Petraeus Resignation Over Alleged Affair With Biographer. Shocker In DC.

Lawmakers question timing of Petraeus resignation

By Kristen Welker and Pete Williams, NBC News 

Updated at 12:17 a.m. ET: As more details about General David Petreaus’ alleged relationship with his biographer emerge, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration, asking when the affair was discovered and who in Washington was told about it. 

“We received no advance notice; it was like a lightning bolt,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said on “Fox News Sunday.” Feinstein chairs the Intelligence Committee. “We should have been told. There is a way to do it.” 


Petraeus, who was appointed 14 months ago to head the Central Intelligence Agency, announced his resignation on Friday, citing an extramarital affair. Multiple government officials tell NBC News that he had a relationship with Paula Broadwell, 40, who wrote about the general’s education in her bestselling book, “All In.”

read more at http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/11/15090315-lawmakers-question-timing-of-petraeus-resignation?lite

Why Petraeus's Affair Matters (but Bill Clinton's Didn't)

NOV 12 2012, 12:06 PM ET

In the military, there's very little distinction between public and private life.

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Along with millions who have lived and worked with members of the military, I was shocked when General Petraeus resigned on Friday. While it's a personal tragedy, it's only one of a number of body blows our military community has absorbed over the past couple of years. One blow: concerns about the erosion of the military family. Another: scandals (sexual, financial or otherwise) dogging our military's leaders. All of this is occurring as our country fights two major wars, one still ongoing. These are intimately interconnected issues that, taken together, make me wonder whether we are seeing the warning signs of a military stretched to its breaking point.

First, on families. Both inside and out of the national security community, many are questioning whether military adultery should be a big deal. Hasn't society become more tolerant of extramarital affairs? Clinton got a pass, Eisenhower had a mistress, former CIA Director Dulles had "hundreds" of extramarital flings. They're human, after all. Shouldn't service members be able to resolve these personal matters without facing professional ramifications?

Reflecting on my experiences, I have to say no. Not too long ago I dated an Army guy, and for a good portion of the time we were together, he was in Iraq. That year was filled with sleepless nights waiting for his phone calls. Worrying day in and day out about improvised explosive devices. About whether he would come home safely, in one piece. Trying to figure out how to help him manage things like moving into his new house—things he couldn't possibly do while deployed in Iraq. Breaking down and crying in front of my friends and family.

I experienced a tiny fraction of the worrying, the waiting that military spouses face. I had it easy. Husbands and wives often assume the role of caring for other members of their community left at home while their soldiers deploy. And they do this in addition to single-handedly taking care of the kids, their own careers (if they have them), and making sure the home front doesn't go to hell. The partners of military leaders probably have it the worst: they are often required to manage the funeral arrangements for fallen soldiers. The spouse who remains home often manages all aspects of the service member's life, enabling them to focus exclusively on serving our nation while in harm's way. And in my experience, they do all this with stoicism and grace, masking that quiet fear that their partner may not come home alive. These are special people. The occasional martini must help.

read more at http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/11/why-petraeuss-affair-matters-but-bill-clintons-didnt/265100/

MONDAY, NOV 12, 2012 10:05 AM MST

General Petraeus, just another philanderer

More shocking than his actual betrayal is how shocked everyone seems to be about it. Has D.C. taught us nothing?

BY E.J. GRAFF, THE AMERICAN PROSPECT

(Credit: AP)

This article originally appeared on The American Prospect.

The Petraeus affair would be ever so boring if it didn’t involve the resignation of the head of the CIA, the most celebrated general in recent history, the reputed inventor of modern warcraft, the man who got us out of Iraq, the backer of drones—need I go on?

I know people are shocked, shocked, but—maybe because national security isn’t my beat—I’m more shocked that anyone is shocked. So an extremely important (and self-important) long-married man falls into bed with a woman who is writing his biography. Ho hum! It can’t be easier to imagine.

Maybe it’s especially easy because I’m a journalist. When you’re writing about someone, you are interested in every detail, every little thing they have to say. It’s an amazingly intimate conversation—or rather, a long monologue with an absolutely rapt audience hanging on every word. You ask them everything about what they think, believe, or have done. I can easily see how that intense connection could become erotic—especially when it’s between a powerful man and an ambitious younger woman who’s trying to borrow some of that power for herself, that traditional method of exchanging power. (It may not be a feminist-approved method, but I’m writing about the real here, not the ideal.) Multiply all that times a zillion when the situation is all spiced up with war zones and spycraft and tension.

Human beings slip up now and then. Don’t we know this by now? I know, we’re supposed to care that he left himself open to blackmail. But how would he have been blackmailed if the rest of us didn’t care? And yes, he was stupid enough to send emails—traceable, discoverable—to try to fix the fact that his ex-lover turned out to be a little crazy and was harassing one of his friends. But once you’ve gotten messed up in something stupid, it’s hard to extract yourself without getting a lot more stupid.

Did he abuse his power by coercing one of his subordinates into a sexual relationship and then sexually assault them, as Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair is alleged to have done? Did he misuse military or CIA funds? Did he spill national security secrets? No? Then why do I care?

read more at http://www.salon.com/2012/11/12/general_petraeus_just_another_philanderer/

• U.S. NEWS
• Updated November 12, 2012, 9:57 a.m. ET

FBI Scrutinized on Petraeus

Complaints by Female Social Planner Led to Email Trail That Undid CIA Chief

By EVAN PEREZ, SIOBHAN GORMAN and DEVLIN BARRETT

A social planner's complaints about email stalking launched the monthslong criminal inquiry that led to a woman romantically linked to former Gen. David Petraeus and to his abrupt resignation Friday as Central Intelligence Agency chief.

The emails began arriving in Jill Kelley's inbox in May, U.S. officials familiar with the probe said. Ms. Kelley, who helped organize social events at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., told the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the emails, which she viewed as harassing, the U.S. officials said.

That FBI investigation into who sent the emails led over a period of months to Paula Broadwell, Mr. Petraeus's biographer, with whom he was having an extramarital affair, according to the U.S. officials.

FBI agents were pursuing what they thought was a potential cybercrime, or a breach of classified information.

Instead, the trail led to what officials said were sexually explicit emails between two lovers, from an account Mr. Petraeus used a pseudonym to establish, and to the destruction of Mr. Petraeus's painstakingly crafted image as a storied Army general.

Mr. Petraeus admitted to an affair in a letter to CIA employees announcing his resignation.

In the aftermath of the investigation, some lawmakers are aiming criticism at the FBI and the Obama administration, including Attorney General Eric Holder, who knew about the email link to Mr. Petraeus as far back as late summer. A House Republican leader also learned of the matter in October. Some argue that Mr. Petraeus shouldn't have resigned; others said that the FBI should have formally notified Congress earlier.

The top Senate Democrat on intelligence issues said Sunday she would investigate the FBI's handling of the inquiry, and why the matter wasn't shared earlier with Congress.

read more at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324073504578113460852395852.html

General Petraeus Had an Affair: Who the Heck Cares?

By Wendy @ Families in the Loop, today at 10:11 am

Another American hero took a tumble this week as news emerged that General David Petraeus, head of the CIA, had an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. It seems clear that he cheated. But do we simply write him off as a dirtbag because he had sex with someone other than his wife? I’m not so sure.

Before most of my friends and I got hitched, there was no gray zone when it came to extramarital affairs. The person who cheated was lower than the lowest life form on earth and the person who got cheated on was the victim. But now, ten years later, the issue of infidelity seems a lot murkier. Rather than the cause, it often seems to be a symptom of a relationship already in trouble.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe it’s awful to betray your partner in any way. And it’s even worse when sex is involved, because you may be putting your partner’s life and health in danger. Years ago, a friend of mine contracted genital warts from her husband, a guy who had the audacity to claim he’d contracted this sexually transmitted disease years earlier, before they were married. Cheating is wrong and it's the cheater who is solely to blame. Period.

Except for this: marriage is complicated and it takes both people to make or break a relationship. There are times when you feel disconnected, emotionally, physically, or both, from your spouse. There are periods when you’re angry, resentful, lonely, jealous, bitter, wistful, hurt, or growing in opposite directions. There are times when you don’t like each other, feel incompatible, and can't even remember why you got married in the first place. If you’re lucky, these moments are fleeting. If you're not, the divide only deepens over time. And that's when a General Patraues situation becomes more of a possibility.

When the Lewinsky scandal broke years ago, I remember learning some fascinating stuff about cheating. One factoid that still stands out is how many women see emotional infidelity as worse than extra-marital sex. For women, a man's emotional connection to another woman can pose more of a threat to a marriage than a roll in the hay. Moreover, women who divorced their husbands solely because of a sexual affair often regretted it later on. Wow - that says a lot.

I’ve seen a few friends, especially those who are unhappy in their marriages, “playing around” these days. Whether it’s through flirty conversations on Facebook or long chats over leisurely dinners with a cute colleague, these folks know they are straddling the very fine line between innocent interactions and dangerous liaisons. Though I never would have said this a decade ago, I now see how unfaithfulness is about more than one person in the marriage having a physical or emotional dalliance with someone else. It's also a sign that there are dire problems in the relationship, problems that both spouses may be responsible for.

read more at http://www.chicagonow.com/families-in-the-loop/2012/11/so-general-petraeus-had-an-affair-who-the-heck-cares/