I think they added the "tainted fuel" to make their refusal noble.
My guess is the ringleaders were being courted and sympathised with by someone in Mississippi eager to destroy morale and cause this kind of acting out. I am betting on the good congressman and some old left wing anti war folks just doing their thing.
I note it is not all over the news today. Perhaps the lefties got scared seeing as how the Kerry connection may go way back.
I think the fuel taint was supposed to do two things. First, the dangerous delivery was a waste of time anyway. Second, emphasize how messed up things are over there. People in charge of running the show are at best, incompetent. At worst, they are dangerous & don't care about the safety of those they are put in charge of.
Making their refusal "noble" would be icing on the cake. They were trying to prevent harm to some of their fellow service people.
Agreed. Especially interesting that another unit completed the assignment. Reel in a nice fat congressman?