the solution to the "stand down" controversy .... barack obama did not have to tell the military to "stand down" on any rescue mission, because he had never told them to "stand up" ...

the obama administration has steadfastly maintained that it never issued any order telling anyone to "stand down" on a rescue mission, whether in planning or just before launch.

they say, for instance as applied to a specific issue, that they did not "stand down" general carter ham, so as to prevent him from launching his troops.

well, it may just be that the obama administration hides behind a half truth in this, or maybe, the eighth of a truth.

please read, http://pjmedia.com/blog/benghazis-smoking-gun-only-president-can-give-%E2%80%98cross-border-authority%E2%80%99/?fb_action_ids=4759103104742&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582 ,

at pajama's media.   

the gist of the post is quite simple.  in order for the u.s. military or any other organization to cross the border of a recognized state, they must first be issued an order by the president authorizing and giving them authority to cross that border.  this is called cross border authority.

without the order giving such authority, the military is prohibited from crossing an international border.

and, this may be the solution to the "stand down" controversy, e.g. , whether obama actually told people to "stand down."   because, if he had not told them to "stand up," e.g., given them cross border authority, he did not have to tell them to stand down in order to prevent the launch of the operation.   stopping such a launch was therefore "automatic," so to speak, and did not require his direct & express order not to launch.

in other words, he did not have to issue an order explicitly "standing them down," because he had never "stood them up."

neat, huh?

so, the president has "plausible deniability."   he can tell us that he never "stood down" any rescue mission, or prevented it.   but, that is not the entire truth, because the entire truth is he did not have to, unless he had authorized cross border authority for the mission launch.

so, the first question to any smarmy smart-assed obama administration spokesman should properly be, "did obama give cross border authority to the military to go into libya and effect the rescue of the ambassador and the embassy mission."

if he did not, his denial of "standing down" any operation is misdirection, and tantamount to lying.

simple as that.

john jay @ 11.02.2012