The Questionable Timing of the Resignation of General David Petraeus

A great man, but just a man nonetheless.

The big story over the weekend was the sudden and immediate resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus over an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

And you betchur ass I question the timing. Just a few days after Obama wins re-election? Just a few days before he’s scheduled to testify on the Benghazi tragedy, cover-up, lies, and incompetence? And the FBI and Obama knew about the affair as early as this summer. And yet Petraeus continue to lead the CIA so as not to cause a black eye for Obama (yeah, I know…racist) before his re-election.

This stinks, and stinks bad. And what we don’t know yet about the Benghazi cover-up is likely worse than we imagine.

Bear in mind that Benghazi is the story here, folks. Not Petraeus’ affair.

Michael Yon has the best piece about the General’s resignation that I’ve read so far, and reflects my opinions on the men (namely that we still owe this remarkable man a great deal of gratitude for his service to your nation and his leadership during times of war):

General (ret.) David Petraeus is a peerless asset to the United States.  His contributions to the war and to the nation have been incalculable.  No one can estimate the number of lives among Americans, the Coalition and Iraqi civilians that his wise leadership saved during that horrible war.  His short leadership in Afghanistan rekindled my confidence that that war also might be brought to heel.  Unfortunately, he was sent back to lead the CIA, which was a great loss for the military.
Director Petraeus’s accomplishments can never be erased.  He will undoubtedly be demonized for his affair.  It is not easy to ameliorate the stain that it leaves, as the potential final word summing up an impeccable career.

All Alphas have enemies.  Petraeus is no exception.  The finest leaders usually have more enemies than the company men whose mantra is, “Don’t bail the sinking boat. The boss said the boat is not sinking.” Unfortunately we have a surfeit of company men and only one Dave Petraeus.

Petraeus’s paramour is Paula Broadwell.  I know Paula, but not as well as I know Dave Petraeus.  I spent much time talking with Paula in Afghanistan.  Her beauty and her confidence are apparent in seconds.  It takes another five minutes to realize that she is very bright, and five minutes more to realize that Paula, too, is an Alpha.  She believes that women should be Rangers, and infantry officers, and are capable of standing beside men in combat. Ironically, her role in this spectacle serves as a counter to her own argument.

David Petraeus spent years downrange in the wars.  Some of his own staff members bailed from the stress, yet General Petraeus kept going.  In the middle of all this, he battled cancer and survived.  During a 2010 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, he passed out at the table.  Yet he kept going and he never publicly complained.  And then Paula comes along.  You might as well starve the man and then cook barbeque outside his cave.

During 2007, at the peak of the Iraq war, an infantry lieutenant colonel told me about the time that Colonel Petraeus was shot during training.  A Soldier accidentally put a bullet straight through Petraeus’s chest.  Blood and lungs were coming from his mouth.  Petraeus nearly died.

Normally a mistake like this might end the career of the Soldier who fired the shot, and it might adversely affect the career of his commanding officer.  Instead, Colonel Petraeus survived and he sent the young Soldier to Ranger school. It was the young commander, now older, who told me the story in Iraq. His man fired the shot that almost killed Petraeus.   If Petraeus had kicked the young officer out of the Army, it would have been our loss. Instead, Petraeus took a bullet to the chest and he turned it into a teachable moment.  That is David Petraeus.

Today journalists and others whinge that they were duped into the cult of Petraeus.  Untrue.  He really is that man, but he is also just a man.

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Hopefully, Congress will still demand — and subpoena if necessary — Petraeus’ testimony. Hopefully he will no longer feel compelled to cover for the sins of Hillary and Obama.