[117358] in Cypherpunks
SNET: [piml] Clinton's Fingerprints on Waco Military Deployment
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Vladimir Z. Nuri)
Wed Sep 1 02:35:55 1999
Message-Id: <199909010613.XAA05817@netcom13.netcom.com>
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 99 23:13:23 -0700
From: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
Reply-To: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
From: LynLinC3@aol.com
Subject: SNET: [piml] Clinton's Fingerprints on Waco Military Deployment
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 12:24:23 EDT
To: LynLinC3@aol.com
-> SNETNEWS Mailing List
<A
HREF="http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=1999/8/28/110132">NewsMax
.com: America's News Page</A>
http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=1999/8/28/110132 <A
HREF="http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1993/
4/20/3.text.1">3.text.1 at www.pub.whitehouse.gov</A>
With Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com StaffFor the story behind the story...
Saturday August 28, 12:15 PM
Clinton's Fingerprints on Waco Military Deployment
On Friday, White House press secretary Joe Lockhart denied that President
Clinton granted a legally required waiver for an elite U.S. military unit to
participate in the FBI's attack on the Branch Davidian compound at Waco six
years ago.
By federal statute, the U.S. military may not actively engage in any domestic
law enforcement operation unless specifically authorized by the president.
But a document reviewed by Inside Cover indicates that Clinton sought a role
for the military in the 51-day standoff, which could link the White House to
the elite military unit's involvement, now alleged to be active, in the final
Waco conflagration. Eighty civilians, including 25 innocent children,
perished in the final assault on the Branch Davidian compound.
In its Friday editions, the Dallas Morning News reported the involvement of
the military's elite hostage rescue team Delta Force, citing multiple sources
who described the unit's role in the Waco debacle as hands-on and
operational.
On Friday Lockhart claimed that Clinton "was not asked to sign a waiver, nor
were we aware of any activity that would have required a waiver" in
connection with the assault on the Branch Davidian compound. No presidential
waiver would have been required had Delta Force's role been strictly advisory.
Yet the day after the Waco conflagration, President Clinton personally
acknowledged that he sought the military's help in bringing the Waco seige to
a close, according to a transcript of Clinton's comments available at the
White House's website.
Speaking to the press from the Rose Garden just 24 hours after flames
consumed the Branch Davidian compound, Clinton attempted to explain the
process that led up to the disasterous decision to launch the attack. Part of
that process, Clinton unequivocally stated, was his personal decision to
involve the military at the outset of the confrontation:
"The third question I asked was, has the military been consulted? As soon as
the initial tragedy came to light in Waco, that's the first thing I asked to
be done, because it was obvious that this was not a typical law enforcement
situation. Military people were then brought in, helped to analyze the
situation and some of the problems that were presented by it. And so I asked
if the military had been consulted. The Attorney General said that they had,
and that they were in basic agreement that there was only one minor tactical
difference of opinion between the FBI and the military -- something that both
sides thought was not of overwhelming significance.
"Having asked those questions and gotten those answers, I said that if she
thought it was the right thing to do, that she should proceed and that I
would support it. And I stand by that today." (Click here for full
transcript: Clinton's Waco Press Conference.) <A
HREF="http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1993/
4/20/3.text.1">3.text.1 at www.pub.whitehouse.gov</A>
http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1993/4/20/3
.text.1
Clinton's statement suggests that he knew about Delta Force's deployment and,
in fact, may have personally requested it. If so, Lockhart's denial that
Clinton had approved the elite unit's involvement would be wrong.
Questions now center on whether Clinton authorized Delta Force to play a
hands-on role in the gruesome Waco assault. Friday's Dallas Morning News
quotes former CIA agent Gene Cullen, who said that Delta Force was "present,
up front and close" when the final attack was launched.
Cullen added that Delta Force personnel had told him that the elite unit "had
10 operators down there, that they were involved in the advanced forward
stages of (the FBI's April 19, 1993) operations."
Texas Department of Public Safety chairman James B. Francis Jr. told the
paper, "I'm advised that there is some evidence that may corroborate" the
allegation that Delta Force participated in the assault.
Questions about Delta Force's role at Waco arose after the Dallas Morning
News reported that a former senior FBI official had acknowledged the use of
military style M-651 pyrotechnic tear gas grenades on the day of the assault.
Inside Cover gratefully acknowledges the contribution of L. N. Smithee, who
researched Clinton's post-Waco remarks for the Free Republic website.
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