[marktwain]

If they called for help, they would be calling 'their' boss. They would expect 'their' boss to act accordingly.

If they called their boss, and their boss was a contractor, maybe it was their boss, the contractor, that told them to stand down. A contractor is not in the CIA chain of command.

I have worked with military contractors. They tend to be pretty risk adverse. Maybe that is what happened.

[TomGuy]

Woods' and Doherty's boss:

The American special operators, Woods, Doherty and at least two others were part of the Global Response Staff, a CIA element, based at the CIA annex and were protecting CIA operators

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