I'm not sure what kind of moral code you subscribe to, but I do not agree with you that a person cannot hold a principle if he has ever once violated it.
But you do agree it's cool to attack red's "honor" and "principles" because he used the information available to him at the time to make what he believed at the time to be a prudent decision. It's his name in the ATF file and it's his name in this community.
Maybe rd made a misjudgement, but I don't think he needs Nicholson's speech from A Few Good Men.
I love the internet.