CIA Director Petraeus Resigns

[Argus]

He came right out and said that he had an affair, so how could anyone blackmail him? - No need to resign for fear of blackmailing. Furthermore, what he does in his private life and what he does in his work life are two different things.

No, he admitted it after the FBI found out.

[Bitsy]

This is his paramour, according to rumor and supposedly she was trying to hack into his email account and that is why the FBI became involved.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-january-25-2012/paula-broadwell

[scribblet]

Could he really have resigned because of Benghazi, is that letter about "an affair" is just another cover up.

Edited November 10, 2012 by scribblet

[Shady]

Apparently Petraeus was scheduled to testify infront of congress next week regarding Benghazi. Funny how that won't be happening now. All because of an "affair" that nobody knew about, or could care less about.

[Shady]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/cia-petraeus-dni-clapper-testify-benghazi-next-week-171155262--election.html

[Smallc]

And the trooth will set you free.

[sharkman]

The Cia director was going to testify next week about Benghazi. Suddenly he resigns a few days before he is to testify? If Romney had won he wouldn't have resigned and he would have testified I think. Man does this look bad. Big dogs don't resign like this over something like this.

[sharkman]

And the trooth will set you free.

Come on small, use your head...

[Smallc]

Use yours. Why would someone admit to something like that if they didn't do it? His reputation and futures are over.

[sharkman]

That is indeed the right question.

Edit: I'm sure he did have the affair, but why resign, why put his name in the mud, why suffer the humiliation? Because there is way more that we don't know. The timing of the resignation is just too perfect.

Edited November 10, 2012 by sharkman

[Bonam]

Use yours. Why would someone admit to something like that if they didn't do it? His reputation and futures are over.

To protect something deemed more important than one individual's reputation?

[Smallc]

Perhaps, but, we can only speculate about such things....

[Moonlight Graham]

He came right out and said that he had an affair, so how could anyone blackmail him? - No need to resign for fear of blackmailing. Furthermore, what he does in his private life and what he does in his work life are two different things.

Maybe someone had threatened to blackmail him, so to avoid this he revealed the affair. Unlikely scenario thought.

Director of the CIA is a very busy job. If he had an affair his marriage may be under threat and he may have promised his wife that he would give 100% attention to their relationship instead of being at work all day and night. This has happened before. I remember Hall of Fame baseball player Ryne Sandberg retired in the with no warning effective immediately in the middle of the season during the prime of his career because he was having marital problems. He took a year or 2 off, ended up getting divorced, then returned to baseball right after that.

Whenever a high-profile person "resigns" from a job it could mean anything. He could have been fired, and they let him make up this excuse of resigning for him to save face. Happens all the time.

[punked]

That is indeed the right question.

Edit: I'm sure he did have the affair, but why resign, why put his name in the mud, why suffer the humiliation? Because there is way more that we don't know. The timing of the resignation is just too perfect.

He is the CIA director. Which means now there is an investigation to see if information that should not have gotten out did because of this. While that investigation goes on....(and as we learned in the other thread these things take time to get the story right.....you know after a bunch of righties posted facts that proved to be wrong).....he loses all security clearance. Try being CIA director with out security clearance it is impossible. That is why he resigned. Look pasted fox and the right wing media for a minute pick up a news paper, you know the NYT or Baltimore Sun. If you read the real media you would stop looking so behind on the facts.

[Guest American Woman]

There has been interesting feedback in this thread, and I think I have to agree that the resignation could very well be based on the affair; while he didn't have to give a reason - he could have just resigned and "saved face" altogether - most likely he knew it was going to be coming out in the media. Furthermore, I can see now why he couldn't have stayed in the position if the FBI is, in fact, investigating any breaches of confidentiality. But still. Why wouldn't that same theory have applied to Clinton?

[TimG]

But still. Why wouldn't that same theory have applied to Clinton?

Because Clinton is a politician voted into office and not an appointed bureaucrat.

[Big Guy]

I was just reading a report on this issue which included pictures of Mrs. Petraeus and Paula Broadwell. They sure look different. I still think Paula was just not worth it.

[sharkman]

Personally, I don't think an affair is ever worth it.

At the very least, the resignation was managed, put off until after the election where it would not damage Obama.

[sharkman]

I just found a story where an FBI source says this:

Still, the White House, with concurrence by the FBI and Justice Department, held off on asking for Petraeus’ resignation until after the election. His resignation occurred three days after the election, avoiding the possibility that Obama’s ill-fated appointment of Petraeus could become an issue in the election.

FBI agents on the case were aware that such a decision had been made to hold off on forcing him out until after the election and were outraged.

“The decision was made to delay the resignation apparently to avoid potential embarrassment to the president before the election,” an FBI source says. “To leave him in such a sensitive position where he was vulnerable to potential blackmail for months compromised our security and is inexcusable.”

In the link it's revealed that Patraeus was still having the affair while he was being considered and then appointed to the CIA, at some point after that the other woman ended it. Patraeus pursued her, sending thousands of emails. Good grief, anyone being vetted for the CIA would have a deep background done. You would think they discovered it then. At any rate, sending thousands of emails would have raised a red flag at some point that they guy was coming unglued, yet they allow him to remain in place. The mind boggles.

[bush_cheney2004]

There has been interesting feedback in this thread, and I think I have to agree that the resignation could very well be based on the affair; while he didn't have to give a reason - he could have just resigned and "saved face" altogether -

I agree with this perspective. Petraeus is a West Point graduate, and he was steeped in military duty/honor long before any stint as CIA director. He has dishonored himself by his own admission, and must fall on his own sword.

[wyly]

As long as his girlfriend was hot and younger than him, it doesnt seem like anything to resign over.

I've seen his wife and his girl friend paula broadwell (she's a hottie) , i can't say I blame him.... ... Edited November 10, 2012 by wyly

[sharkman]

I agree with this perspective. Petraeus is a West Point graduate, and he was steeped in military duty/honor long before any stint as CIA director. He has dishonored himself by his own admission, and must fall on his own sword.

Yes, he must fall on his own sword, and he did.

The thing is, the timing was manipulated. At some point after the election, he was confronted with his affair and this forced his hand to offer his resignation. Yet they knew about his affair for months and left him in place so it wouldn't have a detrimental affect on the election, or so an FBI source says. They may have even known about the affair when they vetted him for his CIA appointment. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Edited November 10, 2012 by sharkman

[bush_cheney2004]

... They may have even known about the affair when they vetted him for his CIA appointment. Do you have any thoughts on that?

The FBI e-mail investigation took priority over his affair with Broadwell. The timing may seem odd, but Petreaus enjoys wide support from both sides of the aisle and I do not see any significant advantage being gained viv-a-vis the 2008 election because of the timing. General Petraeus did far more for the previous administration in Iraq.

Edited November 10, 2012 by bush_cheney2004

[WWWTT]

There has been interesting feedback in this thread, and I think I have to agree that the resignation could very well be based on the affair; while he didn't have to give a reason - he could have just resigned and "saved face" altogether - most likely he knew it was going to be coming out in the media. Furthermore, I can see now why he couldn't have stayed in the position if the FBI is, in fact, investigating any breaches of confidentiality. But still. Why wouldn't that same theory have applied to Clinton?

I agree with you American Woman.

In fact,in my opinion, you have shown a high level of understanding of humans and placed a high level of importance to personal relationships in this thread!

Sometimes it's too hard to not be human!

WWWTT

[sharkman]

The FBI e-mail investigation took priority over his affair with Broadwell. The timing may seem odd, but Petreaus enjoys wide support from both sides of the aisle and I do not see any significant advantage being gained viv-a-vis the 2008 election because of the timing. General Petraeus did far more for the previous administration in Iraq.

I was wondering about this election, not the 2008 election, since the resignation came 3 days after it. At any rate, it doesn't seem like a big deal to you. I suspect that the resignation was handled to minimize Obama's damage WRT the election. They also left a compromised director in power for months for political purposes. Both are worthy of further investigation.

Edited November 11, 2012 by sharkman