In the matter of Waco and the fire at the end. Those apologizing for the government have put themselves in a no win situation. Even if the Branch Davidians started the fire it was the government's fault.
There are as many common definitions of unbalanced and insane as there are people to give them. Certainly it means at the very least the person does something that he would not otherwise do in a normal state of mind. I think we can all agree that self immolation is not something one would do in a normal state of mind.
If we are in agreement at this point then we agree the Branch Davidians did not want to surrender. That was their normal state of mind. However, the case against the government is stronger if you consider that to be an abnormal state of mind. The government subjected them to psychological warfare to change their behavior.
This included at least sleep deprivation so far as we know. There are reports of much more advanced techniques. The intention was to change their "normal" behavior.
We do know that sleep deprivation can and will drive people insane. The government presumably accomplished that objective. They obviously failed in getting them to surrender.
If refusing to surrender was a sane act then the government intentionally drove them insane. If refusing to surrender was an insane act the government intentionally added to the problems of insane people. In either case given the government succeeded in its intent then even if they started the fire the government is at fault.
Whether or not the government succeeded or failed in its intentions is not provable at this time. What we can deal with is the intention. The intention may have been to surrender but as this is far from an exact science simply taking the initiative means taking responsibility for the results.
Not "intending" the results when the action caused it is not an excuse before the law. Not intending that they suicide is not an excuse for taking actions that were intended to make them do what they would not ordinarily do.
We can not replay history nor second guess it. If this were the apprehension of a wanted criminal rather than an attack upon a bunch of nobodies the methods would not be in question. That this may have been an attack upon mentally unbalanced people in the first place with means to unbalance them further is inexcusable.
There has to be accountability for this some day. And it is not to be a set of full pay retirements. This was felony murder no matter how you look at it. There is no excuse for this on our country. We can not permit it to happen again