In 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) received assistance from the U.S. military, including counterdrug program support, while investigating violations of federal firearms laws by members of an obscure sect, the Branch Davidians, and their leader, Vernon Howell (also known as David Koresh), in Waco, Texas. On February 28, 1993, as the ATF tried to serve warrants on the sect's compound, a gunfight erupted, idling and wounding agents and Davidians. A standoff ensued that soon involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The military provided support to the two federal law enforcement agencies (LEA) throughout the 51-day standoff, which ended April 19, 1993, when the compound was destroyed by fire. In August 1996, the House Committees on Government Reform and Oversight and on the Judiciary issued a report, "Investigation into the Activities of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Toward the Branch Davidians" (Report 104-749). The report recommended that we review certain aspects of the military assistance provided to the LEAs in this incident. We have reviewed the nature and extent of the assistance, including that from counterdrug programs, provided to these operations, as well as the counterdrug aspects of ATF's plans to serve a search warrant at the Davidian compound. We pursued three specific objectives: Determine whether the ATF's requests for support from military counterdrug programs met requirements for authorizing that support; Identify the measures ATF took to deal with any drug activity it might find during its warrant service, and determine whether those measures were appropriate for such operations where a methamphetamine laboratory might be encountered. Account for the types, costs, and reimbursements of all military support, including that from counterdrug programs, provided to the ATF and the FBI.

The authors analyze the origins, evolution, functions and dissolution of the office of the independent counsel, created in the late-1970s to investigate and prosecute alleged executive misconduct in the federal government. They provide an overview of how executive misconduct was handled in the 18th, 19th and early-20th centuries, and then review the Watergate investigations which led to passage of the first independent counsel law in 1978. A summary of each of the 20 independent counsel investigations is followed by a chapter on the dissolution of the law in 1999, regulations which replaced the expired law, and possible ways to handle future alleged executive misconduct.

The 1993 government assault on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, resulted in the deaths of four federal agents and eighty Branch Davidians, including seventeen children. Whether these tragic deaths could have been avoided is still debatable, but what seems clear is that the events in Texas have broad implications for religious freedom in America. James Tabor and Eugene Gallagher's bold examination of the Waco story offers the first balanced account of the siege. They try to understand what really happened in Waco: What brought the Branch Davidians to Mount Carmel? Why did the government attack? How did the media affect events? The authors address the accusations of illegal weapons possession, strange sexual practices, and child abuse that were made against David Koresh and his followers. Without attempting to excuse such actions, they point out that the public has not heard the complete story and that many media reports were distorted. The authors have carefully studied the Davidian movement, analyzing the theology and biblical interpretation that were so central to the group's functioning. They also consider how two decades of intense activity against so-called cults have influenced public perceptions of unorthodox religions. In exploring our fear of unconventional religious groups and how such fear curtails our ability to tolerate religious differences, Why Waco? is an unsettling wake-up call. Using the events at Mount Carmel as a cautionary tale, the authors challenge all Americans, including government officials and media representatives, to closely examine our national commitment to religious freedom.