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tombuchta
Reviews
Waco: American Apocalypse (2023)
How Not To Respond to a Warrant
For the most complete account on who was legally responsible for what happened at WACO please google the text of the 2000 Special Counsel Investigation as well as the civil case what was filed by Davidian survivors and relatives. In all cases Koresh and the Davidians were held responsible and government found not guilty of wrong doing. If you watch the mini-series the facts reached in these investigations are presented fairly but of course there will be those who choose to believe personal accounts and accusations of Davidians and their supporters which are presented uncritially, in spite of the fact that these have been refuted in every unbiased investigation and court case.
In the end Koresh and Davidians chose to fight the Government rather than submit to a lawful warrant. They bragged about their opposition, belief and willingness to murder and die. It is sobering to consider how many people still are willing to believe lies and consipiracies contrary to all evidence as demonstrated most recently by the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Blood Road (2017)
Accidental Account of a Terrible War
The story line, relationship of Rusch and her Vietnamese companion, interaction with the Vietnamese people today amidst the horrible legacy of our war there is fascinating and deeply disturbing. Rusch's naivete about the war, why it was fought is jarring. There was no South Vietnam created by the Geneva Treaty, it was a temporary division only two years until nationwide elections were to be held, elections that would have overwhelmingly elected Ho Chi Minh. The South was a US puppet created purely for political purposes. There was absolutely no justification for the US to be there. The millions of lives lost, destruction of the forests and villages were all for nothing. It was truly one of the great crimes against humanity of the 20th century. That the Vietnamese accept, forgive and move on is incomprehensible to me.
No Man's Land (2017)
Fatal Delusion
A fascinating and frustrating look at how the federal government has chosen to respond to armed right-wing anti-government extremists on federal lands in the west.
For most of us who treasure and enjoy the federal lands that have been gifted to us to use it was beyond frustrating to see local and federal law enforcement sit back and watch an armed takeover of the Malheur Refuge. The justification given by the extremists for their action was that the State of Oregon not the Federal Government owned not just these Refuge lands, but all federal land in the West. This fundamentally flawed notion advanced by Bundy and others was not examined in the movie. It has been rejected numerous times over the last 150 years and as recently as April of last year when Bundy's continued assertion of state ownership of federal land in Nevada was thrown out by Nevada State Judge Jim Crockett who concluded in part, "It is simply delusional to maintain that all public land within the boundaries of Nevada belongs to the State of Nevada."
The lack of any justification for the takeover leads inevitably to an equally absent plan or strategy for ending their takeover or way to declare victory. Indeed one can feel the impatience and anxiety of the occupiers rising after 41 days and the initial thrill and attention faded, local opposition mounted and roads were blocked and treats stopped being delivered. It apparently was this desperation for attention that drove them to leave the compound and to run a blockade resulting in Lavoy Finicum's death.
The show ends with the uneasy feeling that we have not seen the end of this kind of armed right wing protest. The documentary leaves the question of how to respond especially with a President who seems to openly encourage and defend such behavior. At least in this case it seems like an immediate blockade of the site limiting supplies and media attention would have forced their hand much sooner.
For more a more detailed account of the takeover including what happened at the occupied site you can visit Wikipedia's "Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge". As for Harney County citizens they held a primary election in May 2016 at which voters turned out in large numbers. All of the winning candidates had opposed the occupation.