I don't know whether he told them to do it or whether he knew. The answer to the popular question of the last few days -- "Do you think he knew?” -- largely depends on what you thought of him in the first place.
What's ironic is that, by most accounts, he's been doing a pretty good job. And don't hold the fact that he has political ambitions against him.
What troubles me most is that it seems that a culture existed that put political retribution of an individual over the well-being of many, many people. Someone died. Collateral damage for a political message. What were they thinking?