Check the larger image I posted at #102...
Is that a bus in the clearing just off the entrance road?
Buses make handy barricades when needed...
Re your #103:
"Buses make handy barricades when needed..."
I would not worry about the bus nearly as much as the command det IEDs in and along the entrance road, frankly.
Even sending in an M-1A would not be a risk free endeavor.
I would at least send in an A-10 Warty or two to plow the road and 20 ft. of either side up with 40MM before trying it.
Heck, they could probably blast a whole new road in a matter of seconds.
And if helos are used, watch out for the RPGs, fellas.
Who knows what else they might have in there?
Going in without rock solid intel and coordination would surely be a "fool's errand", and could quickly escalate to all out domestic war.
These guys, I suspect, are no Branch Davidians.
And that may be why the Feds are keeping their distance.