No top cover; defined

Every once in awhile, a leader will in frustration try to mitigate a problem that no one in his chain of command will deal with.

Well ..... sometimes that lack of action has a reason.

A recent military policy that added pregnancy to the list of reasons a soldier could be disciplined in a war zone will be rescinded by a new order drafted by the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Gen. Raymond Odierno drafted a broad new policy for the U.S. forces in Iraq that will take effect Jan. 1, and that order will not include a controversial pregnancy provision that one of his subordinate commanders enacted last month, according to the U.S. military command in Iraq.

In this political environment - this shouldn't be a shocker.

Too much cost - too little benefit. Sometimes, leaders are more comfortable living with little lies than dealing with them.