MONTANA STANDOFF

It is too easy to imagine the final dramatic moments as federal agents swoop down on the Freeman compound in a remote area of Montana, complete with devastation and the accompanying loss of life. Does this sound familiar?

The lessons of Ruby Ridge in Idaho and the Branch Davidian compound in Waco apparently are hard to learn. While prosecutors and courts have an awesome responsibility to maintain civil order and respect for the law -- both of which were ignored by the Weavers in Idaho and the Davidians in Waco -- there is a point of diminishing returns when the full force of federal authority is unleashed and innocent people are killed.

The 70-plus-day standoff with the Freemen in Montana looks chillingly similar to previous encounters that have resulted in unnecessary deaths. The question that grows larger with every passing day is whether such deadly force will be required again. Another way of asking that question is this: What would happen if the FBI walked away from the no-man's zone that has been created around the Freeman compound?

The issue isn't the innocence or guilt of some of the people holed up in the Freeman enclave. But do the purported crimes equal such costly and deadly force for weeks on end? In Idaho, Randy Weaver would eventually have presented an opportunity for his own arrest. In Waco, members of the so-called cult came and went freely to and from their compound before being surrounded by armed government agents, again giving authorities ample opportunity to take action selectively -- opportunities, by the way, that federal authorities for some still unexplained reason chose not to take.

Surely America isn't ready for another armed action by federal agents in a situation where doing nothing poses little threat to national security and protects the lives of the innocent.