Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced on Sunday that General Carter Ham Commander of GOC Africa Command (Africom), headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. (U.S. Africa Command is one of six unified geographic commands within the Department of Defense unified command structure.) for refusing to obey orders not to assist the US personnel in Benghazi on the night of September 11. Army General David Rodriguez has been appointed by President Obama to become replace him.

Gen. Ham refused to take responsibility for the decision not to provide essential air coverage and other support for the beleaguered personnel at the Consulate. After the information was leaked last week that three urgent requests for support were denied to the Americans trapped in the Consulate and the Annex, President Barack Obama said on Sunday, "The minute I found out what was going on, I gave three very clear directives -- Number 1, make sure that we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to." According to the highly decorated, four-star General, Carter Ham, the President is lying...