A very interesting choice of words: “ ... The president did not deny requests for aid...” may in fact be true. He might have been requested for aid, but did not say “ no”, and did not answer the question, and did not say “request approved”. I suspect this to be the real truth.
Maybe Valerie Jarrett was not around to give him direction, or she was around and he followed her dictate.
I cannot see any political downside to have provided aid, but suspect that my suggestion above may be the most accurate, and reflects the poor experience of the Obama team in handling any kind of foreign policy/political crisis.
I was wondering that myself - is Valerie Jarrett the one who said “stand down”?