Key figure in the Benghazi controversy General Carter Ham might be retiring soon after his being “rotated” from the Combatant Commander of Africa Command (AFRICOM) --- before his mandatory retirement date
There is a report that a key figure in the Benghazi controversy, General Carter F. Ham, the Combatant Commander of Africa Command (AFRICOM) will be leaving the Army soon after he is “rotated” out of his command. As questions concerning General Ham's role in the September 11 events began to percolate almost two weeks ago, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta made the surprise announcement that General Ham soon would be succeeded at AFRICOM by General David Rodriguez.
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta had announced on October 18th that General David Rodriguez would succeed Gen. Ham. On Monday Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Martin Dempsey said, “The speculation that Gen. Carter Ham is departing Africa Command (AFRICOM) due to events in Benghazi, Libya, on 11 September 2012 is absolutely false.... General Ham’s departure is part of routine succession planning that has been on going since July. He continues to serve in AFRICOM with my complete confidence.” However, in another unusual move, it now looks like General Ham might also be retiring before his mandatory retirement date ( See additional coverage on these matters in the Washington Times //.....washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/29/dempsey-hits-rumors-about-africom
-chiefs-departure/#ixzz2ArIkj7Kx //; //.... washington times.com/blog/robbins-report/2012/oct/28/general-losing-his-job-over-benghazi/). There has been speculation that General Ham is prepared to make a personal statement about the events of 9/11/12 after he ceases active duty.
Last night on Greta Van Susteren's Fox News program On the Record, former Assistant Secretary of State Bing West repeated a charge against the top chain of command, with specificity and certainty, that it was virtually impossible for President Obama to have done what he has said that he did in response to the attack on the “consulate” in Benghazi, Libya. If President Obama said to Secretary Panetta and Chairman of Joint Chiefs Dempsey, “do whatever you need to in order to protect our people”, then “an execute order” would exist from President Obama to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dempsey, and from Panetta and Dempsey to AFRICOM General Ham to take action.
According to Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah, General Ham had told the congressman during a visit to Libya that the general had never been asked to provide military support for the Americans under attack in Benghazi. This is in stark contrast to the statement of Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta that General Ham, along with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Martin Dempsey, had been part of the team that made the decision not to send in forces. Senior Romney adviser, and possible future Secretary of State, John R. Bolton has said, “General Ham has now been characterized in two obviously conflicting ways ... Somebody ought to find out what he actually was saying on September the eleventh.”
Also it’s been reported in John Hudson’s 10/30/12 post on The Atlantic Wire, that “...a senior defense official says the Pentagon never rejected requests for military intervention in Benghazi. Not only that, the official said no such requests were ever made.... *** Now, with the addition of the Pentagon's denial to The Atlantic Wire, all three major players in the government's national security apparatus have weighed in [on a report by Fox News that military assistance was sought by CIA assets on the ground and denied by higher authority]. Each of them used slightly different language to describe their agency or department's role in the attack. But the CIA, Pentagon, and National Security Council each used guarded language to describe their involvement, and it can be difficult to divine what exactly they're saying.”
It’s tough to tell how that all fits in with the President’s statements about his early involvement on 9/11/12 to order that our personnel be protected. However, Obama, his National Security Team and all of the CIA and Pentagon officials involved in the Benghazi scandals are beginning to look like something out of “Alice in Wonderland” in all of it.
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