I guess I should ask you Headless: Is it appropriate for a subordinate officer to publicly cast doubt and refuse (hypothetical) lawful orders from his lawful superior?
That is all this issue is about, you can pull the politics out of it.
We did it all the time in Iraq. Some stupid 2nd Lt with his panties in a bunch trying to win hisself some medals told us to do something retarded, we'd explain why we didn't feel like committing suicide just cause O-school hadn't managed to instill common sense. In fact, this was one of our... company or battalion rules iirc. If Lance Criminal Bob was put in charge of a patrol, he was in charge. Came around after some dumb ass Captain over rode the patrol leader about crossing a bridge and several guys died. We also refused to do escort work for Navy brass after some Admiral who wanted to inspect the seabees ordered us to convoy him through a bad area and the trucks got hit with flechette rockets. Thankfully those were both before my time, and I benefitted from the lessons learned.
All that to say, instant and willing (and unthinking) obedience to orders sounds great in boot camp, but despite what your buddies over at DU think, .mil aren't a bunch of mindless brainwashed kill-bots.
