Woods was there first from the annex to go to the mission, I think Doherty was later, part of the group of mixed US and Libyan forces sent from Tripoli to aid the mission who ran into an ambush on the way but who did finally get there to rescue 30 people.
Since anyone else -an in extremis force, etc, would have had to come from outside the country, they would need, as FR’s Travis McGee has said, “cross border authority” to go in armed. There is only one person who can grant or deny cross border authority, and that is the President of the United States.
Which is why the Obama admin is stalling, and why the people most concerned - Sec of state and Defense, and the pres himself, have left the country to go on wine tasting expeditions to Australia and to hug human rights activists in Burma.
It’s unclear(to me) whether Doherty was there originally as part of security for the CIA annex or came later as you indicated from Tripoli. Regardless, who told Woods and others to stand down when they wanted to go to the consular base to rescue the inhabitants?
Petraeus claimed it wasn’t him, but who was responsible for the CIA? Wouldn’t it have been Petraeus? I get the “feeling” that whoever told them to stand down did not want the terrorists making it back to the CIA annex. Their cover would have been blown at that point. The fact that a few did ignore an order(s) is what led the terrorists back to their annex, and indeed, their cover WAS blown. So whoever knew this would happen, why didn’t they also make sure they would survive the eventual attack with manned drones, with a quicker QRF from Tripoli? If Petraeus is clueless about what went down that night...WHY is he clueless?
His involvement or lack of involvement makes no sense.