[February 28, 2018] Twenty-five years ago today, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) began a siege to the Branch Davidian religious compound outside Waco, Texas. After seven weeks the siege ended with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) storming the compound, resulting in the deaths of 80 men, women, children of the religious group and four government agents. What are the lessons from the Waco siege that we can learn so that they will not be repeated?
The Waco Siege, as it is known, was a tragedy. There is no other way to properly describe it and the failures by leaders in the ATF, FBI, and in their chain of command were significant enough that Congressional hearings were held. Despite the outcome of those hearings, which failed to hold anyone accountable, there are many in law enforcement and the media that argue the hearings were a rubber stamp let the U.S. government off the hook.1
What are the leadership lessons that can be learned from the Waco Siege?
- The tragedy at Waco led many Americans to lose faith in, or to at least question, their confidence in the power of the federal government. The U.S. government depends upon the faith and confidence of its citizens for it proper functioning and for its success.
- The Branch Davidians are an Adventist religious group that suffered a deadly attack by the U.S. government. While it is not a mainstream religion, that is irrelevant in the minds of Americans who overwhelmingly support religious freedom; one of the fundamental reasons for the founding of this nation.
- The attack on the Branch Davidian compound by the FBI supported by the ATF and the U.S. military (National Guard), was a massive response to no immediate deadly threat from the religious devotees. The devotees did possess many illegal and legal weapons, massive amounts of ammunition, explosives, etc. but were not using them to attack others.2
- It has been admitted by all levels of government involved that the tactics used were wrong. What we need to remember, however, is that a single tactical battle does not determine the outcome of a war. Our FBI and others up to and including the President Bill Clinton failed to understand the strategic implications of the attack. That is why Americans continue to mistrust the government.
It would be easy to say that the senior ATF and FBI agents on the scene, or their heads of their respective organizations, or the U.S. Attorney General, or the U.S. President should have been held accountable. Of course, that didn’t happen. Fortunately, internal changes in both the ATF and FBI now make it more difficult to repeat this type of event; most of the changes tactical in nature.
Responsibility and accountability are the hallmarks of good leadership. Leaders have duties that place them in a unique position to exercise limited power over others through authority vested in their positions. They also know that they are accountable for what they and their people do or fail to do.
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I’m not that old and I remember the video and pix from then … flames and death.