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Waco, 1993

 Great characters make a solid book. "Waco" has three memorable people:


*David Koresh. This was a terrible human being; he raped children, and it seems he had a fondness for corporal punishment. It's interesting to note that survivors of Waco have *not* renounced Koresh; survivors continue to think he knew what he was talking about. (By contrast, Manson people now know that Manson was a conman; Jim Jones people now understand that Jim Jones was a con.)

Koresh did not have far-right beliefs, but, in death, he has become a tool for far-right figures (pro-Trump insurrectionists, Alex Jones). By dying in such a catastrophic way, Koresh became a figurehead. Now, when an insurrectionist is feeling agitated, he might make a reference to "Waco 2.0."

*Janet Reno. Although Koresh was awful, the federal government can be problematic, as well. You can acknowledge this without becoming a conspiracy theorist. The ATF understood that a "surprise" raid would no longer count as a surprise--but the ATF went ahead with its sloppy plan. People died. Next, the ATF lied to the American public: "We had every reason to believe that Koresh was unaware of what we were doing." This kind of coverup makes citizens angry.

Weeks later, Reno allowed the FBI to fire tear gas into the Waco compound. No one considered that the lunatics in the compound might not want to run *toward* tanks to end the standoff. (Cult members would be running with little children in their arms.) Reno was assured that all tear-gas pellets would be non-combustible; this was a lie, and Reno didn't dig down to the truth before testifying. But the truth emerged--and so another coverup was exposed. Not a great look for the federal government.

*Bill Clinton. The President did want Reno to study alternative solutions to Waco, but time and money were an issue. Even though cult standoffs had sometimes been diffused in a peaceful way, via negotiation, the Waco situation was just making people impatient. After the Waco disaster, Clinton was eager to dump all of the blame onto Koresh, and to defend Reno against calls for resignation. One wonders if Clinton familiarized himself with the children who died, including a three-year-old who was stabbed to death, in an attempt at a mercy killing. (Better to bleed out than inhale smoke, or wait to be incinerated.)

I think Jeff Guinn's new book, "Waco," is captivating, and I'm haunted by the deaths. Unbelievable.
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