[gitmo]

There is far less than zero probability that the Navy ordered those destroyers into that region without explicit clearance from the White House, by someone speaking for the President. Delegating authority does not relieve one of responsibility.

You're assuming the Kenyan actually attended the briefings and even paid attention during them.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I am assuming that the metonymical Pentagon would not take an action like that without at least the consent of the metonymical White House. I am not drawing any conclusions about the metonym-in-chief.