MovieChat Forums > Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997) Discussion > this film makes many many assumptions an...

this film makes many many assumptions and is not balanced

posted 13 years ago by skekurc
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Assumptions.
Something red next to a tank: it could be a body!
a flash or explosion: must have been the FBI who did it!
A fire starts in a house: it must have been FBI who started it!

to be logical and intelligent, other considerations need to be put forward as a counter argument

ie.
the red next the tank - could just be something red (should we consider that? yes!)
Flash of light we think is an explosion: could have just as easily been made by a Davidian grenade (yes, it COULD BE)
Fire: Anything could have sparked it - seriously, anything. (why doesn't the film go down the line of considering it tragic, circumstantial fire?) (also the possibility that the Davidians started the fire!)

points that the documentary chose not to include:
At one point in the documentary, it plays audio recordings from the FBO device where we can hear davidians reacting in panic to the tanks. Well if the filmmakers had access to these recordings, then why did they not use the pieces later in the recordings (which are in the transcript) where it is clearly heard the Davidians saying "they got two cans of coleman fuel down there', 'light the fire', 'so we light it when they come in with the tank, right?' or that the Davidians testified to seeing other Davidians pour fuel around inside.
the high resolution photographs during the tank assault show no people from either side.
the testimonials of surviving Davidians who said they started the fire.
The video tape that Koresh made during the siege was used in some parts in the film but not the scenes where he introduces his 'wives' and then many minors say that they have children fathered by Koresh.

The children that were released from the compound in the first three days... they had the attitude that their parents were already dead, when asked to draw how the siege would end, they drew the building on fire. Through the children, the psychologists knew that the Davidians expected and prophesied a fiery death, therefore it was a self fulfilling prophecy. One of the children even said that as she was handed over, her mother said 'these are the men that are going to kill us'. In my opinion, it's similar to suicide-by-cop, they were prepared to fight to the end. This is documented in a chapter of a psychology book 'The boy who was raised as a dog'. The book has no political agenda.

Still, that being said... none of this justified tanks breaking down a building with people in it. Shame on you FBI.

[–] kulgion 13 years ago

where it is clearly heard the Davidians saying "they got two cans of coleman fuel down there', 'light the fire', 'so we light it when they come in with the tank, right?

It was suggested by other Davidians that they were trying to make molatov cocktails to throw at the tanks. It's possible that this effort accidently started a fire. But, that is irrelevant because the FBI launched 400 CS cannisters and pumped tankfulls of CS gas into the compound. This went on for hours. These CS cannisters said "not for indoor use" on the label. This in and of itself is a crime against humanity. It is quite possible that the majority of the Davidians were incapacitated or even dead by the time the fires started. This CS gas mixed with kerosene that had been knocked over by tanks and made the air in the compound very volatile. It was revealed in 1999 that the FBI did indeed fire pyrotechnic grenades inside the Mount Carmel Center, much to the dismay of Janet Reno, who always insisted that all cannisters fired inside were non-pyrotechnic. These grenades ignited the CS gas, the fires spread quickly as 25 mph winds fed the flames through the holes the tanks made. One national guard tank driver claims he saw an FBI agent go inside the building and a fire started immediately after that FBI agent exited the building. Linda Thompson's video, Waco - The Big Lie, shows FBI agents wearing fire protective suits and head gear, before the fire starts.

The children that were released from the compound in the first three days... they had the attitude that their parents were already dead, when asked to draw how the siege would end, they drew the building on fire. Through the children, the psychologists knew that the Davidians expected and prophesied a fiery death, therefore it was a self fulfilling prophecy.

Yes they taught that, but they weren't the ones fulfilling the prophecy. Babylon, or in this case, the FBI was fulfilling the prophecy.

Karesh taught that suicide was a sin.

http://reason.com/archives/1999/10/04/what-happened-at-waco/3

Reason: Did anyone ever talk to you about a suicide pact?

Thibodeau: No. You have to understand that it was scriptural. Koresh believed and taught that if you take your life, you don’t go through God’s plan for you in this world and therefore you have no right to salvation.

The children drawing pictures of fires are referring to the book of Nahum which was a teaching that Koresh made, about how the Davidian's would have to battle it out with Babylon in fire. Koresh on one occasion told the FBI agent not to come in and burn them out.