[Cheerio]

No one in the military chain of command had ordered a mission to Benghazi so in the sense you mean it there was no order to stand down. Someone in the military chain of command did, however,order those troops not to go. We really need to find out who that was and if that person was acting on orders from higher. We need to subpoena Gen Ham, and for other reasons, Gen Petraeus. I also find it curious that both have since lost their positions.

It seems very simply. The military can issue the stand down because the CIC has not authorized CBA. Is it any more complicated than that?

Only President Can Give ‘Cross-Border Authority’
....snip.....

On the other side of the CBA coin: in order to prevent a military rescue in Benghazi, all the POTUS has to do is not grant cross-border authority. If he does not, the entire rescue mission (already in progress) must stop in its tracks.

Ships can loiter on station, but airplanes fall out of the sky, so they must be redirected to an air base (Sigonella, in Sicily) to await the POTUS decision on granting CBA. If the decision to grant CBA never comes, the besieged diplomatic outpost in Benghazi can rely only on assets already “in country” in Libya — such as the Tripoli quick reaction force and the Predator drones. These assets can be put into action on the independent authority of the acting ambassador or CIA station chief in Tripoli. They are already “in country,” so CBA rules do not apply to them.

How might this process have played out in the White House?

[mylife]

So this brings up the question

Where was Obama when the phone call came in?

Hillary does not own this, although she was culpable.
I almost feel sorry for Hillary.

Almost.

[bray]

Didn't Hicks say his guys were ready to go from the Embassy but were told to Stand Down? Are you saying only the Ambassador or someone other than the President can make that call?

[mylife]

I have seen Submarines scrambled to Libya in 30 mins
Guys shanghaied off the docks.
Ready to go.

The notion that we could not respond in 7 hours is preposterous.

Obama let these guys twist in the wind.
The Question is, was it negligence or was it purposeful?

Considering the entire Arab Spring, I think it was the later.
AQ is strengthening on the North African coast, and Obama is enabling it.

[csmusaret]

What cross border rescue effort was in progress and had to be halted?