Petraeus

33 comments

• jester214

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  12 years ago

  Sorry, when you're the CIA director you don't get to have something on the side. It's asking for trouble.
• pabloantonio

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  12 years ago

  I don't think pussy has anything to do with his resignation.
• Clubber

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  12 years ago

  When you get and hold a Top Secret clearance, one must be spotless!
• Bogeyman1

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  12 years ago

  I agree with Pablosantonio. The timing is very suspicious. Try thinking if a plausible alternative story. Petraeus is intimate but with the details of Bengazzi. He can no longer in good conscience work for an administration that would cluster up a big mess on 9-11 and four good and honorable men pay the price with their lives. How better to announce a resignation after the election when the General can no longer work for such a boss? Do you really think a man with the background of the CIA director could not be discreet in having an affair?
• jester214

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  12 years ago

  When two married people are having an affair you can be as discreet as you want and still get caught. It's easy to come up with conspiracy theories but they are rarely true.
• xedin5436

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  12 years ago

  Yep - this probably wouldn't have come out if FBI investigations hadn't uncovered the affair and security leak. I'm sure the fact that the FBI caused the leader of the CIA to resign will do wonders for interdepartmental relations.
• SuperDude

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  12 years ago

  If someone finds out that the CIA Director is having an affair, then he is subject to domestic or foreign blackmail. Even if the general public might feel that the affair is no big deal, the fact that he could find himself on the wrong end of messy and expensive divorce makes him vulnerable. Thus, it is just plain foolish to expose himself to that pressure. Holly Patreus might give him a pass or might cut him wide open. No one knows. It's the reckless exposure to the possiblity of that pressure that requires him, as a man of probity and honor, to admit the gross mistake and resign.
• DandyDan

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  12 years ago

  I have this book which is a so-called secret history of the CIA and one thing I have read about in abundance in this book is the fact everyone who was ever in the CIA, at least at the top, was having an extramarital affair. It probably does have something to do with Libya. Also, this book also says the CIA and FBI hate each other, so if an FBI investigation did lead to his resignation, it's not really surprising.
• Clubber

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  12 years ago

  DD, I read the same thing on the internet, so it must be true! :)
• shadowcat

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  12 years ago

  Did Bill Clinton have a top secret clearance when Monica was sucking his dick?
• vincemichaels

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  12 years ago

  I don't really want to know about Bill's clearance. :)
• Experimental

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  12 years ago

  Besides exposing him to blackmail attempts, there are a myriad of other problems cropping up because of an incident like cheating and getting caught. I guarantee you this wasn't a bombshell he dropped on everyone. People knew. People were starting to talk. Since no SEALS were involved though, apparently, and just the military/CIA intelligence community, nobody ran out and wrote a book, movie, or video game yet. The intelligence community is small. Rumors spread like wilfire. Petreus' ability to discipline anyone else for indiscretions was compromised. His ability to lead was compromised. His judgement was shown to be poor and would be questioned going forward, particularly once it got out to the general public and media, which it would eventually if he didn't tell. This man was compromised in every possible way. There is no chance he could have continued on as DirCIA. You can joke about Clinton, but he was an elected official. They don't usually resign, particularly POTUS, because of something like that. Petreus isn't elected. And at any rate, Clinton's respect and ability to lead was seriously questioned after the Lewinski stuff came up. The republicans tried to impeach him for christ's sake. So why is it a surprise, shock or outrage this guy petreus would resign? His effectiveness and ability to lead were shattered. If the guy just drove a deuce and a half around Benning, this wouldn't be significant or news. He's a little bit higher paygrade though, so it is.
• Tiredtraveler

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  12 years ago

  Obama wanted him gone because he would not do what the Obamanation wanted. I suspect he knows what really happend in Bengazi and how the adminstration has covered up its complicity or incompetence. By forcing him out he is now silenced as he is bound to silence by law. While he was director of the CIA he was answerable to congress not Obama. Now he is effectively out of congressinal reach. I have never said Obama's puppeteers were stupid just evil and corrupt.
• Corvus

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  12 years ago

  I agree with TiredTravler above. But there is more to the situation too. Petraus is a man and we are weak when it comes to pussy. Some weaker than others. Away from home for a majority of his marriage in far flung parts of the world. First time to cheat or not, here comes this hottie writing his biography. At the same time she has a similar background as him--both are graduates of West Point. Whether she waved that ass at him or not biology was working against him. Opportunity, stress, blue balls, a willing woman, all results in a pretty tempting chance to get your dick wet. Especially if it is a common opportunity over time. And while I have seen very few photos of his wife or the other woman--it looked like no comparison to me.
• Dougster

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  12 years ago

  Other conspiracy theories say it's because he thought Iran should be attacked which seems like a good idea to me. (Looks like currency destruction didn't dislodge the current president, and now Bibi has to put his own attack on hold until after Israeli elections.) The timing and possible behghazi connection I have to admit is very fishy!
• Alucard

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  12 years ago

  Another example of the consequences of Infidelity.
• motorhead

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  12 years ago

  He's the friggin' director of the CIA. He couldn't have had "Covert Affairs"?
• vincemichaels

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  12 years ago

  Has anyone seen any pictures of the " other " woman? I'm not defending his actions, but I am curious about the woman he had the affair with.
• Clubber

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  12 years ago

  I saw an interview of her when she was writing his biography. She wasn't unattractive. I am sure the President has Top Secret clearance.
• vincemichaels

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  12 years ago

  Woman Linked to Petraeus Is a West Point Graduate and Lifelong High Achiever By MICHAEL D. SHEAR Published: November 9, 2012 — Paula Broadwell, whose affair with the nation’s C.I.A. director led to his resignation on Friday, was the valedictorian of her high school class and homecoming queen, a fitness champion at West Point with a graduate degree from Harvard, and a model for a machine gun manufacturer. Paula Broadwell, who wrote a biography of David H. Petraeus, moved into public view on Friday after an affair with Mr. Petraeus was uncovered. It may have been those qualities — and a string of achievements that began in her native North Dakota, where she was state student council president, an all-state basketball player and orchestra concertmistress — that drew the attention of David H. Petraeus, the nation’s top spy and a four-star general, as the two spent hours together for a biography of Mr. Petraeus that Ms. Broadwell co-wrote. Ms. Broadwell’s name burst into public view on Friday evening after Mr. Petraeus resigned abruptly amid an F.B.I. investigation that uncovered evidence of their relationship. But Ms. Broadwell was hardly shy about her interactions with Mr. Petraeus as she promoted her book, “All In: The Education of General David Petraeus,” in media appearances earlier this year. She had unusual access, she noted in promotional appearances, taping many of her interviews for her book while running six-minute miles with Mr. Petraeus in the thin mountain air of the Afghan capital. Ms. Broadwell said in an interview in February that Mr. Petraeus was enjoying his new civilian life at the C.I.A., where he became director in September 2011. “It was a huge growth period for him, because he realized he didn’t have to hide behind the shield of all those medals and stripes on his arm,” she said. Ms. Broadwell was 39 at the time. Her biography on the Penguin Speakers Bureau Web site says that she is a research associate at Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. She received a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. A self-described “soccer mom” and an ironman triathlete, Ms. Broadwell became a fixture on the Washington media scene after the publication of her book about Mr. Petraeus, who is 60. In a Twitter message this summer, she bragged about appearing on a panel at the Aspen Institute, a policy group for deep thinkers. On her Twitter account, she often commented on the qualities of leadership. “Reason and calm judgment, the qualities specially belonging to a leader. Tacitus,” she wrote. In another message, she said: “A leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don’t want to do and like it. Truman.” She also used her Twitter account to denounce speculation in the Drudge Report that Mr. Petraeus would be picked as a running mate by Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate for president. Married with two children, she was described in a biography on the Web site of Inspired Women Magazine as a high achiever since high school.The biography says that Ms. Broadwell received a degree in political geography and systems engineering from West Point, where she was ranked No. 1 over all in fitness in her class. She benefited from a different ranking scale for women, she told a reporter this year. But “I was still in the top 5 percent if I’d been ranked as a male,” she said. The official Web site for Ms. Broadwell’s book was taken down Friday, but comments from her echoed across the Internet. “I was driven when I was younger,” she was quoted as saying on the Web site, noting her induction into her high school’s hall of fame. “Driven at West Point where it was much more competitive in that women were competing with men on many levels, and I was driven in the military and at Harvard, both competitive environments.” “But now,” she is quoted as saying, “as a working mother of two, I realize it is more difficult to compete in certain areas. I think it is important for working moms to recognize that family is the most important.” On “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart summed up Ms. Broadwell’s book by saying: “I would say the real controversy here is, is he awesome or incredibly awesome?”A short time later, Ms. Broadwell challenged Mr. Stewart to a push-up contest, which she won handily. Mr. Stewart had to pay $1,000 to a veterans’ support group for each push-up she did beyond his total. Ms. Broadwell said that he wrote a check for $20,000 on the spot. On Friday evening, her house in the Dilworth neighborhood of Charlotte, N.C., was dark when a reporter rang the doorbell. Two cars were in the home’s carport and an American flag was flying out front.
• vincemichaels

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  12 years ago

  I wouldn't throw her out of bed for eating crackers, the pics I just saw of her while doing this research show her to be fairly attractive in looks, as well as the info in this article indicate she is an intelligent woman. Oh well.
• SuperDude

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  12 years ago

  If looks matter, Holly Petraus is a plain Jane and Paula Broadwell is a hottie by comparison.
• georgmicrodong

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  12 years ago

  But from the looks of it, Holly was a hottie when she was younger. I only saw one slightly fuzzy picture though.
• gatorfan

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  12 years ago

  Who is this guy again?
• motorhead

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  12 years ago

  "Three Days of the Condor" One of the best movies about The Company ever. Not much on TV anymore. Our younger viewers might not be familiar with it.
• Dougster

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  12 years ago

  alutard: "Another example of the consequences of Infidelity" One thing I find interesting about alutard is how he criticizes things that would never be an option for him anyways. Infidelity is one. Another is his criticism of smoking, drinking, and drugs. No he has admitted to having CAD which could "kill him at any time". Could it be that the doctor told him he doesn't really have a choice about whether he does them or not? i.e. risks are so high they could kill him on the spot? I feel that if there is no possibility of a choice to be made in the matter, then it is ridiculous to talk about your virtue in making that choice, and even more ridiculous to criticize others where the choice is something real. It would be interesting to see how alutard measure up in areas where there is a choice a stake. I bet not too well. Not in his mind or that of world. Hence the strong desire he has to yell and scream about how "moral" he is in realms, where there is no morality at stake, simply because you are not making a choice when there is only one choice to choose from.
• Dougster

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  12 years ago

  (Man this is like being in college and reading Nietzsche's "The Genealogy of Morals" again.)
• Dougster

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  12 years ago

  Looks like they kept the investigation from the senate and house when they were required, by law, to inform them. President is going to take so heat on this one, but has done a number of end runs with executive power. Did the prez hide it to Friday just because of the election, or did Petraeus know something about Benghazi (which, apparently, he cannot legally testify about now). Like I say, really looking fishy on this one...
• jackslash

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  12 years ago

  Paula's not bad looking for a 40-year-old, but she's not stripper material. At least I wouldn't buy a lap dance from her. It appears she started the train of events leading to the discovery of the affair by sending threatening emails to another woman whom she viewed as a rival. Who knew the CIA directors were such studs?
• farmerart

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  12 years ago

  Did Petraeus need Vitamin V?
• SuperDude

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  12 years ago

  [view link]
• samsung1

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  12 years ago

  sad story since they both have families
• Alucard

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  12 years ago

  It is a SAD story and fallout Nationally and personally could have been avoided. The sad personal fallout could have been avoided by not committing infidelity. The National fallout may have been less than it is if the General had been unmarried. The 3rd woman may well have not been a factor at all. BUT there is still the possible question of inappropriate "Pillow Talk" involving National Security information.