S. Maturin wrote:
That's more interesting than might first seem apparent. Big governments have ways of burying responsibility as one of their beliefs is that there are no individuals and therefore no one person- even if he or she caused the murder of four (4) Americans- can be held responsible.
So who, exactly called for a halt to the ready relief and the likely rescue of American citizens in Benghazi?
WHO? Someone had to but WHO?
According to military protocol and chain of command, the TOC of AFRICOM was tasked with this decision. This has been known since the very first investigation into this. I've found the best explanation to be as follows from a career military person:
"Since most of you have never worked in a TOC (Tactical Operations Center), let me fill you in on who gives the orders to ‘stand down’. We have SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) that we follow when an Embassy, a Base, or a Post is being attacked. Part of those procedures do NOT include calling the White House to ask for advice or permission to take action. The Battle Captain in that TOC makes the initial call to alert the QRF or CIF. Once the immediate chain of command is notified, a Colonel or a General (as in this case) will make the final decision as to ramp up, execute, or stand down. Again, we don’t ever call the White House to ask for permission or guidance in these matters. Generals already have the authority to take immediate action in those situations. That’s why we have Colonels and Generals. These High ranking officers are entrusted to make these type of decisions on the battlefield. So I hate to break it to you guys, but the President is NOT part of that decision making process. The President and high ranking officials like Hillary, Panetta, and Petraeus are eventually notified of situations like this and kept updated thereafter. However, it’s the Combatant Commander that is responsible for that area who makes the final call to execute mission or ‘stand down’. In this case, the AOR (Area of Responsibility) was AFRICOM and the Combatant Commander for AFRICOM was GEN Ham.
Although, GEN Ham is the AFRICOM Commander and would normally give the final order and what most of the media on Broadcast and Cable have failed to mention is that GEN Ham was actually in DC during the attack. In this case, his 2nd in command assumes the responsibility the day he leaves area. In addition, the Commander of SOCAFRICA also comes into play because it falls under AFRICOM and they are directly in charge of the Special Forces for that AOR. That Commander was Rear Adm Brian Losey...and he testified, along with many other officers, that there was NO stand down order ever given.
In summary, Stand Down orders are not given by the President or Hillary Clinton...that's why we have Generals, Admirals, and other Commanders.
My Background: Served 21 years in the US Army as an Infantryman...both as an enlisted member and a commissioned officer. Deployed 4 times (Bosnia, Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan).
I also worked in a BDOC and JTOC."