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As discussed above, the Posse Comitatus Act does not apply to the National Guard when it is acting in its State status. As the events at Waco illustrate, actions taken by National Guard troops can never violate this law, even when those same acts would violate the law were they undertaken by active duty military personnel. The subcommittees question whether this distinction is acceptable to the American people.

The purpose of the Posse Comitatus Act is to prevent the government from using the military against its own citizens. Yet the National Guard and the Reserve exists in part, to augment the active duty military in times of need. National Guard troops receive military training. National Guard units are equipped with military equipment, in some cases the most sophisticated and lethal military equipment in the Defense Department's arsenal, including tanks, fighter and bomber aircraft, and armored personnel carriers. These units, by design, possess many of the same capabilities as active military units. In fact, almost one-half of the U.S. Armed Forces is composed of National Guard and Reserve forces. When activated by the President, the National Guard becomes part of the active duty military.

While Federal law distinguishes between the National Guard in its various "statuses," this distinction is unclear to the vast majority of the public. Many citizens no doubt would be surprised and concerned to learn that components of the same forces the United States used in Operation Desert Storm, Somalia, and Bosnia also can be used against them in the United States as long as the "status" of the troops used fits within the proper category. Given that many National Guard units have force capabilities similar to that of active duty units, it makes little common sense that one unit's activities may be constrained by the Posse Comitatus Act while another's are not. In short, if it is important to prevent military force from being used to enforce the civil laws, it should matter little the "status" of the force used against the citizenry.

The question of applying the Posse Comitatus Act to the National Guard has not been examined recently by the Congress. Accordingly, the subcommittees recommend that Congress hold hearings on this matter to determine whether the Posse Comitatus Act should be broadened to apply to the National Guard and what exceptions to the act's prohibitions, if any, are appropriate to the National Guard in light of its role and mission.

2. The Department of Defense should streamline the approval process for military support so that both Posse Comitatus Act conflicts and drug nexus controversies are avoided in the future. The subcommittees' investigation revealed that Department of Defense procedures for receiving, evaluating, and deciding upon requests for assistance from domestic law enforcement agencies was unclear in early 1993. Generally, requests for military assistance to domestic law enforcement agencies were channeled through the Director of Military Support (DOMS), an Army two-star general headquartered at the Pentagon who heads a staff that is on-call 24 hours a day. In some cases, commanders of local military bases are authorized to provide support without approval of the DOMS if the

As of 1993, requests for military support relating to counterdrug operations were not required to be submitted to the DOMS for approval but instead were channeled through Operation Alliance, a group representing agencies such as the ATF, the Border Patrol, and other Federal law enforcement agencies together with military representatives. Operation Alliance serves merely as a clearinghouse for requests, tasking actual military organizations to provide the support. In this case, Operation Alliance tasked Joint Task Force-6 and the Texas National Guard, two of the military organizations at its disposal.

Requests for support involving the use of lethal equipment, such as Bradley Fighting Vehicles and tanks,367 were to be made through the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon. Apparently, however, that requirement was not complied with in this

case.

The subcommittees believe that authority for approving military support for domestic law enforcement operations should be located within one office within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Centrally locating this responsibility will help ensure that uniform standards are applied in evaluating all requests for military support and that no agencies can successfully "end-run" the approval process. It also will reduce confusion among law enforcement agencies which, under the process as it existed in 1993, first had to determine without Defense Department guidance the purpose for the support (i.e., counterdrug or not counterdrug) and the type of military assets that might be involved (i.e., lethal assets or strictly non-lethal assets). The subcommittees believe that it is best left to the military, in the first instance, to determine the nature and type of support it is able to provide, in keeping with the Posse Comitatus Act and it own need to fulfill its primary defense mission.

The process for civilian law enforcement agencies receiving military assistance must require that all requests and approvals be in writing, specifying in detail the requested and approved military assistance. Additionally, the Department of Defense needs to establish a clear and concise standard for what constitutes a sufficient drug nexus. Congress should specifically establish criminal and pecuniary penalties for willful violations of the drug nexus standard. The subcommittees acknowledge that in May 1995, the Secretary of Defense directed the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy to establish a working group "to conduct a comprehensive review of the current system by which Defense Department evaluates and responds to request for assistance initiated by outside agencies." As a result of the working group's recommendations, the Secretary recently directed that requests for military support are to be channeled through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict. The subcommittees commend this decision to centralize the approval process for providing this type of support. This policy should be frequently mon

367 As discussed above, however, while some of these vehicles are considered lethal equipment the weapons systems in all of the military vehicles used by the FBI during the standoff had been rendered inoperative prior to the delivery of the vehicles to the Branch Davidian residence. Hearings, Part 3 at 314 (statement of Allen Holmes, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special

itored so as to ensure that law enforcement agencies, and field commanders, are complying with it.

3. Congress should review the legal status of memoranda of agreement for the interstate use of National Guard personnel for civilian law enforcement purposes. The subcommittees' investigation revealed that the use of National Guard personnel across State lines for law enforcement purposes is a common practice. This practice is conducted through simple, pro forma memoranda of agreement which rarely take into account State laws governing the use of the National Guard. The subcommittees believe that, in practice, many of these agreements supersede State constitutions and statutes without legal authority. The subcommittees are concerned that these agreements do not comply with Federal laws and may violate the U.S. Constitution.

The subcommittees recommend that Congress, the Department of Defense, and its National Guard Bureau come to an agreement on the proper legal status of these National Guard Memoranda of Agreement. If it is determined these agreements require congressional ratification, procedures to obtain such approval should be established by the National Guard Bureau.

Regardless of whether these memoranda of agreement require congressional ratification, however, the National Guard Bureau should establish a centralized review process for all Memoranda of Agreement involving the interstate use of the National Guard personnel. This review process must include a per case legal determination that pertinent State law is not violated by the agreement. 4. The General Accounting Office should audit the military assistance provided to the ATF and to the FBI in connection with their law enforcement activities toward the Branch Davidians. Given that the subcommittees have been unable to obtain detailed information concerning the value of the military support provided to the ATF and the FBI, the subcommittees recommend that the General Accounting Office conduct an audit of these agencies to ascertain the value of the military support provided to them and to ensure that complete reimbursement has been made by both agencies. If violations of the Anti-Deficiency Act or other Federal laws are found, the appropriate legal action should occur, including criminal prosecution if permitted under existing law.

5. The General Accounting Office should investigate the activities of Operation Alliance in light of the Waco incident. The subcommittees concluded that Operation Alliance personnel knew or should have known that ATF did not have a sufficient drug nexus to warrant the military support provided to it on a nonreimbursable basis. Senior DEA agents were members of the Operation Alliance board which approved requests for military assistance, yet they voiced no concerns regarding ATF's plan to directly assault an alleged active methamphetamine laboratory. Military officers were present when ATF was presented a paper detailing the potential dangers and special precautions required when dealing with an active methamphetamine laboratory. The purpose of the meeting was to determine whether a drug nexus existed. Even though there was evidence that no drug existed, those military officers present took no action. UPS receipts which allegedly detailed deliveries of precursor chemicals to the Branch Davidian residence and were used

to substantiate the drug nexus were nowhere to be found when the subcommittees requested copies.

Additionally, the subcommittees' review of military documents provided at their request and the results of interviews with persons involved in this matter clearly demonstrate that there was a continuing concern from senior military officers that JTF-6 was providing support to noncounterdrug activities, and that the Special Operations Command was attempting to reinforce resistance to this recurring misuse of military counterdrug assets and funds, referred to as "cheating." Given that the military assistance to ATF for Waco under dubious circumstances appears to not have been an anomaly, and the fact that Operation Alliance's jurisdiction has significantly expanded since Waco, the subcommittees recommend that the General Accounting Office investigate the activities of Operation Alliance.

VI. NEGOTIATIONS TO END THE STANDOFF WITH THE DAVIDIANS

Negotiations between the FBI and the Branch Davidians continued for 51 days during which time the negotiators utilized generally accepted negotiation techniques. The FBI was unwilling to engage in a novel approach toward the Davidians.

While American hostage negotiation training, especially FBI training, is thought to be the best in the world, there remains considerable room for reassessment and, based on the Waco record, improvement. The FBI possesses exceptional negotiators, but the Bureau was unwilling to engage outside experts and too eager to ignore the advice given by its own experts. The evolving nature of hostage barricade situations necessitates that in the future the FBI continually strive for the preparedness to confront more emotional and unpredictable barricaded subjects. At Waco, FBI resistance to different negotiation methods may have contributed to a premature decision to end the standoff.

A. THE CONFLICT BETWEEN TACTICAL COMMANDERS AND

NEGOTIATORS

1. THE PROBLEM WITH TWO TEAMS: ONE NEGOTIATING TEAM AND A TACTICAL TEAM

At Waco, the FBI Crisis Management Team was deployed. The Crisis Management Team is made up of a variety of law enforcement professionals, among them agents trained as tactical agents and as negotiators. The team was divided into groups with separate leadership and different responsibilities. Each team gave its perspective to Jeffrey Jamar, the Special Agent in Charge, who determined which strategy to employ in negotiations. There often was a conflict between these two approaches.

Although disposed to the active approach, Jamar allowed the proposals of each team to be implemented simultaneously, working against each other.

a. Standard Procedure in Negotiations

According to the FBI's Chief Negotiator, Gary Noesner, the conflict between tactical and negotiating teams is the one universal element in law enforcement operations of this type.368 FBI tactical forces are trained to act in stressful, violent situations. Agents are inclined toward the "action imperative," the sense among agents that motivates them to act.369 Negotiators are more inclined to

368 Briefing by Federal Bureau of Investigation Supervisory Special Agent Gary Noesner to the subcommittees, November 1995.

369 Id.

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