Waco Siege Justification
Years before he was the leader of the Branch Davidians, Koresh was born by a teenage mother in 1959. In his childhood years, Koresh claimed that he had seen God, who had spoken to him and labelled him the messiah. Besides, it is believed that Koresh had memorized the new and the old testament when he was 18 years old (De Villiers, 2018). In 1993, a day that would remain synonymous to most of the Americans, there was a 51-day siege between the government and the extremist religious sect led by Koresh (Wessinger, 2005). The siege intended to collect and arrests Koresh for illegal possession of weapons and ammunition. However, the plan failed due to decisive action by law enforcers that led to the death of close to 76 Branch Davidians.
Both the Branch-Davidians and law enforcement agencies’ actions were not justified during the siege (De Villiers, 2018). Since the primary intent of the law enforcers was to arrest Koresh and confiscate the illegal weapons, the Branch Davidians group could have adequately complied to avoid causing further harm to the larger group. (Wessinger, 2005) On the other hand, law enforcement agencies could have taken time to identify the groups of people in the facility before deciding on their next course of action.
How I could have handled the Situation
We are in an era where it is extra vigilant on human rights. As such, the use of lethal weapons and force would not have been in my plans. Instead, I would have postponed the siege and employ a non-violent approach in capturing the leader and confiscating the illegal weapons (De Villiers, 2018). This exercise could be achieved through gathering intelligence on the group, their activities and operations so that I could understand their strengths and weaknesses (Wessinger, 2005). I would have launched my attack based on their shortcomings, minimizing casualties while also maximizing on the primary intent.
References
De Villiers, P. (2018). The spirituality of apocalyptic and millenarian groups. The case of the Branch Davidians in Waco. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 74(3). doi: 10.4102/hts.v74i3.5152
Wessinger, C. (2005). Autobiographies of Three Surviving Branch Davidians: An Initial Report. Fieldwork in Religion, 1(2). doi: 10.1558/firn.v1i2.165