I dare say many were what we would consider dubious as special ops can be a very dirty war.
There is no way you can train and really prepare a man to fight a dirty war.
Conventional war you shoot at someone who is trying to kill you, in a lot of cases you don't even see them, they are figures in the dark.
In these sort of wars, civilians are also involved, it involves going into people houses and searching for weapons.I found that very hard, rousing old people out of there beds, old people which society has taught be to respect in normal circumstances. Wrecking a womens kitchen rifling through personal possessions.
Maybe interrogating someone in front of there family looking at children who look back at you with fear mingling with hatred.
It is recognizing these things which makes you still a decent individual as well as a soldier and not some paid up paramilitary thug in a private army which we see in parts of Africa the Middle east and the Balkans during the conflicts
If he can no longer feel that he can take part in any more ops he did the right thing, because when you lose your edge and spend too much time thinking you become a liability to your self and your team.
We are humans not machines and there comes a time when you can no longer carry on with those tasks that sorrowfully need to be done.
I think that's the case here.......hopefully.
Right now there are some very very unconventional sorts working without a net in those AO's and I suspect this guy stumbled into a pile of their leavings and lost his hooyah. Resulting in your suggested reason for his comments. Who knows why ...fatigue, no confidence in his leadership pandering to polidiots etc etc .....the funk of war per se.
Just my opinion of course....Stay safe