If Benning took the job and followed orders that he knew were doomed to fail, he is a fool.
Before Benning took this job, he was a highly-regarded executive in the NHL. His name often came up in conversations about which AGM's could find a GM job elsewhere.
He didn't need this job, he didn't take it out of desperation. I imagine he was getting paid just fine in Boston, and there would have been other opportunities for him if it wasn't the Canucks.
So he's either a fool for doing all the dumb stuff, or a fool for listening to the guy telling him to do dumb stuff. Either way, the conclusion is the same.