I call “B.S.” on the WSJ.
Obama is unlikely to have made ANY decisions of import during his 5 years as front man for whatever organization is running him.
Heck - he probably does not even know what his speaches will say until he steps in front of the teleprompter and starts reading.
The LA Times story had him walking the grounds with an aide. I think it was a combination of the military and financial backblow plus cold feet on an operation that was practically guaranteed to get way out of the planner’s hands. Images of dead women and children would have been the least of it.