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Saturday, Nov 22, 2008
Who tipped off the media about
the Waco raid?
BY ROBERT BRYCE, JIM MOORE AND JOE ELLIS
(04/19/00)
As a former reporter who has been extended the courtesy of joining in FBI, DEA and ATF raids, I must say that Cal Leudke is being quite unfairly crucified. It seems quite clear that the guilt for the botched Waco raid rests squarely on the shoulders of TV cameraman Jim Peeler.
Law enforcement officials often give us media types advance tips (or at least used to) -- we keep our mouths shut (which Peeler didn't), accompany the officials on their raids and the ends of both law enforcement and public disclosure are nicely served.
That television cameraman was simply unthinking or stupid. If you try to hang this on law enforcement, all that will result in is tight-mouthed law enforcement officials. And that clearly will not serve the public interest.
The problem is not "who tipped off the media"; the problem is what one irresponsible member of the media did with that information.
-- Rod Proctor
Your April 19 story by Bryce, Moore, and Ellis builds to its conclusion with a troubling sentence: "Every military strategist knows that maintaining the element of surprise is critical, particularly when resistance is expected."
The trouble is, what the ATF was undertaking seven years ago outside Waco, Texas should not have been a military operation. They are, at least in nominal authority, a law enforcement agency.
It has traditionally been of utmost importance to recognize and maintain the differences between enforcing laws and waging war. Actions such as the Texas raid and siege indicate that this distinction is no longer clear in the minds of some American officials. From the article you published, I'm sad to note that this isn't clear to your reporters, either.
If the examples at Waco cement the idea that police and military powers are one and the same, then there is nothing here but tragedy. If instead Americans use these examples to take notice of the trend and repudiate it, something good might come from the ashes of Mt. Carmel.
-- Tracy Harms
You're missing the point. The ATF, by any honest military standard, is primarily composed of poorly-trained amateurs. Dozens of accounts of their botchery and brutality have been published in various media -- not just nutjob right-wing newsletters. When NYC's "elite" Street Crimes Unit was expanded too quickly under political pressure, it lost that "elite" edge, and an innocent man paid the price. The Street Crimes Unit has been disbanded. The ATF has been involved in many such incidents -- perhaps it is time they were disbanded too?
-- Lee Cavett
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