Hamdania commander warned about excessive force
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | ∞
CAMP PENDLETON -- The Marine commander in charge of troops operating in the Fallujah area when an Iraqi civilian was kidnapped and shot to death last year said Friday that he routinely warned about unnecessary use of force.
Lt. Col. David Furness testified during a motions hearing for one of eight men charged in the slaying that he often counseled his men about their conduct when operating among the civilian population.
"What I had to impress upon the Marines was discretion in the use of force," said Furness, who commanded Camp Pendleton's 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment when it was in Iraq last year. "In the heat of doing that, Marines will get frustrated and fed up.
"Blowing up everything was easy, but that wasn't going to get us where we wanted to go."
Furness' appearance in the case of Cpl. Trent Thomas was the first time the battalion commander had testified in any of the dozens of court sessions arising out of the slaying of retired Iraqi police Officer Hashim Ibrahim Awad last April.
Thomas is one of eight men from a 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment platoon charged with murder and related offenses in the incident that took place in the village of Hamdania northwest of Baghdad. Five have pleaded guilty to offenses other than murder as a result of negotiated plea agreements.
The platoon was assigned to Furness' battalion because of shortages created by transfers to Baghdad in response to increasing sectarian violence in the Iraqi capital, he said. Its mission was to carry out patrols and counterinsurgency efforts.
"We needed to have Marines out mingling with the people they were there to protect," Furness testified.
Now the executive officer for the 1st Marine Regiment, Furness was called by prosecutors to explain why he approved a search of the accused men's belongings and why he had asked the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to conduct an investigation into the killing.
Thomas' attorneys are attempting to have evidence seized during that search and a resulting statement their client made to investigators barred from use at his trial, which is set to begin in June.
The 22-year-old Thomas pleaded guilty to murder and related charges Jan. 18, but was later allowed to withdraw those pleas and take his case to trial.
The judge who presided over the hearing, Lt. Col. David Jones, will announce his decision on the issue and a defense request for an exhaustive pre-trial hearing within the next few days.
Furness said he learned in early May that his initial belief that the troops' actions being within the rules of engagement may have been wrong. Word that the shooting was really a kidnapping and murder as relatives of the slain man were contending initially came from a U.S. Navy medical corpsman assigned to the platoon.
The corpsman, Melson Bacos who was the first to plead guilty in the case and received a 12-month jail sentence, told investigators that the squad had seized the man from his home, marched him to a spot where a roadside bomb had previously been detonated, tied his hands and feet and shot him to death.
The killing was carried out to "send a message" to Hamdania-area residents that the Marines were not going to put up with attacks, Bacos and the others who have pleaded guilty have testified.
It was just that sort of scenario that Furness said he often worried about.
"Too many Iraqis were being killed just traversing to and from their homes," he told the court, adding that Marines on the front lines often have no idea of how their actions are affecting the course of the war. "The sense of having an effect on the insurgency was not readily apparent."
The Hamdania killing came within weeks of the first public reporting and outcry over the deaths of 24 civilians in the city of Haditha at the hands of a different group of Camp Pendleton Marines, and that gave him pause, Furness testified.
"Haditha had just blown up and I believed it was prudent to protect the command, the Marines and the Marine Corps," Furness said of his decision to ask for a formal investigation.
Before the Bacos statement, Furness said he learned that the squad leader, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, volunteered to an investigator that he had shot the Iraqi three times in the head after discovering he was still alive despite having been shot multiple times.
Furness said he still was operating under the theory the shooting was justified and that Hutchins' actions weren't proper but could be excused.
"When he got there he should have administered aid, but I thought that was a minor violation -- putting three rounds into the guy's head to put him out of his misery."
Lt. Col. John Baker argued that all of Furness' actions were proper.
"Lt. Col. Furness is the epitome of a combat commander and a Marine Corps leader," Baker told the judge, adding that believing the defense's contention that his approval of the search warrant was anything but legal was "preposterous."
Hutchins is to go to trial next month. He also appeared in court this week as his attorneys attempted to suppress statements he made to investigators. The judge presiding over his case has yet to rule on that request.
The remaining defendant, Lance Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, also is slated to go to trial -- in late April.
In the Haditha incident, four enlisted men from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment were charged in December with murder and related offense. Four officers also were charged with dereliction of duty for allegedly failing to properly investigate that incident.
A firm court schedule for those eight men has yet to be established.
-- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
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John1 wrote on Mar 3, 2007 6:38 AM:"Epitome of a combat commander" - What BS. Furness NEVER was in the field during the operation of Task Force Chromite and turned down Lt. Phan's repeated requests for help with intelligence and translators. Furness is the epitome of a "FOBBIT"- a little burrowing officer who never left the Forward Operating Base. Running a Task Force in your PT gear is not the way to lead Marines.
DusmcC wrote on Mar 3, 2007 7:57 AM:Lt. Col. John Baker argued that all of Furness' actions were proper. "Lt. Col. Furness is the epitome of a combat commander and a Marine Corps leader," Baker told the judge, adding that believing the defense's contention that his approval of the search warrant was anything but legal was "preposterous." To comment on the above: A real Combat commander and Leader always stands by his Marines, takes responsiablity for his Marines and their actions or inactions.. if they are right and when they are wrong. ALWAYS.....No exceptions, no excuses. So why is it that no Marine over the rank of Sgt is being charged. The Lt Col in the above story sure covered his 6 and let his Marines take the heat. I would like to see the Real Leaders stand up and be responsable for the actions of the Men they are entrusted in to their care.
Respect wrote on Mar 3, 2007 9:15 AM:The apologists are out on the attack, trying to shift he blame from the criminals to the commanders. (So easy to whip up a little hatred against the brass.) I thank G-d for commanders who don't lie and hide the misdeeds committed by a very few men who ruin the reputation of the Corps and jeopardize the entire mission. That is the stuff that led to their achieving their rank.
MorallyGoofy1 wrote on Mar 3, 2007 10:18 AM:"Unnecessary use of force" - what is that??? Kill them all - they are all our enemies! And give all our guys medals for killing them. That'll make the world like and respect us.
John1 to MG1 and Respect wrote on Mar 3, 2007 12:11 PM:No. There's no shifting of blame. What happened, happened. But to call the Battalion CO's, Company CO's and Platoon CO's of Task Force Chromite, the 1/1 and 3/5 anything but slacking FOBBIT POG's is also inaccurate. Furnell was covering his hind end, and nothing more. He saw what happened to the 3/1 Btn CO after Haditha. Don't ascribe any moral "goodness" to the action. He could care LESS than a whit for the men of 1st Squad. What led to getting a Lt Col slot is punching a ticket every 2 years and not thinking too much on one's own. That Task Force relied almost exclusively on 1st Squad for intelligence and react force action because the CO, XO and staff officers of the Task Force were lazy and uninterested in the men under their command. MG1- that's just a stupid set of comments.
RedRover @ FreeRepublic to John1 wrote on Mar 3, 2007 12:48 PM:Thank you for setting the record straight here.
For the Record wrote on Mar 3, 2007 5:59 PM:Lt Col Furness was a very good Battalion Commander.
I have a stake in this wrote on Mar 4, 2007 10:28 AM:Itis guys like these, who take it upon themselves to use terror tactics against the citizens of Iraq, who provide the true aid and comfort to the enemey. They swell their ranks, embolden them to kill our troops and they spread world wide hatered for the USA. My grandchildren are threatened by their actions!
John1 to "I have a stake" wrote on Mar 4, 2007 12:07 PM:I disagree most virulently with your contention. And you completely ignore the complete meltdown of command and lack of support to men who could not decipher their mission, had no backup and were not listened to by their command. Yes, they made avoidable choices which turned out wrongly and horribly. But your comment is shallow and reactive, and as a grandparent, you should have learned by now to think more deeply on subjects.
What's in a word? wrote on Mar 4, 2007 5:28 PM: John1 unless you mean to imply that your disagreement is extremely poisonous or venomous or full of malice or objectionably harsh, you have the wrong word. I think you mean vehemently.
AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Mar 4, 2007 6:28 PM:Cpt.Kimber, Cpt.Stone, and Lt.Col.Chessani were held responsible for an incident that never should have come to the persecutorial process it has reached. Furness stated in court that when he heard of the Haditha inicident, it gave him pause. A 'pause' that seemingly gave him time and consideration in covering his rear. He stated his men should 'mingle' and use discretion in the use of force. How is one expected to "use discretion" when dealing with insurgents when one is dressed in full military uniform? It has been reported that the mission of his platoon was to capture and kill insurgents... NOT to "mingle". For Furness to sit in a court of law and make vague accusations against his own men that too many Iraqi's were being killed just traversing to and from their homes is ridiculous. IF it were true; what was HE, as a Lt. Col. in the United States Marine Corps doing about it... giving warnings and mingling? Are we to believe that he had no more leadership skills other than warning his men? HE was the COMMANDER! Were there reports of all this filed? The military always keeps records; with the exception of Interrogations. Bacos and Furness: CYA at its finest.
John1 to "Word" wrote on Mar 4, 2007 8:45 PM:Dear Word: I meant "virulently" in that my disagreement is a bitterly hostile disagreement on the specific subject matter of "I have a stake's" post. That grandparent has not an inkling of understanding of the situation nor the mindset imposed on the Marines of 1st Squad 2nd Platoon, Kilo Co, 3/5. I am, however, not bitterly hostile to the person making the post nor his/her right to do so.
Word to John1 wrote on Mar 4, 2007 10:40 PM:Virulent has the connotation of highly infectious and a rapidly progressing pathogen or poison; its other uses all have a negative connotation as in excessively harsh, venomous, or malignant--but I think I get your meaning, although I believe it is non-standard usage.
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