[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"Does anyone have a clue as to why this was done. From what I had heard about the Davidians they were small potatoes. "

I'm convinced that one large factor was pride.
Plain and simple from the top on down. The inability to back down and say, "Eh, these folks are small potatoes. Let's pack up and go home."

After all, this was on national TeeVee! How could the BATF back down? Why, they'd look like a bunch of cowards!

How ironic that their actions made them look like just that.

[Howie]

If they hadn't run out of ammo they would have thinned themselves out pretty well.