| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| 4-Star U.S. General Demoted over 5-Star Hotel Spending |
| 2012-11-14 |
| [An Nahar] A four-star general who headed U.S. Africa Command has been demoted amid charges he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on pricey travel, Pentagon officials said Tuesday. Are we seeing a pattern of crap-splattered generals? Or should we wait for Number Three? Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... demoted General William "Kip" Ward, who was asked to reimburse $82,000 for having inappropriately used Pentagon travel funds, a senior defense official said. The four-star general "will retire at the rank of lieutenant general," a three-star post, a second senior defense official said. The travel mishaps included bringing Ward's wife on extended business trips, according to a Defense Department Inspector General's report released in June. One in Bermuda involved a suite for $747 a night at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess. And his wife also allegedly made unauthorized use of armored vehicles. Ward, the first AFRICOM commander from 2007-2011 based in Stuttgart, has denied the allegations. No, no! Certainly not! He currently serves as a special assistant to the U.S. Army's vice chief of staff. The inspector general's report found that Ward took an 11-day trip to Washington and Atlanta with his military entourage that cost $129,000 and of which only three days were for official business. The primary purpose of the trip was personal. Ward's wife traveled with the general on military aircraft during 52 of 79 trips reviewed by Sherlocks, according to the report, which also said that Ward extended his trips seven times for personal reasons in which he was reimbursed for travel expenses. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #15 And his wife also allegedly made unauthorized use of armored vehicles. I too am intrigued... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2012-11-14 21:29 |
| #14 Nothing surprising. Whenever tyrants seize power, they purge the military - especially of competent, popular generals and colonels. I expect to see a few more 'accidental' deaths and suicides. Orion |
| Posted by: Orion 2012-11-14 20:17 |
| #13 I suppose your only supposed to take your mistress to 5-star hotels - Wives get the old 3-star treatment. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2012-11-14 19:57 |
| #12 As per #11, I'm dying to know how a Top Egg's better half does this. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-11-14 19:28 |
| #11 And his wife also allegedly made unauthorized use of armored vehicles. That can't be all wrong, can it? |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division 2012-11-14 18:09 |
| #10 1) GEN (now LtGen) Ward is Black. 2) This is an old story. He was removed from his command well over a year ago and the investigation report has been circulating for some time. |
| Posted by: lotp 2012-11-14 16:02 |
| #9 It seems fairly Obvious, get the whites OUT and the Blacks IN. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2012-11-14 13:51 |
| #8 Remember the surge without the Anbar Awakening wasn't necessarily going to succeed. Look at Afghanistan when the population doesn't have a similar commitment. If you can't win in those scenarios, what makes them think they'd succeed here against a population with a lot of professionally trained soldiers now civilians [ever wonder why DHS tried to classify veterans as threats]. The police in Iraq and Afghanistan are marginal because they have to go home at night and to families where they can be picked off individually. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-11-14 13:48 |
| #7 There is no guarantee the military, police, or some of the people in the Federal agencies would side team Obama. But they're union members, he'll think -- except for the military, and the enlisted men ought to be, so he'll assume they'll think the same way -- so of course they'll be on his side... that's why unions have enforcers, right? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2012-11-14 13:09 |
| #6 would side with team Obama |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2012-11-14 12:58 |
| #5 Obama does not want a civil war. The trouble with civil wars is that no one knows where they will end up. Look at the trouble Syria is having with a civil war, it looks rather tame compared to what would be likely to happen here. There is no guarantee the military, police, or some of the people in the Federal agencies would side team Obama. Many people still believe in their oath to the Constitution. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2012-11-14 12:57 |
| #4 Is this purging a response to potential threats to the Obama administration? Or a preparation for using the military against "bitter clingers". |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-11-14 12:45 |
| #3 It's not the GOs he should be worried about but the middle grades officer and NCO. Then again he's locked into that pseudo history thingy that thinks America is not special and just do what the Euros and other have done in the past and present. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-11-14 12:44 |
| #2 The military seems to be under purge in the leadership positions. Prior to the election there were about a half dozen high ranking retired military officials who supported Obama. There were something like more than 500 who supported Romney. Is this purging a response to potential threats to the Obama administration? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2012-11-14 12:37 |
| #1 Obama doing Erdogan? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-11-14 12:34 |