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The SPOTLIGHT on the Media

  • A film documentary presents overwhelming new evidence that the FBI systematically shot and deliberately burned alive women and children in Waco.
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By Jarret B. Wollstein

A stunning new motion picture documentary -- Waco: The Rules of Engagement -- blows the lid off of years of media and government lies about what really happened in Waco.
For nearly four years, the FBI and Clinton administration have insisted that the Branch Davidians committed suicide and burned themselves. Now infrared film, taken by the FBI, shows these claims to be utter fabrications.

It also shows how the FBI was acting on direct orders of the White House deliberately and systematically massacred at least 76 men, women and children in Waco.

People in the audience were crying at the horrifying scenes of government brutality revealed in this documentary.

The heart of the film Waco: The Rules of Engagement is extensive FBI aerial FLIR (Forward-Looking-Infra-Red) film, obtained by the surviving Davidians attorneys for their trial two years ago. Other sources include audio tapes of the government negotiations, and videos made by the FBI, BATF and Branch Davidians. Some of this information has never before been made public.

HEAT IMAGES

Most crucial is the FLIR film, which records heat images, rather than visible light. The FLIR film clearly shows events behind the building, concealed from news cameras. Heat images also make visible government troops and tanks firing bullets and grenades.

Film of the initial BATF attack on February 28, 1993, shows machine guns being fired from Texas National Guard helicopters into the wooden building filled with women and children. FBI negotiator Jim Cavanaugh is also heard admitting that agents fired from helicopters a crucial fact repeatedly denied by government officials and a clear violation of laws against the indiscriminate use of deadly force.

Revelations about the devastating April 19, 1993 final assault which was, according to the film, directly controlled by the White House are even more horrific.

The film shows FBI tanks systematically crushing the wooden building, which then housed some 80 men, women and children, room-by-room. Simultaneously loudspeakers blare "this is not an assault." Moments later, an FBI tank can be seen dragging the crushed body of one Davidian between its treads.

As the Davidians home is demolished, most surviving women and children (identified by infrared photography as blobs) crowd into a single concrete room with just one door. FBI troops and armored cars then advance. They repeatedly fire automatic weapons into the room through the walls and the single door, killing anyone who tries to escape.

HOLOCAUST

Finally, FBI tanks fire grenades at three separate locations in the building. Fireballs immediately rush down the corridors and fire engulfs the building.

Most remaining survivors burn to death, while the FBI prevents any fire trucks from entering the property. A subsequent official investigation finds military pyrotechnic (i.e., fire-starting) grenades near the site where two fires began.
Prior to the final assault, you also see FBI tanks spraying CS powder dissolved in methyl chloride into the building. An FBI supervisor boasts on camera that they deliberately saturated the Davidian women and children's final refuge.

CS is a chemical warfare agent, whose effects include burning of the skin, nausea, inability to breathe, vomiting, and death (particularly among children).

In January 1993 three months before the final siege of Waco the government signed an international treaty banning the use of CS in war because it is too inhumane. As shown in the film, a few seconds exposure to CS causes soldiers to become incapacitated and scream in pain. At Waco, infants, pregnant women and elderly men were sprayed with CS repeatedly for over six hours.

SAVING CHILDREN?

The FBI's justification for gassing children with CS was to "get their parents to surrender." But as one witness declared at the congressional hearings, "In America we protect children. We don't torture them for the alleged crimes of their parents."

Forensic experts also testified that when CS burns, it produces hydrogen cyanide gas the same gas used to execute convicted murderers. Indeed, coroners confirm that corpses in the ruins had high levels of cyanide.

What comes next is not for weak stomachs. In hellish scenes, you see footage of the contorted, crushed, charred and bullet-ridden bodies of men, women and children, silent testimony to the ruthless brutality of the federal government.

All of these events and images are juxtaposed with film of repeated public denials and lies by the FBI, BATF and Attorney General Janet Reno. Official after official testifies at the House hearings that "not a single shot was fired by the FBI on April 1993, "the Davidians shot themselves," "the Davidians set themselves on fire," "we gave them every opportunity to leave peacefully," and "the government's first concern was to protect the children."

Footage in Waco: The Rules of Engagement including the FBI FLIR film has been offered to major news stations across the United States. To date, every single station has refused to broadcast it. According to Waco's producers, CBS and 60 Minutes have had the film for more than two years but will not show it.

The House Waco Investigation also had all of this information, including the FLIR film. Yet at congressional hearings, both Republicans and Democrats swept the crucial evidence under the rug.

Waco: The Rules of Engagement was independently produced by Dan and Amy Gifford. They are professional film makers.

Waco: The Rules of Engagement deserves to be seen by every American. If the information in the film is correct, hundreds of FBI and BATF agents and dozens of top FBI, BATF and Clinton administration officials conspired to commit mass murder in Waco and then covered up their crimes. They should be behind bars, not be running the government.

Information about theaters showing Waco: The Rules of Engagement can be found on the Internet at http://www.waco93.com. Contact independent theaters and TV stations in your area and encourage them to show the film.