Pundit Tears for Petraeus’s Fall

[marmar]

from Consortium News:


Pundit Tears for Petraeus’s Fall
November 10, 2012

Exclusive: Much of Official Washington is in mourning after David Petraeus admitted to an extramarital affair and resigned as head of the CIA. Top pundits were as smitten by the former four-star general as his mistress was, writes ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.

By Ray McGovern


A day after the surprise announcement that CIA Director David Petraeus was resigning because of marital infidelity, the pundits continue to miss the supreme irony. None other than the head of the CIA (and former bemedaled four-star general) has become the first really big fish netted by the intrusive monitoring of the communications of American citizens implemented after 9/11.

It is unclear whether it is true that, according to initial reports, Petraeus’s alleged mistress and biographer, Paula Broadwell, was caught trying to hack into his e-mail. What does seem clear is that the FBI discovered that she had “unusual access” (to borrow the delicate wording of this morning’s New York Times) to Petraeus during his time as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan from July 2010 to July 2011. The potential for compromise of sensitive information is equally clear.

Not surprisingly, Establishment pundits are disconsolate that their beloved David Petraeus has been brought down in such a tawdry way. They are already at work trying to salvage his legacy as the implementer of George W. Bush’s much-heralded “successful surge” in Iraq (even though the sacrifice of nearly 1,000 more dead U.S. soldiers did little more than provide a “decent interval” between Bush’s departure from office in 2009 and the final U.S. withdrawal/defeat at the end of 2011).

Among those lionizing/eulogizing Petraeus on the morning after his resignation was Washington Post columnist (and longtime CIA apologist) David Ignatius, who argued that Petraeus “achieved genuinely great things.” Ignatius’s lamented Petraeus’s admission of the extramarital affair with the poignancy you might find in a novel by Leo Tolstoy or Victor Hugo about an admirable but ill-fated hero. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2012/11/10/pundit-tears-for-petraeuss-demise/

[missingfink]

1. Can I assume that we will not in future ever be calling him.....?

President Petraeus?

[southernyankeebelle]

4. This man is no Ike. I wish they stop treating him like he was a god. He wasn't. He was

a man who let his family down. No more simple then that. Hopefully he and his wife can mend their relationship because they have been married a very long time to throw it all away. As it turns out he is a weak man which makes he a normal man. The only innocent is his wife.

[KoKo]

2. K&R....GG has a similar read. Both are worth time to read.

[zwyziec]

3. Petraeus is not a hero, he is a failure on at least nine counts.

This guy failed in Iraq,
failed in Afghanistan,
failed as Director of the CIA,
failed as a husband,
failed as a father,
failed as a leader,
failed as a political figure,
failed as a West Point graduate,
failed as a military general.

He is an adulterer who was caught philandering, compromising national security, with an arrogant, ladder climbing witch.

He deserves to be court martialed and dishonorably discharged. No pension, no health care, no bonus, no golden parachute.

Let's get real about making idols out of military people, wall street bankers and Bain capitalists!

Zwyziec
A Veteran for Obama
US Navy

[Carolina]

5. love your post, totally

agree and welcome to DU

[Macoy51]

6. Screw Him

He betrayed his wife and children. I did not think much of him before the scandal, and now I thnik he should be stripped of his rank, pension and benefits.


Macoy