Once somebody is that high up in the military/intel/black ops business, they don’t really ‘retire’.
With all the conjecture going on, it might be noted that in that world, those closest to it might frequently not know what’s going on, but have multiple ‘games’ in play.
One learns in the military that if you want to know what’s going on, don’t believe anything you read in the press.
With the intel world, it’s even more circumspect.
The league of games being played internationally over the past 4-12 years have been so veiled, where technology can document things worldwide in minutes, it’s really hard to tell what is going on with all these resignations/firings/replacements.
**** “One learns in the military that if you want to know what’s going on, don’t believe anything you read in the press.” ****
Learned that in Central America where the press showed up uninvited ... then a few short years later reporters weaseled their way into Ops as Inbeds we called them “Casualties” because they required as many people to care for them as a Casualty did and they were so stupid it was like they were wearing a sign that said “Shoot Me” those guys that got stuck with that detail earned their Hazardous Duty Pay.
TT