My own comment, below, on David Koresh pales in comparison to the eloquence of this statement by Dominion, who actually had the misfortune of meeting Koresh and whose compassion for the victims of Koresh is evident. I hope everyone will read it.

To elaborate on what I wrote before, there is plenty that the federal agencies and the Justice Department can be faulted for, including underestimating the depravity of Koresh and his followers and trying to cover up some of their poor decisions (although made in good faith, under deplorable circumstances). My comments are not about defending the federal agencies, or the Clinton administration or even the Bush admissions, which was in charge when the ATF plan was first conceived. But the only persons morally responsible for the death of innocents are Koresh and the adults who chose to follow him. Any hostage situation can go wrong because the authorities are poorly trained to handle the situation or act out of ingorance or arrogance. But the blood is only on the hands of the hostage takers, who put the hostages in danger and can spare the hostages' lives at any time. In Waco, the only responsible parties are Koresh and the Davidians, who set fire to their own home and burned "their" children alive.