All of Egwene's immunity to the snares that prevented the sisters you mention from doing the same (and actually, Tarna was doing that, Elaida simply was not listening, and unlike Egwene, she actually had better things to do than make a martyr out of herself) is not of her doing. Quite frankly, my reaction upon reading these things was not about Egwene and her actions as such, but an assessment that any group who needed to be told these things deserves whatever fate befalls them, and especially does not serve protected or exalted status that the Aes Sedai demand as their due. Until Egwene shows some sign of reversing this position, rather than upholding it, I will remain indifferent to any so-called "heroism" on her part on behalf of the Tower. The most selfless & courageous sacrifice in the world for a useless cause is still useless. You know why you don't see Nynaeve, Cadsuane and Elayne making the same sacrifices as Egwene or being in her position? Because they have found worthy causes to work for and to offer their time and energies, namely the Dragon Reborn and the most powerful and decent country in the known world.

Why? On what basis do you claim it is reasonable to assume I was blindly criticizing her? Why don't you actually look at the words. This original post was not even all that critical of Egwene, merely pointing out the hyperbolic expression of her portrayal, comparing it to my parodic recapitulation of the series.

Except she had her primary advisors opposing the increase of the guard. What opposition did Egwene face in utilizing Verin's books? I cited those things in response to sidious' ludicrous claim that Elayne was completely incompetant and saved from her military errors by the backstopping of her main supporters. I merely cited the key use of gateways as being as likely to come from Elayne as from anyone in her entourage, if not moreso, see as she was the lead channeler. It was a completely different type of argument, which is why I don't cite other people's criticisms of other characters in a discussion about one in particular. I have never offered those up as examples of great things that she did, and I only cited them to refute a claim that other people's leadership won her war for her.

Well, why don't you find the place where I called it a stroke of genius or excused Dyelin's lapse?

But NEITHER is a good reason! That is NOT a reason to claim she should have the Lion Throne! A common sense notion is NOT grounds for claiming she's a suitable or great ruler.

Assuming they were capable of analyzing that datum in seconds after being released from physically stressful captivity following a sleepless night, and recalling another datum that informed Elayne on the appropriate course of action. Birgitte was not opposed to that tactical idea, she was just not bright ennough to realize where Arymilla would be. Anyone would have realized the best thing to do is strike at her, as Elayne stated earlier, when she claimed that was the only information about Arymilla she was interested in. Despite Birgitte & Dyelin being told about the attack on the gate, neither one of them made the connection. Elayne did, which is how she knew what to do. If Arymilla had NOT been with that force, it would NOT have been an obvious tactical move! The smartest thing to do would have been to bring her force to aid Dyelin in holding the gate, but that would have allowed Arymilla & co to retreat to safety when her forces failed to take the gate. The flanking attack was only an "obvious" manuever once Elayne put all the data together.

And it does NOT make her a good ruler, nor did I ever claim it DID! I cited it to refute a claim of her military ineptitude! All I did was say that she did NOT screw up the military situation!

She did no such thing. All she did was skew the casualties slightly more towards the Tower's favor. The disaster still happened and the extent to which the Tower did NOT go down to total defeat was due entirely to the limitations the Seanchan imposed on themselves. She did not drive them away, they never had any intention of staying. She did not prevent them from getting a damane with knowledge of Traveling (not that she could have, nor is it her fault). She did not avert any disaster, aside from a few more losses on the Tower's part or a few less losses on that of the Seanchan.

"So you can see some things, if you are led by the hand." (I don't have aCoS handy, so I might be misquoting Moridin)

I would actually contend that choosing to devote herself to the good of this wretched group condemns Egwene. A recurring theme in my "Egwene's evil" series was her siding with these pathetic, idiotic, blind, prejudiced and common-senseless wastes of life over her friends and the Dragon Reborn.