I wouldn't leave out: c) The rot has become so pervasive, in the manner of the late Soviet Union, that the people issuing the orders are completely disconnected from the reality on the ground.

This differs from 'a' in that the decision is not humoring the momentary whim of a mad dictator, but an a deliberate decision by a group of professionals (at least in theory), who have destroyed any possible means of connecting themselves with real information.