General David Petraeus tipped over as the head of the CIA

General David Petraeus tipped to take over CIA

By Toby Harnden World Last updated: April 5th, 2011
80 Comments Comment on this article

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Gen David Petraeus talks to reporters in Kabul last December (Photo: Toby Harnden)

This summer it will be musical chairs among President Barack Obama’s national security team. Leon Panetta, the CIA Director, is widely expected to take over from Bob Gates as Pentagon chief. General David Petraeus, who is said to be exhausted and eager to leave Afghanistan, is being tipped by NPR as a serious contender for Panetta’s job.

According to Tom Ricks, Lieutenant General John Allen of the US Marine Corps, a Gertrude Bell aficionado, will take over from Petraeus as ISAF commander in Kabul.

It wouldn’t be unusual for a military officer to take over at Langley but Petraeus – known to some as King David – has no specialist intelligence background, though he’s certainly spent plenty of time as an intelligence consumer. And intelligence has been a crucial element of the campaigns he has directed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The possible move shows that the Obama administration is having a hard time finding a slot for the general, once considered a potential 2012 nominee for Republicans. Some might view a Petraeus appointment to the CIA as an attempt by President Barack Obama to neutralise a possible rival.

I would have thought he would be a natural choice for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when Admiral Mike Mullen retires at the end of the year but apparently he’s not viewed as a contender for that. There would be some pushback from the Left over nominating him for CIA but Petraeus is such a bipartisan rock star on Capitol Hill that it’s hard not to see him being confirmed almost unanimously.

One big thing the CIA job would do is give Petraeus an entry point into the civilian politics of Washington. Certainly, Petraeus is extremely well connected in DC for a military man but there’s no doubt that a stint at CIA would be a broadening experience for him.

Which means, of course, he would be an even more attractive presidential candidate in due course.

Petraeus in 2016 anyone?

UPDATE: Gen Petraeus’s staff isn’t commenting on the speculation about his future, which they describe as “premature”. A Nato officer from Kabul who knows Petraeus very well emails me to say: “Anyone who thinks GEN Petraeus is exhausted hasn’t run with him at six thousand feet altitude here or gone on a battlefield circulation with him lately! And I can tell you that GEN Petraeus is not eager to leave Afghanistan. As a matter of fact, it’s well known that he pledged to see this through another fighting season if that was necessary.”

Saw that one coming last year.

He's an Obama Man....

That means he'll eventually run for President. Mark my words. They will make him Director of Ops side.

Fuck. I don't care what anyone thinks about Petreaus. He earned and educated his way to the top. Bush Jr pushed him higher all 8 years. He's been referred to as Reagan 2.0 by the flaming left. He's so gaddam logical and end game oriented he puts chess masters to shame. If he ever runs, he's got my vote.

Oh, I didn't say I didn't LIKE him. He's still kissing Obama's ass to get the position.

I suspect I'd have resigned giving my options in the Middle East some time back. If the President can't show clear leadership...

Ok... well, you know reconsidering that, if the President can't show clear leadership, at least our MILITARY can.

I actually like Patraeus - he's a smart guy. I think he would be a very GOOD director of the CIA. I think too, he'd eventually make a great President (that's why I mentioned that he'll probably go for that position eventually).

Petraeus has just tendered his resignation...

Beat ya

(look in news) hehe

This sucks. WTF?

Was this over Iran? Was this over Benghazi? Was this like Obama telling him to buzz off? Was this because Patreaus can't DEAL with the dipship in chief?

:razz:

3 whole minutes.

I'm driving and trying to keep an eye on the school bus stopping a few cars ahead. I deserve a handicap of some sort. :D

Saying it's over an affair... :freak2:

LOL you're beating me on the affair thing. lol

By the way, you're handicapped because you LIVE in Ohio.... /snicker

This isn't over an affair. This is OVER BENGHAZI!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rick Donaldson

LOL you're beating me on the affair thing. lol

By the way, you're handicapped because you LIVE in Ohio.... /snicker

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You're telling me!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rick Donaldson

This isn't over an affair. This is OVER BENGHAZI!!!!!!!!!!!!!

---

Bingo!

(Hence my tard smilie)

Rotflmao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love that picture!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know after listening to Ralph Peter's state "The country is going to go on" (or however he phrased it) I feel SOOOO much better about this.





NOT

he is NOT going to testify now in front of Congress about Benghazi.....

Well, there you are.

Now we know the rest of the story.

Someone found out about him and his GF, told him "resign or we let the kitty out of the bag and by the way you want be testifying either"

Lockheed Martin Exec Who Followed Admin Lead on WARN Act Resigns Due to Affair

The CEO-in-waiting of the defense contractor who declined to issue WARN Act layoff notices on the urging of the Obama administration — sequestration-related notices mandated by law that would have gone out just before the election — has resigned, citing an affair.

Christopher E. Kubasik, 51, today resigned from his role as vice chairman, president and chief operating officer (COO), effective immediately, Lockheed Martin announced. Kubasik was set to become CEO in January.

He “resigned after an ethics investigation confirmed that he had a close personal relationship with a subordinate employee. His actions violated the company’s Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, but did not affect the company’s operational or financial performance,” the defense giant said in a statement.

On Oct. 1, Kubasik and Bob Stevens, current chairman and CEO, sent a controversial memo to employees bowing to the administration’s advice to not warn employees of impending sequestration layoffs.

With the 60 days’ notice mandated by the WARN Act, the notices would have gone out at the beginning of November.

“We have been working closely with the government to understand our obligations under the WARN Act and to ensure our employees are provided fair treatment and appropriate notice, if their jobs are impacted by sequestration,” Kubasik and Stevens wrote. “After careful review of the additional guidance provided by the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Defense, we will not issue sequestration-related WARN notices this year. …If sequestration were to happen, we are compelled to comply with the law and will do so as respectfully and as ably as we can.”...

David Burge‏@iowahawkblog
Think a CIA director resigning over an affair on the eve of testifying about an ambassador's murder will raise media curiosity? Silly you

Monica Crowley‏@MonicaCrowley
Unless Petraeus's "extramarital affair" was with Vladimir Putin, his resignation is OF COURSE about Benghazi.

Mike Morell to testify instead of David Petraeus on Benghazi
The resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus came less than a week before he was scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on the Sept. 11 attacks in Benghazi, Libya. A spokesman for the committee said acting CIA Director Mike ...

COVER-UP! Obama Purges Staff To Prevent Investigations Into Benghazi and ‘Furious’ Scandals

Obama cleans house to stall inquiries into scandals

Just two days after President Obama’s re-election, General David Petraeus, the CIA Director, has resigned from the administration over an extramarital affair. Petraeus was slated to testify before Congress next week on the murder of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, in Benghazi.

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Now that the Obama administration has succeeded in winning a second term, they are cleaning house. The two figures most linked to the disaster in Benghazi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Petraeus, are gone. The figure most linked with Fast and Furious, Eric Holder, will be gone. The figure most linked to the administration’s economic failures, Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner, will be gone.

Bret Baier of Fox News just tweeted, “With Petraeus’ resignation effective immediately, he will not testify next week & lawmakers are said to be ‘stunned’ by the announcement.”

He sent a letter to his colleagues stating:

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position. 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.

President Obama issued this statement:

David Petraeus has provided extraordinary service to the United States for decades. By any measure, he was one of the outstanding General officers of his generation, helping our military adapt to new challenges, and leading our men and women in uniform through a remarkable period of service in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he helped our nation put those wars on a path to a responsible end. As Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, he has continued to serve with characteristic intellectual rigor, dedication, and patriotism. By any measure, through his lifetime of service David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger.

Today, I accepted his resignation as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. I am completely confident that the CIA will continue to thrive and carry out its essential mission, and I have the utmost confidence in Acting Director Michael Morell and the men and women of the CIA who work every day to keep our nation safe. Going forward, my thoughts and prayers are with Dave and Holly Petraeus, who has done so much to help military families through her own work. I wish them the very best at this difficult time.

This is only the latest in a string of groundshaking events demonstrating that the Obama administration hid information vital to the American people during the last days of the 2012 election cycle. The fact that the most respected soldier of his generation, Petraeus, would be leaving the administration during an Obama second term, had to be known by the White House prior to the election. And they said nothing in order to run out the clock.

The fact that Attorney General Eric Holder was considering stepping down from the administration had to be known by the White House prior to the election. Meanwhile, during the election cycle, the Obama administration claimed executive privilege in order to shield Holder from questions about Fast and Furious.

The fact that an American drone was fired upon in international airspace by Iranian airplanes was hidden from the American public for a week in order to prevent the American public from recognizing the failure of the Obama Iranian foreign policy.

The facts in Benghazi were lied about by virtually every member of the Obama administration for weeks upon weeks.

The fact that the administration had been slow-walking reams of vital regulation to beyond the election in order to avoid scaring off voters was hidden from the public.


Now that the Obama administration has succeeded in winning a second term, they are cleaning house. The two figures most linked to the disaster in Benghazi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Petraeus, are gone. The figure most linked with Fast and Furious, Eric Holder, will be gone. The figure most linked to the administration’s economic failures, Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner, will be gone.

Only Obama remains. He ran out the clock on his scandals, and now throws anyone associated with them overboard.

The Petraeus resignation is only the most recent evidence that the Obama administration will lie to the American people to achieve its ends. But with all of his experts gone, Obama’s cabinet will now be staffed by the political C team in a time of crisis, both domestically and internationally. source – Brietbart

Cover-up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Barack Hussein Obama was aware of the CIA director's indiscretions "long before" the November 6, 2012 elections, and knew about the FBI's investigative findings weeks before the election

Sunday, November 11, 2012

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According to two well-vetted sources with intimate knowledge of the CIA operations and events in Benghazi, the resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus is directly related to the testimony he was expected to provide before a closed-door hearing next week before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Sources close to the controversy, citing the need for anonymity due to their positions, stated that Barack Hussein Obama was aware of the CIA director’s indiscretions “long before” the November 6, 2012 elections, and knew about the FBI’s investigative findings weeks before the election, but “erected a firewall” to prevent any disclosure before November 6th.

“What I do know is that an integral part of that firewall involved having information on Petraeus that would potentially damage his career, legacy and marriage. A sort of political blackmail, if you will. What I don’t know, but suspect, is that Petraeus was placed in the unenviable but self-inflicted position of having to choose between providing truthful testimony under oath and having his professional and personal life destroyed while systematically being impeached due to this incident, or keeping quiet before the Senate Intelligence Committee,” stated one source.

A second intelligence source stated that “the announcement [of Petraeus’ resignation] was carefully timed. It was announced in a Friday afternoon news dump three days after the election, and days before the Senate Intelligence Committee was to hear his testimony, despite the President having knowledge of these events weeks ago. Friday’s announcement served two purposes; it kept controversy from emerging before the election, while allowing the administration to buy time regarding testimony by a federal official about CIA’s involvement in Benghazi.”

The resignation of David Petraeus is merely one, albeit a very high-profile one, of several coordinated moves to push any meaningful investigation into the events of Benghazi well into the future. “Obama and other high ranking officials learned many valuable lessons from Fast & Furious,” a fact agreed upon by both sources. Fast & Furious is the name given to the gun running operation from the U.S. into Mexico. “They understand that the longer they can delay and obstruct the truth, reassign key personnel with important information to positions and locations that hinder any meaningful investigation, the more the public interest wanes. As the public loses interest, it also takes the pressure off Congress from getting to the bottom of things.”

Both sources agreed that it is difficult to speculate whether Petraeus decided to extract himself from the leverage that the controversy had over him by the Obama regime on his terms, or whether his resignation was conducted solely by the terms of the Obama regime. Otherwise, both sources agreed that his resignation would buy the administration some valuable time, and the change in status of Petraeus as the active CIA director would also have an effect on the manner in which he is required to provide testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. The change of status, from an active CIA official and government employee, to a citizen bound by far reaching confidentiality agreements, would change his ability to testify before the committee. “He can also lawyer-up,” added one source.

According to another CIA source, the resignation of Christopher Kubasik, president and CEO-elect of defense and aerospace company Lockheed Martin, announced on the same day as Petraeus, might have ties to the events at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“There is a relationship between Lockheed Martin and the defense department, as well as the CIA, that ties into current events in Turkey and Syria. This is particularly relevant in the operation taking place in Benghazi and when investigation into where the ‘black-ops’ money went. Don’t forget, Congress appropriated money, at the behest of Obama, for humanitarian aid, not weapons.”

Like Petraeus, Kubasik cited an “inappropriate relationship” for his resignation. “The timing is beyond coincidental, and the operation much too big for this to be merely coincidental.”

Both intelligence sources interviewed for this report agree that there is an exceptional cover-up campaign taking place. “All roads lead to Benghazi, and this cover-up is exponentially bigger than anything we’ve seen in Watergate and the Iran-Contra Affair combined. The American people are being lied to at every turn, and the Obama administration has become emboldened by the election results and a disinterested media.”

Hillary quit too??? I missed that.

Wow.

Yeah, these fuckers are DEEP into coverup now.

It is getting DEEPER too....

US officials: Complaint about Broadwell sparked FBI investigation that indicated Petraeus affair

Gen. David Petraeus' resignation from the highest levels of government service started with a seemingly unrelated complaint to the FBI. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.



"He's not perfect, he's made a mistake," said Steven Boylan, who worked for Gen. David Petraeus before the CIA director resigned following the discovery of his extramarital affair. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.



By Pete Williams and Andrea Mitchell, NBC News


An FBI investigation into a complaint about Paula Broadwell, who authored a biography of Gen. David Petraeus, turned up emails indicative of an extramarital affair between the writer and the general, senior law enforcement officials and government officials familiar with the investigation told NBC News.



Petraeus, widely respected for his leadership, strategic acumen and reputation as a straight shooter, sent shock waves through Washington on Friday by resigning as director of the CIA, ending a career of nearly four decades in intelligence, citing an extramarital affair.


The FBI’s involvement began when a woman turned to the bureau for help after receiving what she considered harassing emails, the officials said. The officials did not name the woman, but stressed she was not Petraeus’ wife or a family member.


The FBI soon discovered that the emails were coming from Broadwell, which in turn led to the discovery that Broadwell was sending explicit emails to Petraeus, according to the officials.


At first, investigators were concerned that a stranger had somehow hacked into Petraeus’ email account, but then learned that his emailing her was consensual and indicative of an affair, they said.


One senior law enforcement official, who had been aware of the probe for several weeks, said the complaint to the FBI about Broadwell's behavior "raised concerns, and we had to check it out. It wasn't apparent at first what was going on."


"That clarified our concern. We had to talk to him," the official said. "He made the decision to tell the White House. We handled it discreetly." The FBI did not tell the White House about the findings, as some sources had suggested Friday night, the official added.


Broadwell had extensive access to Petraeus while writing a biography of the general, "All In: The education of General David Petraeus," and had given numerous television interviews speaking about him.


NBC's Kristen Welker looks at the days leading up to Friday's stunning announcement by Gen. David Petraeus.



Investigators concluded that there was no criminal violation, law enforcement sources told NBC News.


Agents interviewed Petraeus in late October, the senior law enforcement official said.


Asked about criticism from some on Capitol Hill that the FBI didn’t tell members of the intelligence committees about this sooner, the official said investigators determined "this was not an intelligence matter. It did not fall on that side of things."


Broadwell could not be reached for comment.


Pete Williams is NBC News' justice correspondent. Andrea Mitchell is NBC News' senior foreign affairs correspondent.

Some one inside the White House did this. There is absolutely NO doubt in my mind. Probably someone within the CIA actually figured it out, figured there was a way to get rid of the guy because he isn't 100% in Obama's court, and turned it over to the FBI as a "Crime" so they'd go after that writer and "accidentally find out".

Once the FBI figured it out - that's all she wrote.

Patreaus is too much an American hero to go down for this by it being discovered so, like all conservatives, took the fall on his own sword before someone pushed him over the bridge.