The official government line about Waco, repeated by Attorney General Janet Reno on numerous occasions, is that the Branch Davidians died at their own hands, either by killing each other or by suicide, during the inferno that erupted there on April 19, 1993.  An advisory jury in a civil suit brought against the government agreed with this official government line.

    Statements made by Janet Reno during March, 2000, however, when played backwards, cast doubt on the official government position.  Listen to the reversals and make up your own mind as to whether Janet Reno is credible in her forward speech.  A few of the reversals have been put to music for added effect.  The musical ones are identified as such and will take longer to download.

    The reversals are in Real Player format which compresses them to save space and make downloading faster.  If you don't have Real Player 5 or a more recent version, you can download it free from the company's site at http://www.real.com/products/player.  After you click on the sound files, which end with the suffix .ra, I suggest that you minimize Real Player at the bottom of your screen so you can read the quotes while you verify the forward and reverse speech that you will hear.

    The forward speech is quoted first with brackets [like this] showing where the reversals occur.  The reversals are shown below in bold type like this.  The forward speech is played first.  Then each reversal is played at three successively slower speeds.  Then the bracketed forward speech segment where the reversal occurred is played  and immediately followed by the reversal, all at normal speed.

    Opinions and comments shown below are those of the author and may or may not accurately reflect the true thoughts of the speaker.

    Reno refers to one point in the negotiations when the Branch Davidians threw their telephone out of the window.

    Reno refers to her desire to ensure the safety of everyone when she and the FBI set up a plan to end the standoff at Waco.

    Reno justifies destruction of the gymnasium walls at the Davidian compound.

    Reno claims she would have believed the government, if she was a Davidian, and felt she would have safely left the compound before it was gassed on the morning of April 19.

    Reno further claims she would have continued to assume that she should leave the Davidian building once the operation started on April 19.

    Eliminate our aircraft here, there will be bruise it  //  Initiate not, they're off the hit  // With no final offer, sought the hit                                          reno36.ra

          musical version setting last reversal to music  hitsquad.ra

Comment:  In her first reversal Reno indicates that the use of aircraft by the government was limited by the fear that the Davidians could shoot at them.  The second reversal is very revealing.  The Davidians would not have been killed if they had not killed the ATF agents months earlier.  "Hit" is slang for killing someone.  The federal agents were ready to avenge the deaths of their ATF comrades.  It was not determined until a later criminal trial that the Davidians were acting in self-defense in response to over zealous ATF agents trying to serve a search warrant.  The third reversal indicates that tossing the telephone out of the window sealed the fate of the Branch Davidian group which included many women and young children.  Although not mentioned by Reno, the Davidians later requested a resumption of telephone negotiations.  Before the fatal fire started, military tanks driving around the compound reportedly cut through the telephone wires.

    And that's an obvious duck, answer not  //  And after siren off, heck, we not in it  // Now we have atheist solution in it                                       reno20.ra

    musical version setting last reversal to music    atheist.ra

Comment:  The government plan of operations did not call for use of the tanks to take down the compound's walls until 48 hours had passed and tear gas had failed to bring the occupants out.  Instead of following this plan, the tanks were used the very first day of the plan, shortly after the tear gas had been inserted, to tear down walls of the gymnasium at the back of the compound.  Reno was asked to confirm what her own plan had provided and she would not answer the question.  Her first reversal confirms that she won't answer the question but will duck it.  Her second reversal confirms the utility of trying to pawn off responsibility to the on-scene commander:  if things turn out badly ("and after siren off"), Reno avoids responsibility since she was not involved in what occurred ("heck, we not in it").  The last reversal is somewhat chilling.  Reno sees the loss of life by approximately eighty Davidians who perished in the inferno as an aetheist solution to the standoff.  If there is no God to hold one accountable, situational ethics can justify anything.

    Lazy ambush did it, did cuts their throat  //  Working didn't it?  Everybody has it.  reno38.ra

Comment:  The tank assault on the gymnasium knocked down a wall and cut off one exit route from the building.  Does it make sense to you that this was done to verify that no one was in the gymnasium?  Reno really believes that this was a lazy ambush that figuratively cut the Davidians' throats.  The second reversal probably refers to the official government version of what occurred.  If you are a bureaucrat and want to cover up what happened, a good way to do it is to prepare and circulate internally the results of your so called investigation so everyone knows what the party line is and sticks to it.  The official version was distributed within the FBI and Justice Department before it was released to the press.

    I would not but I might get shot in it.  reno83.ra

Comment:  Reno's reversal corrects the false statements in her forward speech.  Not only would Reno not have come out that morning if she had been in the Davidian building, but she would have stayed inside knowing that she might get shot inside the building.

    You can live with that lie  // You believe in the night would get shot in it  //  I must soon be Nixon
                                                                  reno84.ra

Comment:  This Reno quote followed the quote shown above.  Taking the reversals in reverse order:  "Nixon" is a metaphor for lying or covering up.  Reno indicates she is about to lie.  The lie is her claim that she would believe she should go out of the building if she were a Davidian.  Not only would she not leave the building, but she believes she would have been shot in the building that night.  Due to the fire, the drama never extended to the night.  Why would Reno believe that the Davidians would have been shot that night?  There was speculation and rumor that President Clinton had authorized "Delta Force," a specialized black ops unit within the military that was admittedly present at the scene, to kill the Davidians if they would not surrender.  Such an action would require a specific Presidential justification to avoid the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act which generally prohibits the military from actively participating in civilian law enforcement.  The first reversal indicates that Reno is comfortable with telling her lie about exiting the building if she had been a Davidian.

Copyright 2000
by Mark Commerford