MikeS,
I think I'm being misinterpreted.
As I stated in the very first post which started the thread, I've known the two people I'm opposed to seeing so soon in the Rescue course ever since the first pool session in December 2001.
They are good people, good friends and good divers for slightly more than beginners, but in my view they are not ready; I decided to give an account of my own course, because I see in them some of the things I know were there back in October 2000 when I took the course in warm, clear waters around Sharm el Sheikh.
They want to take the course in dark, cold, murky waters in and around Belgium.
I'm not saying that if and when I become an instructor I'll say NO just out of cussedness, that would be breaking the rules, I know you have the right to say NO if you feel the person is not ready.
Make a dive with them, see them in the pool, talk with them, ask them a few basic questions and then make an informed decision.
There is no place in the Instructors' Manual that says you have to bring through every single person who takes the OW, they teach you to do your best for your students to succeed, there is a huge difference.
Why should it be any different at a higher level?