To be clear, I am not, and have never been a fan of David Petraeus. I opposed his COIN strategy in Iraq, and admit that I was wrong. It was effective. I opposed him adopting COIN in Afghanistan. This time I was right. One size did not fit all. I opposed his inclusion in the Obama administration. I am not surprised that the scandal is becoming more and more complex.
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, is under investigation for alleged inappropriate communication with a woman at the center of the sex scandal involving former CIA Director David Petraeus, a senior U.S. defense official said on Tuesday.
The shocking revelation threatens to fell another of the U.S. military’s biggest names and suggests that the scandal involving Petraeus – a retired four-star general who had Allen’s job in Afghanistan before moving to the CIA last year – could expand much further than previously imagined.
The U.S. official said the FBI uncovered between 20,000 and 30,000 pages of communications – mostly emails and spanning from 2010 to 2012 – between Allen and Jill Kelley, who has been identified as a long-time friend of the Petraeus family and a Tampa, Florida, volunteer social liaison with military families at MacDill Air Force Base.
It was Kelley’s complaints about harassing emails from the woman with whom Petraeus had had an affair, Paula Broadwell, that prompted an FBI investigation, ultimately alerting authorities to Petraeus’ involvement with Broadwell. Petraeus resigned from his job on Friday.
It was unclear how Allen knew Kelley, but he was stationed in Tampa as the deputy director of the U.S. military’s Central Command for the three years until he took over in Afghanistan in 2011. Petraeus was head of the Tampa-based Central Command from 2008 to 2010…
Inserted from <Reuters>
So far, it still appears to be little more than an adultery scandal, but who knows when and if the other shoe will drop?
Rachel Maddow covered the story before this most recent development in two segments. In the first, she reviewed what is known.
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In the second, she discussed this and other matters with Andrea Mitchell.
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The only thing I know for certainly is that the conspiracy theories coming from the Republican echo chamber are InsaniTEA, unless you want to believe that Eric Cantor conspired with Democrats to prevent the scandal that would have thrust Little Lord Willard into the White House.
Under GW ChickenHawk, when Rumsfeld was Defense Secretary, the senior levels of the military were decimated, because all who had the integrity to oppose their unsound and illegal policies were pushed down or out. What we have left are largely opportunists, who were willing to goose-step behind Bush to enhance their careers. Perhaps we need to be examine these people more closely.
15 Responses to “The Petraeus Plot Thickens”
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It seems an unbiased examination of all the layers is indicated- if such a thing is possible–
Personally I do not believe in coincidences , and there seem to be an awful lot in this mess-
The General–whether one accepts his strategies or not– lacks judgment and integrity–as a man, he is contemptible ,the object of his lust shows herself to be nothing but a courtesan -with the morals of an ally cat—-
What a circus !!
I agree, but in my youth, mine were no better.
???????'s I am not sure what I think of this but Cantor? Libya? Getting the President in the dark,but i think it was something to do with bring down Obama down. I don't believe this affair is the whole story. They never are! thanks Tom
Have to agree with you, Mamabear. I am sorry that General Petraeus resigned or that President Obama accepted. Have called the White House today to voice opinion. Much more to this story and it starts somewhere with the guy who was told to stand down, but went ahead with investigation.. He is in the teabagger category. They won't give up trying to get Obama. That Cantor is a slicker. He kept this a secret for a reason.
Have to agree with good ol Pat Robertson, never thought that would happen, but men and women in a war zone are susceptible to affairs. And many are enamored by a uniform. I worked with men that had been in war, and they don't talk about their time there, but they are very needy for compassion.
In closing, and probably will get shot down on this one, but I don't understand why Mrs. Petraeus doesn't class up her appearance. They might help a roving eye. A little makeup, new hairdo, maybe color, some upbeat clothing, and maybe getting out there and running with her husband might really help the situation.
My sympathy goes to both of them, they have a hard way to go. This sorry story did not come out for the best in our country, there were/are ulterior motives.
I agree with you that there is more to this story than meets the eye.
Tell me where, on God's green earth, does a General find the time to write 2,00 emails?
I'm not making any predictions on this, because I too am waiting for the other shoe to drop.
This also marks the third General Obama has had for Afghanistan, with another to come.
Military men should be setting the standards, not acting like politicians.
Petraeus frequently acted like a politician during the GW ChickenHawk regime. That is one of my main reason for opposing him, long tderm.
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
There are still so many questions to be answered in order to fully understand what happened. That there was an affair between Petraeus and Broadwell is certain based on Petraeus' confession. And that is something that they and their spouses will have to deal with. But what confuses me is this Kelly woman and her actions. If she was getting threatening e-mails, why would she go to the FBI and not her local police? And now that is dragging the current top dog in Afghanistan into the fray.
There is more going on here than we know, and I'd bet a lot of it could come under the title of political intrigue.
Apparently the person she went to in the FBI is a personal friend, whatever that means,
One more thing: WHY did the FBI inform Eric Cantor and not the President of the United States of America???
I can only guess that the people in the FBI that did so were committing Teabuggery.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/11/13/its-not-all-in-for-paula-broadwell-yet-or-the-others/
A link that might be of interest to you. Very interesting to say the least. This will be good Republican fodder. But why didn't Cantor blow the whistle earlier, that baffles me???
Thanks, Gypsy. Excellent article in Veterans' Today!
This is so true: "As we love to say around here, “You just can’t make this stuff up.”"
Thanks Gypsy. Most interesting. I also understand that Cantoe was pushing it behind the scenes, trying to make it an October surprise