UPDATE: CARTER HAM CHANGES DEPLOYMENT ORDER, SENDS AID TO TRIPOLI, NOT BENGHAZI.

It appears that both President Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta gave orders to do everything in our power for those stricken in Benghazi ... but that order was mishandled by General Carter Ham, who for reasons unknown, decided to send support to Tripoli and not Benghazi.

Ham was in overall command of military forces when the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks were launched on the American consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya. Congressman Trey Gowdy who led the Congressional investigation into the attacks stated that Carter Ham acknowledges that he altered President Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's order to deploy to Benghazi to rescue American personnel, and redirected the deployment to Tripoli, Libya instead. <Source>

There is no doubt in my mind that I want the United States to have superiority over all foreign forces and a military that is second to none. But, I also have my doubts that the civilian leadership of our defense effort can be trusted. And make no mistake, by the time a colonel is given their first star, they are on the way to becoming a “finger-in-the-wind” politician. 

The problem with Panetta and our President … 

Leon Panetta, in my opinion, has always appeared to be a stand-up, no-nonsense type of guy. Right up until the congressional testimony of General Carter Ham that claimed that General Ham notified Leon Panetta that the 9/11 attack in Benghazi was the result of terrorists and that the President of the United States was told about the attack. That the President of the United States, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power told bald-faced lies to the American people about a spontaneous demonstration over a little-seen video speaks to their fundamental dishonesty and untrustworthiness. Even worse, while I can understand the need to preserve operational secrecy about a covert joint CIA/State Department mission, I would suggest that the best response was that the attack was classified to protect an ongoing operation would have sufficed, and even satisfied the progressive mainstream media that is politically biased in favor of the Obama Administration. And, beyond the lies, there is the matter of who in the chain of command told rescue forces to “stand down” and curtailed any rescue attempt.

Minutes after the American consulate in Benghazi came under assault on Sept. 11, 2012, the nation’s top civilian and uniformed defense officials — headed for a previously scheduled Oval Office session with President Obama — were informed that the event was a “terrorist attack,” declassified documents show. The new evidence raises the question of why the top military men, one of whom was a member of the president’s Cabinet, allowed him and other senior Obama administration officials to press a false narrative of the Benghazi attacks for two weeks afterward.

Gen. Carter Ham, who at the time was head of AFRICOM, the Defense Department combatant command with jurisdiction over Libya, told the House in classified testimony last year that it was him who broke the news about the unfolding situation in Benghazi to then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The tense briefing — in which it was already known that U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens had been targeted and had gone missing — occurred just before the two senior officials departed the Pentagon for their session with the commander in chief. <Source>

We have not heard the truth from President Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. Secretary Panetta was replaced with former Senator Chuck Hagel who appears less the trustworthy when it comes to standing up to the President and his cadre of progressive socialist democrats who have openly disparaged and disadvantaged our friends and allies while simultaneously providing some measure of aid and comfort to those who appear to be our enemies.

Pentagon Concerned by China’s New High-Speed Missile -- Hypersonic strike vehicle test is high-tech arms breakthrough that will be difficult for missile defenses to counter

China’s recent test of a new ultra-high speed strike vehicle highlights growing concerns that Chinese military advances will overtake those of the United States in as few as five years, a senior Pentagon official told Congress Tuesday.

Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics, said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing that he is concerned by large-scale cuts in U.S. defense spending that are undermining efforts to maintain U.S. military superiority.

“On hypersonics, this is a good example of an area of technology that is going to move forward whether we invest in it or not,” Kendall told a hearing on the United States shift toward Asia. “China is doing work in this area.”  Read more at: Pentagon Concerned by China’s New High-Speed Missile | Washington Free Beacon

There is no reason that we should not continue to invest in military R&D, and demanding that weapon systems work as promised. Punishing those who submit lowball bids and earn egregious profits on the “change orders.” It is a time to demand that lobbying activities be reduced or restricted. To bring honesty to the procurement process. To give our soldiers a fighting chance if the technology fails and they find themselves on an unknown battlefield. In fact, the next real battle is one that will be fought by hackers on the battlefield of our economy. Where the infiltration of a fifth-column into the mainstream of American politics and our infrastructure is more effective that all of the ballistic missiles that will never be used. Where the use of our own laws against us – by the environmentalists infiltrated by socialists and communists will do more damage to our economy than any terrorist attack.

The problem with the Pentagon …

It appears that the leadership of the Pentagon are more interested in protecting their collective asses and feathering their personal nests rather than protecting the United States. How else can you explain the continuing warfare among the branches of the armed services for funding and scope of mission? How else can you explain the suspect relationship between the Pentagon, in reality, little more than the headquarters of the military-industrial complex, and the special interests and their intensive political lobbying operations. These are the people who allowed the United States Air Force to foist billion-dollar weapons systems on the Congress, lying about their cost, lying about their effectiveness – and lying about the capabilities of our weapons systems vis–à–vis the capabilities of our enemies.

In fact, if one were to review the biography of Colonel John Boyd, a colorful fighter pilot who developed ways to measure the effectiveness of aircraft, ours and theirs, and to predict the performance of future developments, you would see a perpetual war by the Pentagon, notably the United States Air Force, against truth-tellers and truth-telling. Here was a man virtually ignored by the Air Force, but feted by the United States Marine Corps – for his knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge to provide solutions to important military problems.

So, who is telling the truth in the Pentagon? Is the threat real? Sort of like Colonel Boyd discovering that the overly-hyped Soviet Backfire Bomber was just as crappy as our FB-111. Reliably quoted as having said, “The only good thing about the F-111," he said, "is that the dumbass Soviets believed our propaganda and built their very own piece of useless shit, the Backfire bomber.” Boyd was the one who discovered that the Army was fudging its testing of tanks – and thus putting American soldiers in extreme risk for being horribly maimed or killed, all apparently to keep dollars flowing to the contractors who provided campaign contributions to our political leaders on both sides of the aisle.

Bottom line …

We are living in a time when our political leadership appears to be progressive socialist democrat ideologues who are quick to blame the world’s problems on America and who appear to be doing everything in their power to weaken and disadvantage our military. They are joined in this effort by the internecine warfare in the military, where the results are destructive to both the military posture of the United States and our economy as they push unneeded weapons systems that serve to feather their own nests.

In these days of asymmetric warfare, it appears that we are less likely to use strategic weaponry except as a last resort and a deterrence based on the philosophy of mutually assured destruction. However, it times when the enemy has no face, no uniform, no country, and no massed troops – strategic weaponry is useless unless you are a suicidal dictator with little or no regard for human life. Coincidently, a position that has been exhibited by certain Muslim leaders.

And, as we have seen in recent years, force is projected by boots on the ground, supported by air – and even more importantly the ability to maintain supply lines without paying undue ransom to warlords and others who have their hand out for baksheesh.

What is needed is a political and military leadership that is not afraid of a strong military and the will to use force when and where necessary. A leadership not crippled by pansy-ass rules of engagement that put our own soldiers at risk to preserve the life of enemy civilians. A leadership not beholden to the defense contractors who have delivered a load of high-priced useless crap that is on the books, but virtually unusable. We need a political leadership that understands that technology is great – but it has significant disadvantages if you are unwilling to deploy it against the enemy or if it is not tailored to a specific mission. What is needed is a hard-headed officer corps that is willing to stand-up and put their careers on the line by saying, “Respectfully, you are full of shit!” We know these brave individuals will put their lives on the line in an instant to save their country and comrades, but they are fearful of speaking out or resigning due to the retribution they can expect from the military-industrial complex. We need more whistle-blowers willing to work within the system and not in the media.

But, most of all, what is needed is honest politicians. Not the mealy-mouthed progressive socialist democrats and their republican RINO counterparts who are weakening America in favor of international socialism and our enemies. Look at the suggested 2016 presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton, a proven liar, a corrupt politician, and a thoroughly committed Marxist. Look at the suggested 2016 presidential candidacy of the republican candidate – if you can even find one!

We are so screwed.

Let’s start by removing the radical and corrupt progressive socialist democrats from Congress in the upcoming election. Restoring checks and balances to our government. Curtailing the appointment of ideological hyper-partisan judges who rubber-stamp clearly illegal and unconstitutional activities. Somehow we need to fight our way back to the middle where our military is strong, our economy booming, and those who continue to create functional illiterates in our school systems and a permanent underclass among our minorities are sent to the ashcan of history.

It’s in your hands.

-- steve

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