THE LARGEST ASSAULT TEAM in the city's history was building up around the run-down white house at 722 Sev-enth Street in Berkeley. San Francisco SWAT details, Berkeley and Oakland contingents, federal agents from the FBI and the DHS.

The area was completely blocked off from traffic. Neigh-boring houses were quietly cleared one by one. The Bomb Squad was readied. EMS vans were pulled into place.

A gray Chevy van had pulled into the driveway twenty minutes earlier. Somebody was home.

I was able to station myself close to Molinari, who was in phone contact with Washington. A Special Operations cap-tain, Joe Szerbiak, was in charge of the assault team.

"Here's what we do," Molinari said, kneeling behind the barricade of a black patrol car maybe thirty yards away from the house. "We make one call. Give them a chance to surren-der. If they don't" - he nodded to Szerbiak - "it's yours."

The plan was to shoot in tear gas canisters and force whoever was in the house out. If they came out cool, mean-ing voluntari............