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Originally Posted by Ape Man
As for the Admiral, I don't understand what difference it would make when he arrived on station. Why would you launch a support operation from the Persian Gulf when you had lots of assets in Europe? Maybe there is something I am missing.
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What you say makes sense. My comment on the timing was in reference to the first point noted on the page you linked. I believe they indicated fleet didn't arrive until October 17th.
It may be a stretch pertaining to Gen. Ham. However, he did tell Senator Chaffetz that he had forces ready but wasn't given the order. That seems inconsistent with Panetta's statement that Gen. Dempsey and Gen. Ham made the decision, along with him, not to send in force.
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(The) basic principle is that you don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on; without having some real-time information about what's taking place," Panetta told Pentagon reporters. "And as a result of not having that kind of information, the commander who was on the ground in that area, Gen. Ham, Gen. Dempsey and I felt very strongly that we could not put forces at risk in that situation."
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My hope is in time more information will surface that will bring clarity.