[Naspino]

I think loose lips sink ships and an officer in the military should FREAKING know better. Also I think there is a chain of command and military officers should honor that. Also I think there are people in this world that are consistently pessimistic. In my business I come across lots of people who say "Thats impossible, we can't do that." Then -- amazingly we do it.

[kinghorse]

Look here, the freedom loving west has a storied history of improving warfaring technique through introspection and argument. If this was done in Ira_ the generals and their families would be fertilizer by now. The point is, through the open and free exchange of ideas people feel they have a say in the outcome and fight harder and SMARTER than their adversaries. One need only look at the example of the naval defeat of the numerically superior Islamists and their Suliman off the coast of Italy back in the 15th century to know freedom and the right to dissent wins the day. The western ship captains adapted in mid-battle by sawing off their bows to make the ships more manueverable in narrow straits and won the day. The Easterners were too fearful of their slaves to even consider unshackling them to respond in kind. So they sank to the bottom of the strait shackled to their rowing benches.

Dissent is all good.