BATF special agent (whether because he was on the payroll orrnto inspire more cooperation with investigations being unclear).rnHe had also served on BATF’s National Arson Response Team.rnOne of the last structures to fall at the compound was thernflagpole holding the Davidian flag (with its Star of David). Therngovernment promptly mounted the blue “A.T.F.” flag, alongrnwith the American and Texas flags, amidst the wreckage of thernbuilding, where lay the dead adults and children.rnFrom start to finish, charges of child abuse against Koreshrnwere used as justification for the government’s aggressivernactions. Was there really child abuse? According to child psychologistsrnwho talked with the kids released from MountrnCarmel (and who were consulted with by the FBI prior to thernfinal assault on April 19), children were taught that they mightrnhave to commit suicide. David Koresh took as wives in hisrnpolygamous “House of David” girls at least as young as thirteen.rnWhile girls of such age have often been brides in other culturesrnor other eras, Koresh’s actions violated the statutory rape lawsrnof Texas. None of the Branch Davidian gids contacted by staternchild abuse investigators were willing to testify against Koresh.rnChildren at Mount Carmel were also expected to be obedientrnand were spanked severely and often. This would not legal-rnThanksgiving Hymnrnbv Gail WhiternUpon this day of feastingrnto Thee, O Lord, we prayrnthat our uncertain blessingsrnendure another day.rnToday we’re strong and healthy,rnand of a long-lived race.rnPlease see that death arrangesrnexceptions in our case.rnWc see our neighbors losingrnthe goods they once enjoyed,rnso let us not be numberedrnamong the unemployed.rnPreserve for us our loved onesrnand give them happy livesrn(this blessing does not coverrnex-husbands and ex-wives).rnThank You for this year’s blessings,rnand send the same againrnnext )’ear, the next, and so onrnworld without end. Amen.rnly constitute child abuse in some other cultures, or in any generationrnof Americans before the current one, although manyrnmodern Americans would consider it abusive. Koresh himselfrnwas reported to have inflicted vicious beatings on several infantsrnand toddlers. Such punishments were clearly abusive. Allrnof these incidents occurred long before the BATF attack.rnThe children who came out of Mount Carmel were interviewedrnby the chief of psychiatry at Texas Children’s Hospital.rnHe concluded that the children were physically abused, but notrnso severely as to warrant state inter’ention. He found that “thernchildren released from Ranch Apocalypse do not appear to havernbeen victims of sexual abuse.” (This finding does not disprovernthat older chfldren, such as teenagers who had becomernKoresh’s wives, were not sexually abused, if statutory rape isrnconsidered sexual abuse.) The psychiatrist also concluded thatrnthe children were friendly, happy, likable, had good interpersonalrnskills, and were open to other people.rnThe Texas Department of Children’s Protective Services alsornexamined the children. The department found no evidencernof child abuse. Instead, the children were “surprisingly happy,rnhealthy, well adjusted, well educated, and only wanted tornreturn as soon as they could to their friends and relatives in therncompound.”rnAs Dade County, Florida, District Attorney, Janet Reno hadrnprosecuted several sensational child abuse cases. In one notoriousrncase, outside specialists were enlisted by the Dade CountyrnDistrict Attorney’s Office to “help” (pester and intimidate) allegedlyrnabused children into “disclosing” what had happened.rnUnder pressure from the investigators, many children finallyrn”disclosed” what the investigators apparently wanted to hear,rntelling lurid tales of ritual abuse, in which a 14-year-old churchrnbabysitter killed and ate babies, led naked dances around arncampfire, took the children to cemeteries where FreddyrnKrueger came out of a grave, and introduced them to flvingrnwitches. Many of these activities supposedly took place whilerndaytime church services were in progress at the church wherernBobby Fijnje was a volunteer babysitter.rnAfter spending 20 months in jail awaiting trial, Bobby Fijnjernwas acquitted on all counts. The child abuse, it turns out, wasrnperpetrated by Janet Reno’s well-meaning but misguided efforts,rnwhich jailed an innocent youth and implanted horriblernfalse memories in several small children. At Waco, Reno wasrndeceived into harming the very children that she had meant tornhelp.rnDavid Koresh, ne Vernon Wayne Howell, was physically andrnsexually abused as a child. (Among other things, as a juvenilernhe was repeatedly raped by a male relative.) He, in turn, physicallyrnand sexually abused others. If Koresh had been captured,rnhe would have been prosecuted and probably convicted of childrnabuse.rnYet the most egregious child abusers at Waco remain free.rnThese abusers launched an unnecessary attack on a children’srnhome for publicity purposes, held the children captive in miserablernconditions, and then attacked them with a dangerousrnchemical warfare agent, knowing full well that their actionsrnwould put the children’s lives at grave risk. Trapped in an inferno,rnchildren and their mothers could not flee because governmentrntanks, in violation of all plans and orders from the AttorneyrnGeneral, had destroyed the escape route. If PresidentrnClinton really cares as much about children as he says he does,rnhe will appoint a special prosecutor who will bring these childrnabusers to justice. ‘ crn20/CHRONICLESrnrnrn