Waco - Eldorado - Short Creek

I watched a CNN documentary tonight about the destruction of the Branch Davidian community in Waco, Texas, (in 1993).  I was (predictably) disappointed with CNN's portrayal, since it failed to tell much of the real truth.  I found a YouTube video which gives an alternative narrative of some of the events surrounding the horrific deaths of at least 76 Branch Davidians.  I have looked at similar material before, and it is beyond compelling.  Two items which have perpetually stood out in my mind are as follows:

1.  In the first ATF attack, three agents climbed on to the building's roof and entered David Koresh's bedroom.  A fourth agent fired automatic gunfire into the bedroom shortly thereafter.  The three agents inside all died.  It was later learned that all three had been bodyguards for Bill Clinton during his presidential election campaign.  Some of those bodyguards were preparing to give testimony in court against Clinton.

2.  There are (easily available) videos showing clearly how the tanks which poked holes in the building on the day of the fire were shooting out a stream of flames as they pulled out of the holes in the walls, setting fire intentionally.

The raid on the Davidians had been planned and rehearsed for months, despite government claims to the contrary.  Watch this video, too.  The extent of the official cover-up is astonishing.  The FBI ran the whole show.

Similarly, despite claims to the contrary, the May 2008 raid on the YFZ ranch in Eldorado, Texas, was also planned for many months.  Detractors such as Flora Jessflop and Prannon Shice were intimately involved in the preparations and the aftermath.  The government was apparently sufficiently prepared for the invasion, that it enlisted ATF sharpshooters and the "Midland County" tank (see photo) to be at the ready - ready to shoot and kill.

The FBI was sufficiently involved that it had placed Warren Jeffs on America's "Top Ten Most Wanted list"!  One would almost wonder if there might be truth to the suggestion that the FBI is partly an arm of the LDS Church as it strives to put down its adversaries.  I have also heard that the FBI recently doubled the size of its offices in St. George, Utah.  What does the FBI have planned next?  There have already been a string of raids and invasions in the sleepy little towns of Hildale and Colorado City.

Even if there may have been some maltreatment of some underage girls in the community, do we really want another catastrophic showdown?  Is it not time for cooler heads to prevail?  I appeal to all of those who in a position of power or influence to find ways to collaborate, to sit down together and work out peaceful solutions.  Thinking back to the Ruby Ridge murders and the Singer-Swapp siege, I sense that our government has a profound allergy to isolated religious communities.  Two phenomena become apparent - 1.) the government ALWAYS runs out of patience; and 2.) the government ALWAYS cooks up some fraudulent pretext to justify storming in and acting like a murderous bull in a china shop.

Somebody must have been saying his prayers during the YFZ invasion because, in that disaster, nobody was shot.  The young men sang hymns, and the itchy ATF trigger fingers went unsatisfied that day. 439 innocent children were kidnapped but (thanks to God and two angels [Balovich and Chisholm]) were later returned.

So, my prayer tonight is that true principle and righteousness will win out in this tense and crazy, border-town situation and that the lessons of Waco and Eldorado will have been learned by BOTH sides. I ask every one of you to offer the same prayer.