Petraeus Quits the CIA-An "Extra-Marital Affair?" Do You Believe In Fairytales? I Don’t.

12 Comments

1. 

   Alice on November 9, 2012 at 6:00 pm

   Oh Arthur, I was just writing a piece on this, knowing that you would be quicker than me.

   I guess you have to have seen Lee Oswald appear simultaneoulsy in Russia, New Orleans, Cuba, Mexico City and Texas to be that suspicious of the CIA.  Assassination is what they do to keep the war mongers in business.

   I do admire the prez for sidelining his only viable competitor at CIA and giving him more than enough rope.  Possibly he didn’t realize that it would cost us our best ambassador in the Middle East.  Patraeus should have known he would pay somehow.  

2. 

   Marie2 on November 9, 2012 at 6:38 pm

   Based on the timing of the announcement and absence of any tabloid whisperings, my hypothesis was that it likely to have been uncovered in some sort of IA investigation.  A bit surprised that it would be the FBI doing the investigation.  

   Slate is reporting that the affair was with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.  Echoes of Jack Welch and his biographer Suzy W.  Now do David and Paula dump their spouses as Jack and Suzy did and live happily ever after?

3. 

   Marie2 on November 9, 2012 at 7:21 pm

   WSJ reporting on Lockheed Martin COO resignation. From Lockheed press release:

   Christopher Kubasik Resigns

   BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 9, 2012 – Lockheed Martin [NYSE:LMT] announced today that its board of directors asked for and received the resignation of Christopher E. Kubasik, 51, from his role as vice chairman, president and chief operating officer (COO), effective immediately. …
   Kubasik, previously slated to become CEO in January, resigned after an ethics investigation confirmed that he had a close personal relationship with a subordinate employee.  His actions violated the company’s Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, but did not affect the company’s operational or financial performance.
   …

   Tough day for a couple of senior defense industry professionals.      

4. 

   Arthur Gilroy on November 9, 2012 at 11:28 pm

   The bio of Petraeus’s “biographer,” Paula Broadwell.

   Broadwell’s Twitter account describes her as a national security analyst and Army veteran.

   —snip—

   The biography said she is a West Point graduate and a research associate at Harvard University’s Center for Public Leadership and a doctoral candidate in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.

   Smell something…odd?

   National security analyst.

   Army veteran.

   West Point graduate.

   Research associate at Harvard University’s Center for Public Leadership.

   Doctoral candidate in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.

   Not your average free poke, eh?

   Compare her resumé to say Monica Lewinsky’s.

   Hmmmmm…

   Smells…fishy…to say the least.

   Watch.

   This ain’t over yet.

   Watch.

   Bet on it.

   AG

   • 

     Arthur Gilroy on November 10, 2012 at 12:21 am

     Have you checked out the title of this fearless hagiography biography?

     

     All In-The Education Of General David Petraeus

     “All In!!!” Written by his mistress?

     Please.

     I’m sorry, but I often wonder if Charles Dickens or Tom Wolfe are writing the contemporary history of the United States.

     While I’m at it…remember the Iraq War spook hype over the capture and eventual rescue of Jessica Lynch?

     Jessica Dawn Lynch (born April 26, 1983) is a former United States Army soldier who served in Iraq during the 2003 invasion by U.S. and allied forces. On March 23, 2003, Private First Class Lynch was serving as a unit supply specialist with the 507th Maintenance Company when her convoy was ambushed by Iraqi forces during the Battle of Nasiriyah. Lynch was seriously injured and captured. Her subsequent recovery by U.S. Special Operations Forces on April 1, 2003 received considerable media coverage and was the first successful rescue of an American prisoner of war since World War II and the first ever of a woman.

     Initial media reports on Lynch’s capture and rescue in Iraq were incorrect. On April 24, 2007, she testified in front of Congress that she had never fired her weapon; her M16 rifle jammed, and that she had been knocked unconscious when her vehicle crashed.[1] Lynch has been outspoken in her criticism of the original stories reported regarding her combat experience. When asked about her heroine status, she stated “That wasn’t me. I’m not about to take credit for something I didn’t do… I’m just a survivor.”

     I repeat:

     “Initial media reports on Lynch’s capture and rescue in Iraq were incorrect. “

     Like this:

     

     Look closely.

     See the byline “Vernon Loeb?”

     Now look closely at the sub-author of “All In.”

     Vernon Loeb again.

     A disinfo pro.

     Bet on it.

     He “co-authored” another book once.

     King’s Counsel: A Memoir of War, Espionage, and Diplomacy in the Middle East

     The author?

     Jack O’Connell.

     And…who is “Jack O’Connell” exactly?

     A CIA station chief, later Jordan’s lawyer in Washington, reveals the secret history of a lost peace.

     Jack O’Connell possessed an uncanny ability to be at the center of things. On his arrival in Jordan in 1958, he unraveled a coup aimed at the young King Hussein, who would become America’s most reliable Middle East ally. Over time, their bond of trust and friendship deepened.

     His narrative contains secrets that will revise our understanding of the Middle East. In 1967, O’Connell tipped off Hussein that Israel would invade Egypt the next morning. Later, as Hussein’s Washington counselor, O’Connell learned of Henry Kissinger’s surprising role in the Yom Kippur War.

     “Jack O’Connell possessed an uncanny ability to be at the center of things.”

     Give me a break!!!

     Good ol’ Jack?

     And Mr. Loeb?

     And Ms. Broadwell?

     Where are they now?

     Probably having a drink with Linda Tripp and Judith Miller, laughing it up over old times at Langley.

     Please.

     I thought the spooks only came out on Hallowe’en.

     Oh.

     Hallowe’en was postponed this year because of bad weather?

     Oh.

     Nevermind.

     

     Yore friend,

     Emily Litella

     P.S. They actually expect us to swallow this shit? One more time?

     Please.

     What year is it, again?

     1962?

     Oh.

     Nevermind.

     P.P.S. And Obama is in it up to his eyeballs. Witting or not…he’s in deep. Bet on it.

     Watch.

5. 

   Arthur Gilroy on November 10, 2012 at 12:59 am

   I’m sorry. This is more than I can handle. I cannot ignore the absolute gall of the people who are involved in his situation. Please watch the following video…and download it as quickly as possible if you can, because other interviews that Ms. Broadwell has given (particularly Charlie Rose’s) have been disappeared quite thoroughly.

   If this link doesn’t work, go here for the original article. It’s the last vid on the page. Pay particular attention to her total lack of reaction at about 2:02 when the idiot interviewer refers to her being “embedded” with Petraeus in Afghanistan.

   Whadda pro she is!!!

   Stay tuned.

   More to come.

   Bet on it.

   AG

6. 

   TarheelDem on November 10, 2012 at 11:24 am

   The story is the FBI is the one who discovered it as a security breach.  Lady Biographer was trying to access the General’s emails and when they investigated they found a GMail account through which apparently some classified info (for the biography? for backchannel to the media?) was sent.  A big huge no-no if you’re a spook. Actually two big huge no-nos. (1) Don’t do anything for which you might be blackmailed. (2) Don’t use GMail.

   So Petraeus failed to present a realistic plan for the surge; the President had to creat one himself and ask the military what they needed to do it.  Petraeus allowed (encouraged?) McChrystal to go to the media to try to pressure the President to provide more resources.  McChrystal got cashiered (politely).  Petraeus got demoted in function and told to do McChrystal’s job.  When it was going downhill in Afghanistan, Petraeus was apparently blaming the CIA intelligence.  The President says OK go fix it; it want to move Panetta to DoD Secretary anyway.  At CIA, a secret CIA station in Benghazi is attacked and the ambassador killed, word leaks to Darrell Issa that there was a denial of resources, and Petraeus is reported to want 10 additional drones all during the runup to an election.

   Petraeus is a grandstanding fuck-off and fuck-up who made his career by inside-military and Congressional politics.  Starting with marrying the West Point superintendent’s daughter, who plays the role of “wife” in this little drama.

   • 

     Marie2 on November 10, 2012 at 12:00 pm

     Lady Biographer was trying to access the General’s emails and when they investigated they found a GMail account through which apparently some classified info (for the biography? for backchannel to the media?) was sent

     Where have we heard of such similar activities recently?  Shouldn’t Broadwell be arrested now and questions asked later?  Nah — this is just some tragic little personal tale about one of our bestest national killers.  Not some lowly grunt.  

     • 

       Marie2 on November 10, 2012 at 12:37 pm

       Jesselyn Radack weighs in It’s Not About the Affair But Leaking of the Highest Order.  Her beat:

       …
       But the real story is the FBI investigation that ensnared the two. The FBI does not investigate extramarital affairs, and the President does not normally express his disappointment over such things. The FBI investigation into a “potential criminal matter”–specifically, whether a computer Petraeus used had been compromised and other security concerns–lies at the heart of what is so insidious about this situation.

       I represent a number of whistleblowers, including Thomas Drake and John Kiriakou, who have faced decades in jail under the Espionage Act for “leaking” supposedly-classified information.  (Petraeus just praised Kiriakou’s conviction because “secrecy oaths matter.”) Now we have the CIA director apparently leaking classified information of the highest order to his biographer and mistress, who does not have a security clearance.

   • 

     Arthur Gilroy on November 10, 2012 at 12:32 pm

     I missed the West Point superintendant’s daughter thing. Thank you. That’s totally in character, though. He’s always struck me as a particularly sick puppy all dressed up in political officer’s drag. But…that’s par for the course in today’s military, the primary job of which is to maintain the U.S./NATO economic imperialist hegemony over much of the rest of the world for as long as possible without getting blown up real good in the process.

     As far as whatever “story” is being promulgated through the media, I wouldn’t believe a word the media said about this or much of anything else that carries any possibility of having a real impact on the state of the world.

     Shakespeare had Hamlet say:

     There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
         Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

     Well, there are more intelligence organizations operating under the umbrella of the federal government than are dreamt of in any philosophy except the one that says that we must continue the success and expansion of the PermaGov security state by any means possible.

     Bet on it.

     Until the huge skein of lies that began with the election/death of JFK and continues to this day is finally and permanently unravelled…and I am not holding my breath waiting for that to happen…then all statements of “fact”  from the federal government are the fruit of a poisoned tree.

     I believe nothing that it says.

     Nothing.

     I only believe what makes sense to me.

     To me.

     I have seen a great deal happen here over the last 50+ years, and much of it shakes down into fairly recognizable patterns. This one? Right smack dab in the middle of Spookville, a place so full of lies that the only real truth left available to us is to assume that everything about it is false.

     Which I do.

     Everything.

     If someone says to me that this pissant, obsessive compulsive murderer has been plonking some kind of security plant/secrecy wonk for a substantial period of time and no one in the CIA or any other of the many intelligence agencies has discovered it or reported it to higher authorities until the FBI stumbles upon some questionable emails (Emails that include a fucking Gmail account, fer chrissakes!!! You know…the Gmail that seems to get hacked by one or another group of 20-something cyberwonks every other week?), all’s I can say is get Tom Cruise on the line as quickly as possible because one of his idiot spy story writers has jumped ship and is causing havoc in the non-Scientology world at large.

     Ludicrous on the face of it.

     Absolutely ludicrous.

     And the media reports it with a straight face?

     And the American people swallow this baloney without even chewing?

     Unbelievable.

     My “NEWSTRIKE!!!” idea is almost beside the point. Too late.

     We’re already too far gone.

     Later…

     AG

     P.S. On the off chance that any of this story is true, then the entire intelligence system of the U.S. is totally without merit. It’s a paper tiger and should be put to the match before anything worse happens.

     Unbelievable.

7. 

   Oui on November 11, 2012 at 7:06 am

   .
   Most strange opinion by the BooMan. Waiting for David’s new biography written by Holly.

   William Fallon once called Petraeus “an ass-kissing little chickenshit”

   Jeff Huber’s diary @BooMan in 2008 – Pavlov’s Dogs of War Propaganda

   A good friend who taught at the scandal plagued U.S. Naval Academy once told me that Annapolis is a place where plebe freshmen spend a summer learning a million senseless rules and then spend the next four years learning to break them without getting caught.  That the Academy’s curriculum includes an honor code and a required course on ethics would satisfy Irony to no end.  

   Given the moral incubation the Academy provides the naval forces’ officer corps, it is little wonder that the semi-official motto of naval aviation’s fighter community is “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.”  Toward the end of my career, the Navy launched its “Moral Sailor” program, the watchwords of which were, “Moral sailors do the right thing even when nobody’s watching.”  On the deck plates, this bromide swiftly morphed into “Smart sailors only do the right thing when nobody’s watching because that’s the only time they can get away with it.”

   The naval services hardly have a monopoly on moral hypocrisy.  The Air Force has produced its share of generals like Richard Myers.  Irony would likely say, though, that the Army broke the mold when it manufactured General David H. Petraeus.  

   The moment he took over as commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Petraeus began living up to the assessment of his boss, Admiral William Fallon, who reportedly called him “an a*-kissing little chickens**.”  One of Petraeus’s first acts in his new billet was to meet with and re-indoctrinate the news channel military analysts like Barry McCaffrey and Spider Marks and Ken Allard.

   Petraeus is a master of ends-justify-means media manipulation when it comes to promoting his mission, his agenda and himself.  The most atrocious example of his showboating was the Baghdad outdoor market shopping spree he put on for pro-surge Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham in April 2007, a propaganda event made possible by more than 100 U.S. troops who provided security.

   Adm. William Fallon and the Persion version of the Tonkin Gulf incident

8. 

   Oui on November 11, 2012 at 8:23 am

   .

   MY WIFE’S LOVER

   My wife is having an affair with a government executive. His role is to manage a project whose progress is seen worldwide as a demonstration of American leadership. (This might seem hyperbolic, but it is not an exaggeration.) I have met with him on several occasions, and he has been gracious. (I doubt if he is aware of my knowledge.) I have watched the affair intensify over the last year, and I have also benefited from his generosity. He is engaged in work that I am passionate about and is absolutely the right person for the job. I strongly feel that exposing the affair will create a major distraction that would adversely impact the success of an important effort. My issue: Should I acknowledge this affair and finally force closure? Should I suffer in silence for the next year or two for a project I feel must succeed? Should I be “true to my heart” and walk away from the entire miserable situation and put the episode behind me?

   NAME WITHHELD  [NY Times – July 15, 2012]