Ham was not in favor of equipping the people that we now have to fight against. They would not untie his hands in the Libyan debacle instead they armed the rebels and that would lead to a bleed over to many other countries. You do not hand weapons to untrained people who lack any chain of command and have no oversight.

The administration does not agree with the current assessment that that AQIM is a threat.

Basically as a General he saw we were creating more issues then we were solving from Libya to Egypt all down the line we are creating instability not securing peace. From a generals point of view this is more than unacceptable it will cost him lives, if he can't do it right because they tied his hands he would rather leave then be the fall guy for a cluster. Would you like to arm the people you are fighting against?

He is still technically in charge of Africom to this day, matter of when though, just waiting for the word now.


October first below.


Snip; Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, chief of U.S. Africa Command, said Friday during a visit to Morocco that there “are no plans for U.S. direct military intervention” in Mali. But he and others have made clear that the United States is prepared to support counterterrorism or peacekeeping operations by other countries.

In addition, the U.S. military has launched a series of clandestine intelligence missions, including the use of civilian aircraft to conduct surveillance flights and monitor communications over the Sahara Desert and the arid region to the south, known as the Sahel.

The burst of U.S. activity reflects a reappraisal of a terrorist group long considered one of the weaker al-Qaeda offshoots. AQIM grew out of an insurgency in Algeria. It has been known mainly as a local scourge, using kidnappings and other crimes to support its effort to impose Islamist rule.

That perception has changed in the past year, largely because of the group’s ability to exploit regional political chaos. A coup in Mali divided the landlocked country, enabling AQIM and other insurgent movements to take control of cities in the northern part of the country, including Gao and Timbuktu.


[link to www.washingtonpost.com]