The Living Daylights: Is Whitaker REALLY that inept?

Okay, so I'm rewatching The Living Daylights (again, I know, I have a problem!), and something struck me about General Whitaker. Everyone kind of laughs him off as this wannabe military genius playing with toy soldiers, right? Like, the whole 'obsessed with war history' thing seems like a joke. But... what if it's a cover? Think about it. He's funding Brad Whitaker's arms dealing... but why is a general involved in that? Is it pure greed? Maybe. But what if they're funneling money back into a deeper operation? Like, the whole deal with Koskov is messy, but maybe Whitaker is playing a longer game. He's TOO into the historical military figures. Almost like he's trying to learn something from them, not just imitate them. And he gets taken down kinda easy, no? A little too easy? I know, it's Bond, he's supposed to win. But what if he was supposed to be the fall guy? Koskov runs off with the money, Bond's blamed or dead, and Whitaker gets to reorganize the situation in Tangier. Makes you wonder if maybe Bond was played on a whole other level in this one and everyone underestimated Whitaker. He probably wasn't a tactical mastermind, but he could've been running scams that way exceeded the scope of Bond's understanding of the situation