I would never comment on the private life of a public figure unless it betrays the statements, policies and conduct he/she espouses in public life.
(“John Edwards Caught Cheating…,” The iPINIONS Journal, July 23, 2008)
So why am I commenting on this scandal? Because the CIA’s code of conduct is such that an agent engaging in an extramarital affair is akin to a Catholic priest violating his vow of celibacy. What’s more, CIA Director David Petraeus’s personal reputation for probity, fidelity and discretion was such that of all people – not just in the military but in all public service – the last person anyone would suspect of cheating is him.
This is why finding out he was having an affair is tantamount to finding out the Pope was having one … with a woman.
What is remarkable is that he got away with conducting it in broad daylight with Paula Broadwell, the author of a veritable valentine masquerading as his biography.
Indeed, despite them traveling all over the world and taking frequent early-morning runs together, it took the FBI investigating whether Broadwell had access to top secrets – as part of her research – for Petraeus to finally be questioned about the carnal nature of his cardinal sin.
This investigation was reportedly prompted by another female complaining about “harassing” emails she received from Broadwell; remarkably, because Broadwell suspected Petraeus was having an affair with her too. (So the married Broadwell’s fatal attraction had her picking a catfight with another married woman over a married man with whom they were both having an adulterous affair…? Women! And these are two of the really smart ones….)
Whatever the case, it is unclear when he was forced to confess. But the resignation letter he submitted on Friday makes clear that he knew he had to go:
Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA. After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.
(CNN, November 9, 2012)
This is nothing short of a national tragedy. Petraeus, a four-star general, made his reputation by leading combat forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. But what makes him so unique is that his military skills are actually surpassed by his intellectual prowess (evidenced most notably by his PhD in international relations from Princeton University). Indeed, such was his reputation that he is the first member of the military since Gen. Colin Powell who had pundits salivating at the prospect of him running for president of the United States.
All the same, he did the right thing. Mind you, not because he had the affair. After all, he could not have been seduced by a more suitable mistress than Broadwell – herself a West Point grad with a graduate degree from Harvard and a penchant for firing machine guns. Hell, even James Bond could not resist this incarnation of Lara Croft; therefore, the erstwhile nerdy Petraeus didn’t stand a chance. More importantly, there is no indication that she was blackmailing him or was motivated by anything other than becoming a military (four) star fucker; hence my reference to a benign honey trap.
And let us not forget that everyone from presidents to former directors of the CIA have proven beyond all doubt that extramarital affairs do not necessarily impair their ability to perform their duties and responsibilities; perhaps to the contrary.
No, resigning was the right thing for Petraeus to do because reports are that he began behaving like a lovesick puppy (with all of the potential dangers that entails) after Broadwell ended their affair, ironically, feeling betrayed that he was cheating on her with another mistress. (Or perhaps she found out that there were simply too many mistresses even for her to fight off….) More to the point, that he began carpet-bombing her with unrequited email pleadings is evidence that he had lost the cold-heartedness and discretion that are sine qua non for any effective spy, let alone the nation’s chief spy.
He can be forgiven for having affairs. But he cannot be forgiven for making a mockery of the very essence of his job by becoming emotionally attached and leaving a compromising trail with so many telltale signs of those affairs. In other words, if Petraeus can’t even keep his own extramarital affairs secret, he clearly cannot be relied upon to keep the nation’s secrets.
Smart men routinely do stupid things for a little poontang – despite potentially grave consequences. And, of course, no man manifests this oxymoronic predilection more than the impeached former president of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton.
(“How Sex Makes Smart Men Do Stupid Things,” The iPINIONS Journal, April 6, 2006)
Meanwhile, reports are that Obama was informed about the affair on Thursday – two days after his re-election. But this is not stopping his critics from insinuating that the White House, FBI and CIA all conspired to hold-off making this announcement until after the election.
To be fair, though, the timing does seem suspicious – given that Petraeus was scheduled to testify before Congress this week about the failure of intelligence that led to this year’s 9/11 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, which killed the ambassador and three others (two of whom were CIA agents).
But I believe all suspicions in this respect will prove utterly unwarranted. Especially since the White House did not even know about this investigation — as FBI investigations are conducted in secret … for obvious reasons. Which, at the very least, undermines the charge that the White House had a duty to immediately inform Congress about the nature of this investigation. Specifically, I doubt there is any linkage whatsoever between Petraeus’s affair and the seemingly misleading ways the White House characterized the Benghazi attack.
Of far more interest to me is finding out what role the long-standing institutional rivalry between the FBI and CIA played in Petraeus being investigated and forced to make such a detailed and humiliating public confession. Not least because a pro forma statement about resigning for personal family reasons usually suffices in these circumstances….
Petraeus (60) is a father of two. Broadwell (40) is a mother of two. Scandals in Washington invariably elicit nothing but unbridled schadenfreude; but this one evokes nothing but genuine sadness … and regret.
NOTE: It is an uncanny coincidence that Petraeus is now the second high-profile general whose career has been ruined because of a cozy relationship with a writer. Recall that the fall of General Stanley McChrystal, the only other military man who was considered Petraeus’s peer, began in 2010 when he became too cozy (though not intimate) with a writer from Rolling Stone.
Related commentaries:
Edwards caught cheating…
How sex makes men…
McChrystal resigns…
* This commentary was originally published yesterday, Sunday, at 7:12 am