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| General David Petraeus and Wife Holly Knowlton – Petraeus |
Central Intelligence Agency director General David Petraeus has quit his post because of an extramarital affair, NBC reported yesterday.
According to NBC, Petraeus wrote in his resignation letter that he used “extremely poor judgment” in carrying out the affair while director of the CIA. His resignation was accepted by the White House on Friday after meeting with President Obama on Thursday night.General Petraeus married Holly Knowlton after graduating West Point. Holly Knowlton-Petraeus is the daughter of Army General William A. Knowlton who at the time was superintendent of West Point.Accoording to the Huffington Post, “MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell broke the news Friday afternoon, reading Petraeus’ resignation letter on air.” The four-star General Petraus had only held the CIA position for a year, after replacing Leon Panetta. Previously, General Petraus had led the United States headed international military force in Afghanistan.
The Washington Post, wrote that “the sudden departure created immediate turmoil in the Obama administration’s national security team just days after Obama won re-election.
NBC published what they said was the full text of Petraeus’ letter online:
HEADQUARTERS Central Intelligence Agency
9 November 2012
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. This afternoon, the President graciously accepted my resignation.
As I depart Langley, I want you to know that it has been the greatest of privileges to have served with you, the officers of our Nation’s Silent Service, a work force that is truly exceptional in every regard. Indeed, you did extraordinary work on a host of critical missions during my time as director, and I am deeply grateful to you for that.
Teddy Roosevelt once observed that life’s greatest gift is the opportunity to work hard at work worth doing. I will always treasure my opportunity to have done that with you and I will always regret the circumstances that brought that work with you to an end.
Thank you for your extraordinary service to our country, and best wishes for continued success in the important endeavors that lie ahead for our country and our Agency.
With admiration and appreciation,
David H. Petraeus
| General Petraeus and Paula Broadwell |
Now Paula Broadwell, the biographer for the resigning CIA Director David Petraeus is under FBI investigation for improperly trying to access General Petraeus’s email and therefore maybe having access to classified information.
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| General Petraeus mistress Paula Broadwell and her husband. |
I ask is this coincidence that General Petraeus is set to testify next week at a closed door session on Capital hill regarding the September attacks against the US consulate in Benghazi following the presidential election?
Chuck Klosterman the New York Times Magazine’s Ethicist
Let’s take a look at the evidence. Foreign Policy‘s Blake Hounshell linked to this July edition of Klosterman’s Ethicist column on Twitter. “Interesting letter,” was all he had to say.
The second letter in the entry reads:
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
The scary part about the letter is how well everything fits the timeline we know about Petraeus’ affair. Following the affair conspiracy theory logic, the letter writer would be Scott Broadwell. It’s been confirmed that Petraeus’ mistress was Paula Broadwell, Petraeus’ biographer and Scott’s wife. The affair began in August 2011 and ended “months ago,” but it’s unclear when exactly. Either way, it fits the supposed timeline of the letter writer’s dilemma and there’s no arguing Petraeus was a “government executive” who’s “seen worldwide as a demonstration of American leadership.” He’s the director of the freakin’ CIA.
Moving on…
Klosterman’s response, to his credit, was wise and heartfelt and maybe even prescient:
This is between you and your spouse. You should tell her you want to separate, just as you would if she were sleeping with the mailman. The idea of “suffering in silence” for the good of the project is illogical. How would the quiet divorce of this man’s mistress hurt an international leadership initiative? He’d probably be relieved.
[…]
Do you admire this man so much that you haven’t asked your wife why she keeps having sex with him? I halfway suspect you’re writing this letter because you want specific people to read this column and deduce who is involved and what’s really going on behind closed doors (without actually addressing the conflict in person). That’s not ethical, either.
Klosterman in my opinion nailed the weight of an affair perfectly. It’s something that shouldn’t be exposed first in public, no matter who the participants are. And, assuming it is Broadwell, saw through the letter for what it was: a plea for his own marriage.
Assuming the letter was written by Scott Broadwell, Klosterman would have had to put everything together and traced it all back to Petraeus using the kind of string-on-cork board mystery solving you see crazy people use in bad movies. In comparison, the FBI weren’t tipped off to the affair until she tried to access his personal Gmail account.
Slate has reached out to (the notoriously hard to get ahold of) Klosterman for comment regarding his possible scooping of a major national security story, in an advice column of all places. There’s also been speculation over whether or not the Times’ newly controversial public editor Margaret Sullivan will weigh in on this. The job of the public editor is to hold the paper accountable to its’ own ethical standards.
Is it not sad that the Director of the CIA can’t even keep the story of his affair quiet?
General David Petraeous, welcome to The Cheater Club.
-Sincerely Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Newt Gingrich, Eliot Spitzer etc
Posted by Gabriel Lorden
Gabriel Lorden
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