By Eric Lichtblau
TIMES STAFF WRITER

WASHINGTON-An angry Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, moving to quell a growing credibility crisis, promised Thursday (Aug. 26, 1999) to find out why the FBI has denied for six years that it used flammable munitions in the last hours of the Branch Davidian siege near Waco, Texas. But even as Reno and other federal law enforcement officials moved to answer new questions about the 1993 disaster, they acknowledged that their reversal of previous statements on the matter undermines their credibility.

In addition, it could give rise to a new round of conspiracy theories and reopen one of the most tragic chapters in the nation's recent history. The deadly end to a stand-off between the government and religious separatists, among other things, inspired Timothy J. McVeigh two years later to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City. The controversy over the government's misstatements in the Waco case already has fueled accusations of a cover-up from survivors and relatives of the dead - some of whom are bringing a wrongful death lawsuit that is scheduled to go to trial in October. And it has prompted calls for new congressional hearings on the matter from Republican lawmakers who have long criticized Reno for her handling of the Waco episode and a wide range of unrelated issues.

The disclosure "undermines the public's confidence in our ability to do the job," FBI spokesman Tron W. Brekke said in an interview. "It really hurts our ability to perform and it's very much of an embarrassment." Triggering the controversy was the FBI's acknowledgment earlier this week that its agents launched incendiary tear gas canisters - capable of catching fire - toward a bunker near Davidian leader David Koresh's compound hours before he and dozens of his followers died in the inferno outside Waco on April 19, 1993.

The admission marked a sharp departure from past statements. For years, Reno and other federal officials have insisted that no pyrotechnic or incendiary devices were used by the government that day. Lawmakers grilled Reno and FBI officials about the issue in weeks of high-profile congressional hearings. Just last month, when similar allegations resurfaced in Texas during the filming of a documentary on the disaster, Justice Department officials dismissed the notion as "nonsense." But after the issue was raised again this week in the Dallas Morning New, a further review of FBI records - including a 1996 memo that made reference to the use of the military-style canisters - prompted the bureau to reverse its previous statements, officials said.

The new information indicates that about 6 AM on the day of the disaster, agents fired at least two flammable, military-style gas canisters at a concrete bunker (actually, a buried bus. WFI Editor) - about 100 yards - from the main, wooden dwelling where the fire began about six hours later. Officials said that the agents were seeking to use the tear gas canisters to block an underground escape route between the bunker and the Davidians' main dwelling. Sect members had been holed up in the building for 51 days following a deadly gun battle with federal agents who had tried to raid the compound in response to reports of stockpiled weapons. Four agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms died in the shootout.

Reno, whose early days in office in 1993 were haunted by the prolonged standoff at Waco and its fiery conclusion, said that she still believes Koresh and his followers set the fire that ripped through the compound, killing 57 adults and 19 children. (Unfortunately for Reno, even if the FBI didn't directly set the fire, they were causally responsible because they turned off the electricity to the wooden compound, filled with straw, so that when tear gas was introduced, it was impossible for the Coleman lanterns being used inside, not to cause a fire. Perhaps the FBI didn't maliciously kill all the people inside, but they were definitely ambivalent about their safety, even to the extent that they prevented fire department personnel from trying to put out the fire. WFI Editor)

Reno said that, in approving the FBI's use of tear gas during the course of the standoff, she was concerned about the risk of a fire and received assurances that no incendiary devices would be used. Among the key issues now to be determined, officials said, is why that assurance was violated, who knew about the use of the incendiary munitions and how it was that top officials gave contrary reports in their public statements. (Witness, Americans, a bureaucracy that is completely out of control, running on automatic pilot: DO YOU FEEL SAFE? WFI Editor)

In addition, the 40 FBI investigators assigned to review the Waco massacre are also likely to pursue new allegations that members of the Army's secret Delta Force anti-terrorist unit not only was at the Davidian compound that day, but may have played an active role. The unit's involvement, if confirmed, would conflict with federal regulations restricting the role of military personnel in civilian law-enforcement operations. Subsequent to the FBI's announcement that it would investigate itself again, which did not placate many people, Congress announced that it would re-open its investigation into Waco. The revelations from these investigations could also complicate the government's defense against a $100-million lawsuit brought by more than 200 relatives of the Davidians. The wrongful death suit alleges that the FBI trapped the Davidians, helped to spark the deadly blaze and prevented firetrucks from reaching the scene. It also claims that the ATF used excessive deadly force in the initial raid on the compound.

SOURCE: Excerpted from the 27 August, 1999, issue of the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Edition, from an article entitled, "Reno Vows to Find Out Truth About Waco Seige."

It's probable that Reno was lied to by her staff. But that means that replacing her won't fix the problem. It means that the problem is deeper inside the organization. This is not the first proof that the Federal Government is out of control. And it won't be the last. Every loyal American should be thinking right now, about how we are going to get the Federal Government to, in corporate parlance, wind up its affairs for dissolution, in favor of a legal government that actually conducts itself in accordance to the ancient constitution. Short of that we are doomed to future acts of misgovernment and cover-ups and corruption, that can only undermine our civil society and lead to more disorder.)