernon is very reluctant to leave the property. I think he feels safer with all his people all around him." Marc Breault.

"Cult members believe that Howell will 'open' them [open the seven seals], setting loose catastrophic events that Branch Davidians believe will end the world.

"As part of that prophecy, Howell, who believes himself to be Christ, told cult members that they would die one day in a shoot-out, according to former cult members.

"However, he claimed the U.S. Army would come after him, out of jealousy over his many 'wives.' Followers were told they would be resurrected after their deaths and return to slay the unbelievers, former cult members said."-Waco Tribune-Herald, March 1, 1993.

"When you get down to it, Vernon just did what he's been saying he would do for years."-Marc Breault, commenting on Sunday's shoot-out.

"None of the children Koresh released after the shoot-out were his, the heirs to the House of David, exmembers believe. So all is still in place for the grand finale.

"The adults, says [Robyn] Bunds, are probably happy to stay. 'They are waiting to get zapped up to heaven where they will be transformed and fight a war where they get to kill all their enemies. The only people that may be sorry are the parents who had to let their children be released.' "-Newsweek, March 15, 1993.

"As Vernon has said in the past, if any authorities come, he will resist with gunfire. Authorities only got what they were warned about in advance. You've seen the pictures of the compound. He designed it that way. It's clear all the way around. There's no way anyone can approach without being seen. There's no way."-Marc Breault.

"Former cult member, Robyn Bunds, said she's afraid cult members may be planning to die this Friday, if you go by Howell's comparisons of himself with Christ. Bunds said Howell taught that Christ died on a Friday. 'I know what they're doing, but no one understands,' she said. 'I've tried to tell authorities, but they can't seem to understand.' "Waco Tribune-Herald, March 4, 1993.

" 'We've learned from members of the cult that he has trained the cult members to kill themselves both with weapons and with poison,' he said. 'He's actually run training sessions in that.' "-Dr. Rod Fowler, educational psychology professor at University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, quoted in Chattanooga News-Free Press, March 16, 1993.

"A former cult member, who left within the last year and asked not to be identified, fears the cult may commit suicide. The cult discussed ways to commit suicide, the former cult member said, including taking cyanide or shooting themselves in the head. "-Waco Tribune-Herald, March 4, 1993.

For David Koresh to come out would mean the saving of 86 human lives, including 24 children-17 of which were under the age of 10. But it would also mean a long prison sentence for him, personally, probably for life. It would also prove him to be a false prophet. And Koresh, we have found, cared little for others. He could beat and terrorize little children, lay with the wives of his most devoted helpers, and give everyone but himself an impoverished diet to keep them in line.

But to die without coming out would mean a closer fulfillment of his prophecies. He could go out as a glorious leader, a great martyr for a cause found only in the imaginings of his mind. Sure, it would mean death to his best friends, but what did he care? They were too hypnotized to recognize that mass suicide would only help him, and no one else.

THE FIFTY-ONE DAY SIEGE

Here is a quick overview of the most significant events during the siege:

February 28: About 100 ATF agents pull up to the compound. In the gun battle which follows, four agents are killed and 16 wounded. Several inside are also killed or wounded (Koresh later said six of his followers, including his two-year-old daughter, had also been killed.) Not long after, four children are released.

March 1: Koresh speaks live over the radio, and releases ten children. This is the last live public comment by him.

March 2: Two women and six children are released. In a conversation with the negotiators, Koresh agrees to surrender if he is permitted to prepare a lengthy taped sermon, which will then be broadcast. That day, the sermon is broadcast on radio and television. Koresh reneges and refuses to come out with his followers.

March 3: Koresh tells the negotiators that he is awaiting "further instructions from God" before coming out. Another child is released.

March 4-5: Two more children are released.

March 12: Two adults leave the compound.

March 15: Steven Schneider, Koresh's top aide, and attorney Wayne Martin meet with an FBI negotiator and Sheriff Jack Harwell. Nothing is accomplished.

March 18: The FBI begins using loudspeakers to blare tapes of negotiations to Koresh's followers.

March 19: Two of Koresh's followers leave the compound.

March 21: Seven followers leave, including one who is hospitalized with a heart condition.

March 22: Using immense volume, authorities play moaning chants of Tibetan monks to rattle those inside the compound.

March 23: Another follower comes out.

March 24: Koresh says that they were beginning to celebrate several holy days, and breaks off negotiations.

March 28: After four days of silence, Koresh again talks to negotiators. An attorney, said to be hired by Koresh's mother, first talks to him on the phone.

April 1: Federal officials hope a breakthrough might occur in conjunction with Passover time.

April 8: The FBI announces that the cult leader has said there is no significance to Passover, and they have no plans to surrender when it ends.

April 9: Koresh sends the FBI a letter warning that an earthquake will rock the Waco area, and break a dam on Lake Waco.

April 10: Koresh sends out a letter, purported to be from God, which promises to smite His enemies.

As the days turned into weeks, it gradually became more and more clear that David Koresh had no intention of leaving. Of course, his former followers already knew that. They had also predicted that Koresh would ultimately lead his followers inside the compound in a mass suicide.

What was it like in the compound during those 51 days? Jesse Amen was the man who eluded agents and ran into the building during the siege, and remained there for more than a week. He describes it:

"Life inside the doomsday cult's besieged compound included rock 'n' roll jam sessions powered by emergency generators, guns lying around within reach of children, and free love for the leader, David Koresh.

"Jesse Amen, who spent more than a week inside the Branch Davidians' compound, after racing past federal agents to join Koresh, said the cult leader welcomed a violent showdown as the standoff wore on.

"David repeatedly said, 'Bring it on,' Amen said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. 'He said, We are ready, if they want to fire.'

"Guns from a reported $200,000 cache of weapons were kept handy in case agents tried to storm the place, Amen said. 'The guns were just lying around,' he said. He added that children were often in the same rooms with the weapons.

"Amen, described by the FBI as a religious fanatic, joined Koresh on March 26. He left the compound April 4 and has been jailed on a charge of interfering with a law officer.

"During the 51 -day stand-off, Koresh often responded to the raucous noises blared over FBI loudspeakers by staging mini-rock concerts on a moment's notice, Amen said.

"Koresh, 33, had long been known around Waco as a would-be rock star and even wrote a song called 'Mad Man in Waco' in the mid-1980s.

"They would play their terrible sounds, and David would just go in, crank up the generator, and play his guitar,' Amen said. 'The other brothers would be playing the drums and David would be singing to the stars.'

"The performances would drain the electric generators the cult was forced to rely on after authorities cut power March 12, Amen said.

"Amen also said Koresh was the only 'person allowed to be with the women,' whom the cult leader claimed as his `wives.' Koresh was believed to have up to 15 wives and fathered more than a dozen children." [CHATTANOOGA NEWSFREE PRESS, Wednesday, p. 1, far left, concluded on p. 2, col. 1 ]

MONDAY, APRIL 19, 1993

All was quiet during the early hours of Monday, April 19. Then, at 5:30 a.m. (one report says a few minutes before 6 a.m.), the telephone rang. Steven Schneider, David Koresh's right-hand man, answered it. On the other end was a federal negotiator. The message was brief: Either come out or be ready to be forced out.

At this point, Schneider had a golden opportunity. He could tell the negotiator to wait a few minutes, while he ran and got Koresh. But Schneider probably knew that Koresh was on his usual schedule: up half the night with one or more women, and not wanting to arouse till later in the morning.

At any rate, hearing the news Steve Schneider went into a white-hot rage. Without answering, he took the telephone and hurled it through the window. When he did that, the wall connection tore loose.

That was the end of the telephone, their only link to the outside world.

The line was dead, so the negotiator at the command center, located at the technical college in Waco, hung up the phone, turned to the man next to him and said, "It's time to go in."

Media crews were stationed about two miles away on a hill, overlooking the compound. About 6 a.m., Texas Department of Public Safety officials warned the reporters and cameramen to "take cover."

At 6:04 a.m., two or more army tanks began rumbling toward the compound. Within minutes, they began driving into the front walls, leaving holes about 8 feet high and 10 feet wide.

In response, Koresh's men began shooting from inside the building. One agent estimated at least 75 rounds were fired at them. The government agents did not return the fire. There were no injuries.

About 6:15 a.m., an ambulance rushed toward the compound with lights flashing. At 6:55, authorities telephoned Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco to be on alert.

As this was going on, Koresh decided he wanted to talk to the negotiators again. He probably wanted to stall them off, but we will never know for certain. If he had wanted to leave, all he had to do was walk out unarmed with hands in the air.

But there was no phone; Schneider had torn out the wall connection when he hurled it out of the building. So they took another white sheet and painted on it the words, "Repair the phone."

That was the last message from inside the compound.

About 8 a.m., an armored vehicle with a large battering arm rips into the second floor of the compound. Minutes later, another hole is punched into the second floor of the back of the compound. When this is completed, all the armored vehicles rumble off a short distance.

About 9 a.m., President Clinton holds a short news briefing to announce that Attorney General Janet Reno had earlier discussed the matter with him, and that she has given a go-ahead for the plan which is in operation.

About 9:20 a.m., another armored vehicle returns to the compound and bashes in a good-sized hole where the front door once was. Once again, everything is quiet at the compound.

At about 10 a.m., a modified M-60 tank with a boom attached, begins pouring in tear gas through a hose.

In Washington, D.C., at about the same time, FBI spokesman Charles Mandigo announces that tear gas is being sprayed into the compound.

At 10:30 a.m., FBI agent Bob Flicks said the ramming of the building and the use of tear gas was "the next logical step" to ending the 51-day stand-off.

Normally, tear gas is inside a canister and hurled. When it lands, an explosive inside blows it apart and the gas is released. But the FBI was anxious that no fire be started in the compound. So they pumped it in through hoses, using compressed air to force it into the building.

The chemical agent, known as CS, is composed of fine crystals which are as small as talcum powder. When mixed with a liquid, it becomes Mace. It has a peppery odor, stings the skin, eyes, nose, and throat. It can also cause a runny nose, cough, tightness in the chest, and dizziness. It can incapacitate a person for five to ten minutes. Therefore, the agents were careful to use a light dosage, not likely to overcome the small children.

The objective was to force the men, women, and children to run outside the building. But federal agents expected that they might put on gas masks and remain inside for awhile. This they must have done, since they remained inside so long. But the filters on gas masks give out eventually.

A gas mask or wet cloth can be used over the mouth and nose to filter out the chemical. But eventually the filters clog up.

About 11:30 a.m., armored vehicles rumbled up to the building and began bashing in more holes. Then they stopped and waited. Agents, hovering behind them for shelter, waited for individuals to come out and surrender. Surely those gas mask filters would clog up soon.

Eventually the filters did clog up. Whether with the agreement of all his followers, or without it, at 12:15 p.m., Koresh sent several men throughout the house to set it afire. He was determined to die and take everyone with him.

The fire began four hours after the gas began entering the building.

Lantern fuel was spread throughout the building, and then at least three cult members began lighting it. Agents in protective gear were outside the building, and one, peering in through a window saw a man enter a room, squat down, wave his hand about as if scattering something-and then, suddenly, a wall of fire was there.

One survivor, Renos Avraam, later said that the FBI started the fire when one of its hole-punching tanks, spraying tear gas, knocked over a lamp. But another survivor told investigators that lantern fluid had been poured through the wooden complex. That latter report appeared to be confirmed by several agents who, independently, saw men inside setting fires. Fuel containers were later found in various places throughout the ruins. The strongest evidence, however, was the suddenness with which the entire building began fiercely burning. The government has a videotape, taken by a nearby helicopter, which showed three fires in different parts of the complex suddenly starting to burn.

From a distance, a tiny wisp of smoke was seen coming out of the building. This very quickly-very quickly-turned into seething inferno. Flames and smoke poured from the compound. One person was seen on a roof. But soon there was so much smoke that he could no longer be seen.

In one instance, a woman ran out of the burning building, then stopped, realizing that, according to Koresh's teachings, she would be lost if she did not go back in. But, as she tried to re-enter the building, an agent stopped her. She was one of the few survivors.

The federal agents decide to call the fire engines. These are back at the station houses in Waco. It takes 30 minutes for them to arrive. For a time, they are stopped at a road check-point.

It just so happened that strong winds were blowing that day. These fanned the fire into a roaring mass of flame and smoke.

At 12:28 p.m., someone with raised hands could be seen walking toward an armored vehicle. Then a second person came out, dragging something-possibly another person toward an armored vehicle.

At 12:30 p.m., fire has already destroyed much of the building. Parts of the roof begin collapsing.

At 12:38 p.m., the first fire trucks arrive at the compound. By now, it is a sheet of flame.

It was hoped that some of the mothers might have placed their children in the half-buried bus, in order to save their children. So-fire hoses were poured upon it. As soon as it was barely cool, agents went in it, in the hopes of finding children still alive within it. They did find some dead bodies, but these may have been individuals who had died earlier.

At 4 p.m., federal authorities announce that there were only nine survivors.

The large compound, built within the last four years with money given to Koresh by new converts (many of which died with him in the blaze), was totally gone. Eight-six people died inside the compound, including 24 children-17 of which were under the age of 10. One was only 5 months old. Seventeen of the children had been fathered by David Koresh himself.

Eight adults and a 17-year-old girl survived. David Koresh, a 33-year-old high-school dropout, and all the rest were dead.

In addition, 21 children, who had left the compound during the siege, had lost one or both parents. A total of 36 people, including those 21 children, had left the compound during the 51-day siege. By the end of the siege, the Texas State Child Custody Services had custody of 11 of them; 10 others had been released to relatives.

Some of the bodies had bullets in them. But it was not clear as to whether they were killed so they could not flee the building, or whether some of the ammunition exploding in the fire had penetrated them. One burned body was found several feet from the building.

President Clinton quickly ordered two federal agencies to begin investigations, and both the Senate and House started their own investigations.

The day after the siege ended, on Tuesday, April 20, the original search warrant papers-which led to the February 28 battle-were unsealed. They said that Koresh's group had spent nearly $200,000 accumulating a high-powered arsenal in just 16 months and were preparing for "a military type operation in which all 'non-believers' would have to suffer."

There is no connection.

Remember that, when Victor Houteff-after being kicked out of Bulgaria in 1907 came to America- was a man who would spell trouble to any church he later joined. He could have become a Baptist or Methodist. But he happened to join the Adventist denomination (in 1918), where he remained until they kicked him out a little more than a decade later.

In the sixty years which have transpired since then, Houteff and his followers have preyed upon Adventists-and anyone else they could reach-trying to lure them into acceptance of their strange ideas that they could not die, and one day soon rule the world from Jerusalem.

But Houteff and the leaders which followed him were not Seventh-day Adventists. Nor were their followers, as soon as they accepted their strange beliefs.

For a moment, let us briefly compare some of the teachings of Koresh (who incorporates most of Houteff's and Roden's teachings)-with the beliefs of true Seventh-day Adventists:

THE BASIC TEACHINGS OF DAVID KORESH

Former followers of David Koresh, declare that he has six fundamental beliefs:

1 - David Koresh (formerly Vernon Howell) said he was the Son of God, Jesus Christ incarnate. Not only did he claim to be the sinless Jesus that came to earth 2,000 years ago, but he also claimed to be a second sinful Christ who must experience sin and degradation at the end of time, in order to properly judge people at the end of the world. He liked to call himself "the sinful Messiah." In short, he said he would save people by his sins. He said his father was God and his mother was the Holy Spirit. The idea to call himself Christ, he inherited from Houteff and Benjamin Roden; saying that the Holy Spirit was his mother, came from Lois Roden. Basically, Koresh had only followed in the steps of the Shepherd's Rod, turned Davidians, turned Branch.

2 - Koresh said he would be the ruler over God's kingdom, and soon he would open the seals and end all the kingdoms of earth. After that, he would rule the world with his wives, his children, and his followers-in that order of position. Yet, in order to achieve his goals, he was not afraid to burn them all up.

3 - Koresh said that he owned everything and everybody. This included all women, married and single-everywhere in the world. When his followers acquired automobiles, appliances, property, or wives, Koresh considered this theft, since, in his view, all that really belonged to him.

4 - Koresh said that he was the only person in the world able to interpret the Bible properly, and that no one else should try to do so. They should listen to him and do as he told them.

5 - Koresh said that his most important teaching concerned the seven seals of Revelation, which, when he decided to open them, would bring great catastrophes upon the entire world. (A joke is going about the city of Waco during the February to April siege. When reporters asked people on the street what they thought of Koresh, some laughed and said they were waiting for him to get around to opening the seals.)

6 - Koresh said the end would come when he and his followers were attacked at their compound near Waco, Texas. Then God would judge the entire world, resurrect Koresh and his followers, and let all their enemies be slain.

THE BELIEFS OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS

Such ideas leave anyone in his right mind astounded. Such thinking is unbiblical, non-Christian, and savage. The morals of civilization would be broken down if Koresh's views were widely accepted. Everyone would be his own god, taking whatever he wanted, regardless of the rights or safety of others.

In complete contrast are the beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists. Their teachings are clean, wholesome, Christian, and health-producing.

As for health, several research studies have shown that Seventh-day Adventists in California have a better diet and way of life than the average person in that state. As a result they tend to have a significantly longer life span.

Morally, the beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists are good for people, and help them become better fathers and mothers in the home, and better citizens in the community.

Seventh-day Adventists believe that Jesus-the Christ of the New Testament-is returning soon in the clouds of heaven, and they must prepare for that great event, through His enabling grace, by living clean, honest lives. They do not believe that God will ever ask them to kill anyone.

There are few Christian organizations in the world today which try so hard to help others, as do Seventh-day Adventists. If national disaster occurs, they quickly send loads of food and clothing to the place. This is not done to make a name for themselves, but because they want to help the sick and suffering, as Jesus did when He was in our world.

Seventh-day Adventists have one of the largest denominational hospital systems on earth. They also manufacture health foods, hold how-to-stop-smoking seminars, and conduct other types of health seminars.

A keen interest in nutrition and natural remedies, such as hydrotherapy, has always marked the lives of sincere Seventh-day Adventists.

Seventh-day Adventists try to live peaceably with their fellowmen. They accept the warning of Jesus that "all who live by the sword will die by the sword." Killing others, they consider a violation of the sixth commandment.

Seventh-day Adventists did not organize themselves as a denomination until 1863; yet, today, they are among the fastest-growing Protestant denominations in the world, with a presence in 206 countries. On the average, someone joins that church family every 52 seconds, and four new congregations are being organized daily. It is of interest that nine out of ten of its 7.2 members live outside North America.

Seventh-day Adventists try to teach others about Jesus, and how to be saved by enabling faith in Him. They explain that, by His grace, men and women can be forgiven their sins and enabled to obey the teachings of the Bible.

Seventh-day Adventists are good friends and citizens. Their way of life is not part of the problem, but part of the solution.

It is clear from the above, that Seventh-day Adventists have no conceptual relationship with the weird teachings of Victor Houteff; or Benjamin, Lois, and George Roden; or David Koresh. There is no similarity; no connection; no comparison.

The two groups are worlds apart.

The information in the previous chapters of this book came from Seventh-day Adventist, Davidian, and media sources. The present chapter is based on findings discovered after the siege and fire ended, by an independent investigator (Linda Thompson, an attorney living in Indianapolis). The more the Waco tragedy is analyzed, the more questions there are that arise.

On February 25, 1993, magistrate, Dennis Green in Waco, issued an order for a search warrant to the ATF, at their request. Why did the allegations in that search warrant, prepared by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), include morals charges against certain people living in the Mount Carmel Center? The ATF is only empowered to concern itself with taxes paid on certain types of guns, enforce U.S. gun laws, and search for weapons violations. It has no authority over allegations of child abuse or polygamy.

Why had not child abuse charges, when earlier investigated in 1991 and 1992 by the Texas State Department of Welfare (and, separately, by the McClennan County sheriff's department), been found to have no evidence supporting them?

Agent Agallera, in preparing that warrant, stated that undercover agents inside the Koresh complex had seen "upper and lower receivers on AK-47s." But AK-47s have one piece receivers, and do not have separate upper and lower receivers. Did the undercover agent really see AK-47s in the compound?

The warrant also stated that a neighbor heard automatic machine guns fire. Yet that complaint had earlier been reported to the county sheriff's office, which, upon investigation, reported that it had found no evidence of automatic machine guns at the complex. Koresh's group did have hellfire switches on semi-automatic guns, but these were legal. In addition, they could have had legal machine guns, if they had been willing to pay a $200 tax on each one. But none were found within the complex. Yet the raid was launched on the suspicion that Koresh's group had machine guns which they had not paid the $200 tax on.

In July 1992, ATF agents went to Hewitt Arms, a gun and gun-parts store in Waco. Koresh's men had purchased 225 guns from Hewitt Arms. Henry Mahon, former owner of Hewitt Arms, told Pete Zoroles of the Mobile (Alabama) Press of his phone call to Koresh at the time. He said he told him that the ATF was disturbed by all the guns that Mount Carmel Center had purchased from Hewitt Arms. Mahon said that Koresh's reply was, "Tell them to come on out." But the ATF never did, until the raid seven months later.

When the raid came on February 28, 1993, agents are shown on video footage piled behind cars and station wagons shooting repeatedly at the house. Yet there is no evidence of anyone firing back at them. The cars are untouched, and no bullets are hitting the dirt, the men, or the cars. So many agents are firing, that they have to lean out quite a distance from the car cover to shoot. Yet none are hit.

The press reported that the agents were only using handguns. Yet the video footage clearly shows several of them firing with two types of automatic weapons: MP 16 and MP 5 machine guns.

Two teams of four agents, each with a ladder, were sent to climb onto a roof and enter the complex. They are carrying machine guns. Yet, in the video footage, there is no evidence that anyone was firing at them. Upon reaching the roof, they try repeatedly to tear open a window. All the while, nothing is fired at them.

Then one man throws a smoke bomb through the window, and three agents climb in. Still no bullets go through the walls. Then the remaining agent on the roof is seen going to the window, apparently firing into the room with two bursts of his machine gun while the opaque curtain obstructs his view of the dark, smokey room. Immediately, gunfire erupts from inside through the walls, hitting him in the helmet. Did he shoot his own fellow agents inside? Did they fire back through the walls and hit him? It is known that the three agents inside were hit by gunfire and killed.

Sharon Wheeler, spokesperson for the ATF, soon after said the problem that day was that "they [Koresh's men] had bigger guns than we did." How could those within the compound have bigger guns than machine guns? If they had such guns, why did they not fire into the men and the cars they hid behind? Why did they not fire at the men bringing and climbing the ladders? Were any guns fired from inside?

David Koresh later said, "They [the ATF] fired on us first." Who did fire first? Was there any return fire?

Mike Shroader was one of the members of Koresh's group. He had gone to work that morning in Waco. Hearing of the raid, he hurried back-because his wife, Kathy, and their four-year-old child were inside. When he tried to climb over the wire to enter the building, he was shot seven times: through the eye and heart, and five times through the back. Dead, he lay on the wire for days. The ATF later said that Shroader was killed because he was trying to leave the compound. He was trying to enter, not leave. If he had been trying to leave, why shoot him for trying to do so? (Government documents say he was trying to enter, not depart.)

Soon thereafter, the press was kept three miles from Mount Carmel Center, and other citizens five miles from it. All phone lines from the compound to the outside world were cut off. Shortly after the raid, the FBI took over, and all news came through special Agent Bob Ricks.

It is illegal to use military troops against U.S. citizens, under the Posse Comatatis Act, 18, U.S. Code 35. Why then did the FBI bring in tanks from nearby Fort Hood to surround the compound?

It is legal to use national guard troops against drug violators. But no evidence was ever found at the complex of drug violations.

Tanks were sent in to crush the cars of those who were inside the cluster of buildings. Why destroy cars, when they might contain evidence of violations?

On March 27, 1993, the London Times printed an article entitled, "FBI brings out secret electronic weapons as Waco siege drags on." In that article, two facts were revealed:

The British Strategic Air Services sent a special surveillance plane to Waco, which took thermal images of everyone in the building. Then, at night, agents crept up to current unoccupied areas of the house, and quietly inserted two types of devices in the walls and air vents- diagrams of these were shown in the article. One type was heat and sound sensing detectors, which could "see" everyone within each room and where they were located in the room, and hear what they were saying. The other devices were fiber optic cameras. The devices were attached to small transmitters on the outer walls, which relayed information to FBI receivers at a distance.

If the FBI knew where everyone was at night, why did they not enter the building through empty rooms, and capture, them alive?

If the FBI heard everything said, why did they not accept the advice of one man who fled from the complex, partway through the siege? He told them that the people inside were planning to definitely come out on May 21. Why did not the FBI wait until that date, instead of trying to terminate the siege earlier?

It was said that the FBI and ATF had to end the siege quickly because they had so many troops and tanks there.

But, if they had those sensing devices, why did they need - over two hundred troops stationed about the compound? The complex was surrounded with barbed wire, placed there by the agents. If the people suddenly tried to leave, they could easily be stopped by two or three dozen agents. Keep in mind that many women and children were involved. Why would the men, upon coming out, be expected to fire, when to do so would mean to have their wives and children shot to death as a consequence?

April 19 was the day the place burned down. Yet no reports of gunfire from inside the compound were ever heard that day-in spite of all the activity outside.

It was said that non-flammable CS gas was used that day, without success, to bring the people out. But if that had been done, they ought to have exited-very quickly! According to tests made on volunteers, CS gas rapidly drives people out of buildings.

Early that morning, video cameras revealed the first tanks, as they arrived, and stationed themselves over the underground bunker and near a hole made at the corner of the house (where the tunnel from the bunker entered the building). Agents could be seen exiting and entering the tanks.

Many people were to die that day in that underground bunker.

At c. 6:10 a.m., smoke began coming from the underground bunker, over which the tanks and agents were located. The first smoke did not come from the house.

At about the same time, the first prodding tank retriever begins work on the walls. But it is not punching holes in the walls for air to enter. Instead, it is destroying the opening over the bunker, before proceeding to the corner of the house leading to the bunker. It is alleged that this was done so that no one within the now-burning bunker could escape.

Then the corner end of the house, over the entrance to the burning bunker, is destroyed by the tank. This would effectively block the other entrance to the bunker.

Three holes are then punched into the walls to collapse three stairwells, effectively cutting off the possibility that anyone could go up or down those stairs. This stopped access to or from the second floor. Why would that be done, if they wanted those inside to run out of the building? The sensors would notify the FBI what later morgue analysis revealed: the children were on the second floor.

Why does the video next show a tank moving to the walls-with a flaming jet of burning gas issuing out of a nozzle attached to its forward end? Why then are flames immediately seen issuing from nearby windows?

Why did the video show a man on the roof of the house, who jumped down, and then slowly walked away, without being intercepted by an agent. Yet he was later said to have been someone escaping from the compound.

Why was there no evidence of gunfire from inside the building at any time during that day?

Why were agents seen walking around the building in large numbers-yet none were fired on, ducking for cover, or firing at the building?

As the building burned, why did tanks methodically push outer portions of the complex into the fire-apparently so everything could be more completely destroyed?

Waco may remain an enigma for many years to come.