Friday, November 9, 2012

The Petraeus Affair

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Does anyone believe his reason for resignation?

Petraeus disclosed an extra-marital affair in a letter released to the CIA work force on Friday afternoon, writing: "Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours."

Since he has now resigned Petraeus will not need to testify at hearings next week into the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya where Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obama has been covering this up since it happened.

Anonymous said...

Petraeus could still be asked to testify.Hundreds of people knew what was happening.Hundreds participated in this cover up.How does Obama go to Vegas the next day and act like nothing happened?How do you look the parents of dead soldiers in the eye and lie your ass off?

Anonymous said...

I think that this has more to do with WHO he had the affair with. Check the story about Paula Broadwell. Simultaneous to his resignation, she is being investigated for a possible security breach. She wrote the biography on him and potentially had access to his email. This story was about to break and he was going to be exposed for not only having the affair but for allowing her access to classified information. This is a pretty big deal, he was either going to need to step down and admit the affair or it was going to break in the media which would have been more damaging to his family, her family and everyone in between. I think he was cornered.

Anonymous said...

There are other avenues David Petraeus could have taken to handle the scandal surrounding his name.

He could have denied everything. And denied it again. And then like other powerful men, he would almost assuredly have been caught in the web of his lies. And Paula Broadwell, driven crazy by the fire of her ambition, could have become a celebrity, what with the association of her name with that of the general. She could have written another book...her own book this time, with a glowing account of her many legitimate and honorable achievements and perhaps the occasional sly innuendo regarding some not-so-legitimate adventures as well. She probably would not have mentioned the unrelated harassment complaint against her which led the FBI to read her email and find her notes to and from the general. And J. Edgar's boys, ever eager to screw the CIA, would have had a field day.

But meanwhile, Petraeus's wife would have been dragged through the mud of the scandalous press, which is ever eager to make the news so that they can report it, fill the daily cable news cycle and sell more papers. Although his honor would not have been all that tarnished (for who is surprised that a soldier, deployed for sometimes years on end, has extramarital sex?), his marriage and the love he has for his wife would surely suffer from a scandal, perhaps beyond any possibility of reconciliation.

So how did he handle it? He stood up and bore it like a man. Before the story had had a chance to even become a rumor, General Petraeus resigned his post at the CIA, his resignation accepted by the president, and then the general went public with his confession.

So were we scandalized? No. A little titillated perhaps. But we're still getting over the election, and the sins of a brilliant general and a conniving witch seem, come to think of it, a lot less important than that.

So we do not play “Taps” for your career, soldier, and for being a helluva man, and doing the Right Thing, we honor you, General Petraeus.

Anonymous said...

"Petraeus will not need to testify at hearings next week".
Where did you get this incorrect information?

Lynn Anderson said...

CBS’ Mark Knoller tweets that “Senate Intelligence Committee says Petraeus will not testify at next week’s closed hearing on the events in Benghazi.”--one source of many.
Sources say that he will PROBABLY testify. time will tell.

Anonymous said...

He doesn't have to voluntarily testify now that he has stepped down. He could be subpoenaed.