I don't believe it was the people in the think tanks, I believe it was Marines THINKING IN TANKS that got it right. There was some hand-wringing in the Pentagon by those 7,549 miles away when they heard about this, if you recall. Oh, yeah, and many a FReeper, including myself, I'll admit, were ranting about how "politics was going to ruin it".
Nice to see an honest man. Too bad others persist in their folly.