Posted on 10/28/2012 10:53:40 AM PDT by Nachum
The latest hot rumor flying around the internet is that General Ham of Africon, whose departure was announced last week, was actually fired for attempting to buck Obama’s order not to rescue Ambassador Stevens. He’s not exactly leaving early for his type of command, plus, he’s still in command, I have to assume, since his replacement still has to be confirmed by the Senate. Even if it’s an urban legend, it’s such a cool one that it’s kind of a duty to pass it on. Here’s the text most-often seen in emails, message boards and blog posts:
I heard a story today from someone inside the military that I trust entirely. The story was in reference to General Ham that Panetta referenced in the quote below.
quote: “(The) basic principle is that you don’t deploy forces into harm’s way without knowing what’s going on; without having some real-time information about what’s taking place,” Panetta told Pentagon reporters. “And as a result of not having that kind of information, the commander who was on the ground in that area, Gen. Ham, Gen. Dempsey and I felt very strongly that we could not put forces at risk in that situation.”
The information I heard today was that General Ham as head of Africom received the same e-mails the White House received requesting help/support as the attack was taking place. General Ham immediately had a rapid response unit ready and communicated to the Pentagon that he had a unit ready.
General Ham then received the order to stand down. His response was to screw it, he was going to help anyhow. Within 30 seconds to a minute after making the move to respond, his second in command apprehended General Ham and told him that he was now relieved of his command.
(Excerpt) Read more at readability.com ...
‘I’m not sure you can keep that many people quiet?’
You don’t have to. One just has to punish a few. Very hard. That will scare the rest.
First you can't prove any of this vis a vis the campaign. Nothing 'illegal' about the order not to intervene. Immoral, perfidious, asinine, yes, but not illegal. Shouting doesn't make it so. BTW, where is the treason? Same place as the illegal order.
Yes, I also heard that Ham said he was not asked to do anything. I heard that from Chaffez(sp) a representative from Utah. Chaffez went over and talked to Ham and asked why he didn’t do anything. Ham said he was never asked.
Ping
“You must be an obamambot” ~ yldstrk
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Just like Jennifer Griffin - National Security Correspondent for foxnews http://bit.ly/QnMLBV
Jennifer Griffin:
“Rumors Gen Carter Ham relieved of command over Benghazi NOT true, according to multiple well placed sources. Long planned change of command.”
https://twitter.com/JenGriffinFNC/status/262499643592699904
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Major shake-up coming soon for top military officers
http://www.stripes.com/news/major-shake-up-coming-soon-for-top-military-officers-1.141992
ByKevin Baron
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 26, 2011
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Ace of Spades 10/27/12
http://minx.cc/?post=334311
“....There are also some rumblings about the General Ham’s replacement as Commander of Africa Command being announced this week. If you look at the history of combatant command tours they are usually about 2-2.5 years and this announcement is well within that window. Ham’s replacement was simply named, he still must be confirmed by the Senate and then there’s usually a few months until the actual change of command.
There are a lot of unanswered questions but trying to fill them in with crazy speculation doesn’t help anyone.
Added: There’s also a story going around (sorry, no links for nutty conspiracy theories) that General Ham was about to disobey Obama’s supposed “stand down” order and was removed from command by his second in command.
Apparently it was only double-secret probation or something.
General Ham is not quite 61 years old and so has three years left before mandatory retirement age of 64. General Ham has been commissioned for 36 years but did serve as an enlisted man prior to gaining his commission, so he might have the mandatory retirement 40 years of service.
Commanders for Combatant Commands (COCOMs) typically serve no more than 2-3 years in the position depending on when they plan to retire. GEN Ham took command of AFRICOM in Mar 2011 so by the time the confirmation and change of command ceremony of GEN Rodriguez happens, Ham will have served at least 2 years in the position.
Most flag or command positions usually don’t have tours longer than two years. You can look up most senior level military officers on the internet and see that the majority of their tours rarely went beyond two years.
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Saturday, October 27, 2012
The malicious stupidity of conspiracy theorists
http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-malicious-stupidity-of-conspiracy.html
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Four-star FAIL: Army’s worst tweeters
December 29th, 2010 | Outside the wire | Posted by Joe Gould
“Gen. Carter Ham, the next commander of all U.S. troops in Africa, and chief of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” study, and Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of Training and Doctrine Command, both made the influential Danger Room‘s worst military tweeters list. ....”
bttt
Exactly.
The post I addressed had two statements which could both have been true. They were not mutually exclusive as the poster indicated.
Exactly. btt
Exactly. bttt
See #105
General Ham will testify before Congress during the Romney administration. We’ll find out what orders Obama gave.
The stonewalling of this administration has set off a firestorm and they have lost control of what is being said in the Washington rumor mill not to mention dropped by pissed insiders.
The media has given this a pass and so they gave up the control of the talking points. Until there is real proof before Congress or the Senate there is no way to control the rumor mill and that will not happen until after the election.
How much damage will be done by then that will not be forgotten or they will be able to change minds otherwise? How many people will decide they know the truth and that truth is just being covered up.
Every decision has consequences and not covering this because of an election has lost them control. It will be interesting to watch this all play out because when you let things simmer before getting to the bottom of them leaves you playing catch up with an audience that has already decided you are lying or covering up.
This rumor has been hot and heavy for a day....where are the Republican Congressmen or Senators on defense committees coming out and saying that this is all bunk? Do you see what I mean? There has been plenty of time today for Republicans in the know to refute these rumors but they are letting them roll.....and that could be a political decision itself!
I do agree with you there. As soon as the public smells a coverup, it’s a free-for-all. Then nothing is believed and everyone assumes that any defensive statement or clarification is another lie.
Such is the danger of lost trust and credibility.
GENERAL HAM SHOULD HAVE FOLLOWED THRU AND SAVED THEM!
I guess he couldn’t, I wish someone had ignored the wh and done what needed to be done
A 2 year old article with no mention of future change of command date.
Statements citing “sources” from a MSM puke.
Opinions from a blog,
etc, etc....
Not what I call accurate sources. Any opinion good or bad here on Freepers are just as valid as anything mentioned. It is not unusual for a flag officer to be used ceremoniously pending his shipping home after losing command, been done before.
Absolutely no leader in the world (free or otherwise) would be shuffling General Staff just weeks before a flip of the coin on his own future. After the election, I would buy it, but this is unheard of....ever.
It stinks
What are the rules for dealing with disobeying troupes that will not quit when told???
You are confusing the general with the admiral.
Do you have anything similar on the rumors concerning the marine general and the admiral?
You're welcome. At the moment I don't have anything on the other rumors, BUT, Bret Baier - on Twitter yesterday - said that he has received lots more info from whistle-blowers, but he didn't have enough time to include it into his "special" program on Benghazi over the weekend. He said he'd have more info for us "on Monday".
Bret Baier on Twitter 23 hours ago:
"While the special airs at 3pm and 10pm 2day-we are already getting new info and tips and the story is moving- we will have much more Monday"
"The special today is updated as of early Saturday morning. Since then-we have more sources -interviews coming- that will advance the story"
The problem is that storm Sandy is dominating the news right now. bttt
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