BENGHAZI'S SMOKING GUN: OBAMA REPLACES AFRICOM'S COMMANDER
VIA GLENN REYNOLDS:
AS THE RETIRED MILITARY MAN WHO CALLED INTO RUSH EARLIER IN THE WEEK RELATED, AFRICOM HAS RESPONSIBILITY FOR LIBYA - AND, (AS ALL REGIONAL COMMANDS HAVE), HAD A RAPID RESPONSE FORCE READY TO INSERT INTO BENGHAZI.
NOW COMES NEWS THAT ON THE 18TH OF OCTOBER, OBAMA OFFICIALLY RELIEVED THE AFRICOM COMMANDER WHO WAS IN COMMAND ON 9/11/12 - GENERAL HAM, AND REPLACED HIM WITH GENERAL RODRIGUEZ.
THE RUMOR IS THAT WHEN GENERAL HAM RECEIVED THE ORDER FROM WASHINGTON TO STAND DOWN, HE DISOBEYED THE ORDER AND COMMANDED HIS FORCE TO TAKE ACTION TO SAVE THE AMBASSADOR.
AND THEN HIS SECOND IN COMMAND COUNTERMANDED HAM'S ORDER, OBEYED WASHINGTON AND MADE THE FORCE STAND DOWN.
IF THIS IS TRUE, THEN IT LEADS DIRECTLY TO PANETTA AND DEMPSEY AND THE WHITE HOUSE.
STAY TUNED.
“(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 said, according to The Associated Press. “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.”
AND THEN HIS SECOND IN COMMAND COUNTERMANDED HAM'S ORDER, OBEYED WASHINGTON AND MADE THE FORCE STAND DOWN.
QuoteAND THEN HIS SECOND IN COMMAND COUNTERMANDED HAM'S ORDER, OBEYED WASHINGTON AND MADE THE FORCE STAND DOWN.
Sonofa ....... then the head of this "perfumed prince" needs to roll as well.
Goldammy!
Our system is at a breaking point. Civilly, militarily, culturally, it's all breaking down. Right now we are witnessing a government whose operating principle is "oh yeah? watch us". And so we do. And point impotently at words on parchment as if they have some intrinsic power.
"Just following orders" was not an excuse for the Nazis, and it won't be for anyone else either.
The latest rumor making the rounds is that Barack Obama replaced General Carter Ham at Africom after the general made a move to help the US security officials at the Benghazi consulate and annex. Ham was replaced by Gen. David Rodriquez on October 18. Tiger Droppings reported:
The information I heard today was that General [Carter] 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.
The story continues that now General Rodiguez would take General Ham’s place as the head of Africom.
Sure enough Obama nominated Gen. David Rodriguez to replace Gen. Carter Ham as commander of U.S. Africa Command. The Stars and Stripes reported:
President Barack Obama will nominate Army Gen. David Rodriguez to succeed Gen. Carter Ham as commander of U.S. Africa Command and Marine Lt. Gen. John Paxton to succeed Gen. Joseph Dunford as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Thursday.
Both appointments must be confirmed by the Senate.
Rodriguez is the commander of U.S. Army Forces Command and has served in a “variety of key leadership roles on the battlefield,” Panetta said.
He’s “a proven leader” who oversaw coalition and Afghan forces during the surge in Afghanistan, and “was the key architect of the successful campaign plan that we are now implementing,” Panetta said.
In announcing Ham’s successor, Panetta also praised the work Ham has done with Africa Command.
“Gen. Ham has really brought AFRICOM into a very pivotal role in that challenging region,” Panetta said. “I and the nation are deeply grateful for his outstanding service.”
Hat Tip Tom
More… The Obama Administration also relieved the admiral in command of an aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East, Rear Adm. Charles M. Gaouette. It is highly unusual for the Navy to replace a carrier strike group commander during its deployment. The Stars and Stripes reported:
The Navy said Saturday it is replacing the admiral in command of an aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East, pending the outcome of an internal investigation into undisclosed allegations of inappropriate judgment.
Rear Adm. Charles M. Gaouette is being sent back to the USS John C. Stennis’ home port at Bremerton, Wash., in what the Navy called a temporary reassignment. The Navy said he is not formally relieved of his command of the Stennis strike group but will be replaced by Rear Adm. Troy M. Shoemaker, who will assume command until the investigation is completed.
It is highly unusual for the Navy to replace a carrier strike group commander during its deployment.
Ace of Spades says the move to replace Rear Adm. Charles Baouette is likely not related to Benghazi.
President Barack Obama will nominate Army Gen. David Rodriguez to succeed Gen. Carter Ham as commander of U.S. Africa Command and Marine Lt. Gen. John Paxton to succeed Gen. Joseph Dunford as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Thursday.
Both appointments must be confirmed by the Senate.
This (http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1621.htm) is an entertaining read.
This GRU (Foreign Military Intelligence Main Directorate - Russia) report, however, states that Admiral Gaouette’s firing by President Obama was due to this strike force commander disobeying orders when he ordered his forces on 11 September to “assist and provide intelligence for” American military forces ordered into action by US Army General Carter Ham, who was then the commander of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), against terrorist forces attacking the American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
OK. Nothing will happen prior to election. MSM will play "keep away" and not even discuss this.
I hope John "pink undies" McCain will grow some stones and play hard ball for the next ten days. Or Lindsay.
(Sheesh, is this the best we got or does the MSM know what a couple of panty waists JM and LG are.
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.
From Charles's conservativetreehouse link:QuoteGeneral 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.
This one hit me like a brick. Think about it for a moment. You're not a privileged member of the inner circle but you are a high-ranking officer and an important player in our military. Your record is spotless and you are highly regarded by all around you. If you were to disobey a direct order from your boss, how long do you suppose it would take for him to respond, and in what way do you suppose it would come? How about if he was on the other side of the world? 30 seconds to a minute?!
IMO, what this means is that they were primed for him (General Ham) to disobey and had prepped his 2nd in command to relieve him. There is not a single time in the Øbozo regime where they have acted so quickly or so resolutely. Never. What does this tell you about where their collective heads are at (besides up their own butts)?
I hope to God to hear more from General Ham.
From Charles's conservativetreehouse link:QuoteGeneral 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.
This one hit me like a brick. Think about it for a moment. You're not a privileged member of the inner circle but you are a high-ranking officer and an important player in our military. Your record is spotless and you are highly regarded by all around you. If you were to disobey a direct order from your boss, how long do you suppose it would take for him to respond, and in what way do you suppose it would come? How about if he was on the other side of the world? 30 seconds to a minute?!
IMO, what this means is that they were primed for him (General Ham) to disobey and had prepped his 2nd in command to relieve him. There is not a single time in the Øbozo regime where they have acted so quickly or so resolutely. Never. What does this tell you about where their collective heads are at (besides up their own butts)?
I hope to God to hear more from General Ham.
I want to know who this "second in command" is.
Reminds me of the USSR, where every military unit had an undercover political officer from the KGB. It's as if the regime has seeded commands with such operatives. 30 seconds?
The questions concerning General Ham's role in the September 11 events continue to percolate. Congressman Jason Chaffetz, Utah Republican, said that General Ham told him during a visit to Libya that he had never been asked to provide military support for the Americans under attack in Benghazi. Former United States Ambassador to the U.N. John R, Bolton also mentioned Mr. Chaffetz's account, and contrasted it with Mr. Panetta's statement that General Ham had been part of the team that made the decision not to send in forces. "General Ham has now been characterized in two obviously conflicting ways," Mr. Bolton concluded. "Somebody ought to find out what he actually was saying on September the eleventh."
Leon Penetta is Either a Dumbass or a Liar
The Secretary of Defense, in his most determined way, continues to try to protect the President from the fiasco in Benghazi. So desperate to shield the President he announced what will be forever remembered as the Penetta Doctrine:
“(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.”
Of course, in the circles that I ran with, it will be forever labeled “The Dumbest sh*t I Ever Heard Doctrine”.
To be fair to Leon, however, his audience for this ridiculous statement was not members of the military and especially not for those in the Special Operations arena who immediately recognized that the entire statement is not a doctrine at all. It is horsesh*t, nothing more.
The “The Dumbest sh*t I Ever Heard Doctrine” was targeted toward civilians. Read the doctrine carefully. On the surface it makes a case for Force Protection being an overriding element of critical decision making and it should be and it makes sense. The Secretary of Defense wants to ensure the safety of our troops and understands the value of “real-time information”. Okay, makes sense, good job Leon, end of story, right?
A couple of points however need to be made.
First. I am certain that Penetta realizes that we have very specially trained folks whose job it is to execute missions just like what was needed in Benghazi. On the other hand, maybe he didn’t, since both of the Generals who he supposedly consulted with have a grand total of ZERO days duty in any Special Operations organization. In fact, they are both old tankers. The senior of which, General Dempsy, has a Master's degree in literature from Duke University, where he wrote a thesis on the Irish poet W B Yeats. He was a Captain then, and that thesis alone should have rendered him ineligible for promotion to field grade officer.
Second, and this is very important. I don’t know what Penetta’s definition of “real-time information” is, but I suspect that, if Eisenhower had the same doctrine, we’d still be sitting in England waiting to invade Europe.
Let’s review the real-time facts that we know so far. The entire event was being streamed live to the State Department and, in all likelihood, the White House situation room. That’s pretty “real-time” if you ask me, but it gets worse. Not only were we watching the entire damn thing on expensive televisions; we had at least two highly trained special operators on the ground in direct communication!
Do you think the whole Pointe Du Hoc event would have happened during the D-Day attack if Ike and boys had two Navy SEALs telling them that the artillery had been moved?
Maybe MacArthur should have cancelled the Inchon landings in Korea because having a live tv stream and two highly trained individuals on the ground just wasn’t quite enough “real-time information”?
And this is why “The Dumbest sh*t I Ever Heard Doctrine” is so ridiculous.
The best “real-time information” possible is eyes on the objective.
Even better is people on the objective with eyes on the enemy.
Even better than that is people on the objective that are highly trained with years of special ops experience in direct communications.
My God people, this was a perfect intelligence situation to execute a forced entry relief operation!
I spent my youth (24 years) in Infantry and tier one Special Ops units and have been up to my ass is serious fighting on many occasions. In all that time, I never hit an objective where two Navy SEALs were already there and feeding me all the information I could ever want! Hell, that wouldn’t even be a raid, it would be a link-up!
What more information do you need? Or was this never about information at all? Was it really the president deciding that the lives of four Americans wasn’t worth as much as a campaign talking point?
In any case, this was not a military consideration made by Penetta or any Generals, it was purely political.
And that pisses me off.
From BlackFive, explaining Leon Panetta's pathetic explanation as to why military assets were not deployed in Benghazi:QuoteLeon Penetta is Either a Dumbass or a Liar
The Secretary of Defense, in his most determined way, continues to try to protect the President from the fiasco in Benghazi. So desperate to shield the President he announced what will be forever remembered as the Penetta Doctrine:
“(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.”
Of course, in the circles that I ran with, it will be forever labeled “The Dumbest sh*t I Ever Heard Doctrine”.
To be fair to Leon, however, his audience for this ridiculous statement was not members of the military and especially not for those in the Special Operations arena who immediately recognized that the entire statement is not a doctrine at all. It is horsesh*t, nothing more.
The “The Dumbest sh*t I Ever Heard Doctrine” was targeted toward civilians. Read the doctrine carefully. On the surface it makes a case for Force Protection being an overriding element of critical decision making and it should be and it makes sense. The Secretary of Defense wants to ensure the safety of our troops and understands the value of “real-time information”. Okay, makes sense, good job Leon, end of story, right?
A couple of points however need to be made.
First. I am certain that Penetta realizes that we have very specially trained folks whose job it is to execute missions just like what was needed in Benghazi. On the other hand, maybe he didn’t, since both of the Generals who he supposedly consulted with have a grand total of ZERO days duty in any Special Operations organization. In fact, they are both old tankers. The senior of which, General Dempsy, has a Master's degree in literature from Duke University, where he wrote a thesis on the Irish poet W B Yeats. He was a Captain then, and that thesis alone should have rendered him ineligible for promotion to field grade officer.
Second, and this is very important. I don’t know what Penetta’s definition of “real-time information” is, but I suspect that, if Eisenhower had the same doctrine, we’d still be sitting in England waiting to invade Europe.
Let’s review the real-time facts that we know so far. The entire event was being streamed live to the State Department and, in all likelihood, the White House situation room. That’s pretty “real-time” if you ask me, but it gets worse. Not only were we watching the entire damn thing on expensive televisions; we had at least two highly trained special operators on the ground in direct communication!
Do you think the whole Pointe Du Hoc event would have happened during the D-Day attack if Ike and boys had two Navy SEALs telling them that the artillery had been moved?
Maybe MacArthur should have cancelled the Inchon landings in Korea because having a live tv stream and two highly trained individuals on the ground just wasn’t quite enough “real-time information”?
And this is why “The Dumbest sh*t I Ever Heard Doctrine” is so ridiculous.
The best “real-time information” possible is eyes on the objective.
Even better is people on the objective with eyes on the enemy.
Even better than that is people on the objective that are highly trained with years of special ops experience in direct communications.
My God people, this was a perfect intelligence situation to execute a forced entry relief operation!
I spent my youth (24 years) in Infantry and tier one Special Ops units and have been up to my ass is serious fighting on many occasions. In all that time, I never hit an objective where two Navy SEALs were already there and feeding me all the information I could ever want! Hell, that wouldn’t even be a raid, it would be a link-up!
What more information do you need? Or was this never about information at all? Was it really the president deciding that the lives of four Americans wasn’t worth as much as a campaign talking point?
In any case, this was not a military consideration made by Penetta or any Generals, it was purely political.
And that pisses me off.
I think I'll spend some more time over at BlackFive.
At some point, media outlets are going to have to suffer the consequence of their enemy status.
Whatever that looks like, it needs to happen.