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 ...
Does anyone else wonder what effect this will have on the troops?
Crap runs downhill, I would bet there are some unhappy troops.
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.”
They had live feed from security cams on the compound, live audio from two sources on the compound and live feed from two surveillance drones above. Were they waiting for the jihadis to give them a call and give them live feed from their side of the fight with their cell phones?
If Panetta's words there are true then he and both of those generals should be sacked for cowardice under fire.
Kip Ward is one of Holder's people. Leon the Nancy-boy is trying to save Kip's retirement.General Carter Ham had to clean up behind
Gen. William E. Ward of formerly of AfricaCom being
Court-martialed for mis-aprepriation of funds.
If this was “long planned”, it would not have been a secret, so you should have no trouble citing and naming sources.
Change of command ceremonies at this level are very public and published months in advance. An article in a e-zine 3 1/2 weeks after the fact is not proof of “long planned”.
Unfortunately the answer to that is something very ordinary and all too common. You put him there as a favor and a reward for service so he can put one more command under his belt and retire with a higher pension. It's the one-hand-washes-the-other politics of the top brass.
Obama and his cabal are scaring the sh— out of me!
Two stories are being told:
1. Panetta said that Ham was consulted and in on the decision to not intervene.
2. Ham himself (according to former ambassador Bolten on Greta) told congressional investigators he was not asked to intervene.
Which story is true?
see 43 above
I read it. What’s your point about it?
I don’t read these as contradictory comments.
0bama’s just using this event to purge Generals who aren’t gay, probably.
I call BS on Jen’s Twitter/ whoever she might be (shilling for). General Ham’s removal came on Stars & Stripes, not just through a rumor mill.
I believe it is true.
I call BS on Jen’s Twitter/ whoever she might be (shilling for). General Ham’s removal came on Stars & Stripes, not just through a rumor mill.
I believe it is true.
Ham was in trouble over lavish spending before Benghazi. There was a question before all that happened whether or not to let him retire with 4 or 3 stars. Benghazi never played into that question.
They do have a command change every couple years, so it is possible that he is not being relieved of duty. We met him when he came through our school’s facility at our overseas base, just before we retired. He seemed a squared-away type of officer. One who would never leave a man behind. I guess we’ll know more in time. If it turns out to be true, and not rumor, then this president will have turned a lot more people against him in short order.
“(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.”
Panetta was referring to Gen. Carter Ham, the head of U.S. Africa Command, and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
General Ham started as an Infantry If this has no meaning; forget about it.I'm sure Kip would have stood down.
But he purloined from AfricaCom.
dogface i.e. a Mustang.
GEN HAM WAS NOT RELIEVED! Actually GEN Rodriguez was announced in a DOD press release weeks ealrier as his replacement at AFRICOM. GEN R is not now in command of AFRICOM, but is still in the US awaiting the normal change of command. GEN Ham has been a 4 star for years and was due to retire. Furthering this false rumor will only hurt the validity of freerepublic.com and suppress it’s influence on issues that need to be addressed.
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