[Travis McGee]

The Sheriff’s Deputy analogy is good, but not complete. In that case, any near units would have responed on their own, without orders from the Sheriff or Mayor.

In the Benghazi case, availaable military units (at see or in southern Italy) could NOT respond on their own, even if they were BEGGING for permission to do so. They can not cross another sovereign nation’s borders with a military force unless ONE MAN gives the order.

That one man was too busy coming up with a cover story (the video) to order a rescue attempt. He preferred dead Americans, to a situation that could have “spun out of control” a few weeks before the election.

Better a few dead Americans....to Obama, the cowardly traitor.

[TigersEye]

You are right. Analogies for complicated situations like this are never entirely clean. Only the essence of it was intended ie a dire situation involving a clear responsibility for the life of someone directly connected to the top of the chain of command being ignored as if it was just an episode of a television drama.

I was just trying to bring the cold heartedness of it into focus with something a little closer to daily life. The 'head of the household-daughter in trouble' comparison a step even closer but also lacking the complications of international politics.

They can not cross another sovereign nation’s borders with a military force unless ONE MAN gives the order.

That is the bottom line. ONE MAN had the authority to act. ONE MAN utterly failed.