Carter Ham Knows What Happened in Benghazi on September 11, 2012

On September 11, 2012 our Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens and three others were killed when our outposts in Benghazi were overrun.  Although there are several Benghazi scandals, (i.e., what happened before and after?), Charles Krauthammer rightly suggested the real scandal is ”What was the president doing in those eight hours?" meaning the eight hours on the evening of September 11, 1012, when the president was presumably at the White House, yet nothing of his activities are known.  Was he playing Xbox or watching The New Normal?  No one knows.

He wasn't sending help, that's for sure. Writing on Breitbart's BigPeace.com website, Colonel David Hunt reminds us that "the President of the United States is the only human being on the planet that can order... [any element of our armed forces] into another country and perform an aggressive action."  This lays the blame for America's lack of response squarely at Mr. Obama's feet.

General Carter Ham

But those orders would have been processed through the theater commanders in charge at the time, specifically, Carter Ham.  General Ham was in command of the U.S. Africa Command, AFRICOM during the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, enforcing the coalition's no-fly zone in Libya. Coincidentally, General Ham was replaced on October 18, 2012, just over a month after Benghazi, though he was not scheduled to rotate out until March 2013. The rumor mill suggests that Ham tried to respond to cries for help from Benghazi, but was stymied by Washington, by being relieved, temporarily, by his second-in-command, but it is just a rumor.

If he were following protocol, he would have mobilized forces and put them on a hair trigger, ready to deploy, as he awaited a green light from the Commander-in-Chief.  If the rumor is true, it might not reflect well on the General.

One thing is true however, if the House Oversight and Reform Committee were to speak with him and if he said the president told him to stand down, the wrath of the Obama White House would rain down upon him.  That would be enough to give the Devil suicidal thoughts. But, at least then we'd know what happened.