Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-14138255-20140912002450/@comment-10390252-20140915082111

@Shadow,

That presumes that Ironwood is acting legitimately.

Look at it another way: His reaction to Glynda strongly suggests he is eithe single or a widower. Imagine that a beautiful young woman in a bar, coming to him at a vulnerable moment (one possibly enhanced by something she dropped into his drink without him seeing) She starts talking to him about what a shame it is that the armies of Atlas are no longer seen as the great organisation that they once were. If only something were to happen to make people appreciate them again! Saying all the things that he privately thought but has never expressed aloud except in the most private of forums (say, when meeting with Ozpin in a private home or a similar venue).

This could have been going on for years, slowly corrupting him by telling him the things that he wanted to hear. He's been working to subvert and circumvent the very safeguards that you point out. All this because he believes a strong army is vital to the safety of Remnant and too enamoured of that vision to realise that he has been made in a tool to bring about the chaos and anarchy that he thinks he's working to prevent.