Blackfive: A US Troop Would Not Have Been Painting a Target Unless There Was a Spectre or Armed Predator In the Air to Fire On It

Now that he points this out, it's obvious-- a laser designator isn't a weapon. It's a designator which a flying weapons platform sees and then strikes.

A SEAL wouldn't just be pointing a laser designator at a target for shits and giggles. If there were no platform in the air that could fire on the target, he wouldn't be pointing a laser designator at the target. He'd be pointing a gun.

So there was almost certainly a platform capable of firing the weapon in the air.

And further: At that point, only two men would have been in a position to veto the strike.

The AFRICOM command, or the President.

Rush has an interview with a Special Operations planner who says that in an in extremis situation, as the attack on Libya was, the good guys would not have needed an explicit order to protect US personnel. Their standing general orders to protect US citizens and personnel would have already enabled them to act, absent a contrary order.

Only a negative order would have stopped them.

The Rush interview is well worth listening to. The guy calling in is obviously what he claims to be (unless he's some kind of virtuouso faker who can fluently explain details of Special Operations planning and protocols).

posted by Ace at 04:21 PM

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