williamkevin wrote:ffemt300 wrote:Since when does an ambassador tell the Marines what to do?
The Marine detachment works for the ambassador.
Absolutely correct, William. An ambassador is the direct representive of the President of the United States, who, is of course also the Commander in Chief of active duty military personnel on an embassy security detail. The chain of command could easily be established unilaterally by the President, but in this case this arrangement and understanding is blessed by State, DoD and the USMC. There has been no weight thrown around.
I would commend our attention to the above link to another forum discussion given to us by RoyGBiv. The author of that posting obviously has some personal experience in this area. He uses the right words, some of which are terms of art, and he uses them in the right way.
I compliment both of you, William and Roy, along the others here who have demonstrated that they think for themselves, for shedding some bright light on the situation which we faced, and continue to face, here. As is too often the case an absolute untruth was published (originally by other than the much-maligned MSM, by the way) about the resident Marines not being allowed live ammunation, and the untrue allegation was repeated here on this forum as a statement of fact.
Killed in Benghazi with our Ambassador to Libya was an ex-SEAL and the Embassy Security Officer. I have always observed that the latter is usually, if not always, a career Foreign Service officer. These brave men and women deserve more credit and respect than they have received here on this forum and in our current domestic political environment, regardless of one's affiliation. They died in the line of duty while attempting to save the few persons who had not yet evacuated the consulate. Our Foreign Service personnel face danger at many a station almost daily.
Jim