Posted By LambChop
Joseph Curl of The Washington Times wrote an article
entitled “Watch out for Petraeus in Benghazi
Scandal.” I second that.
Friday of this week, Obama’s Boy Wonder and Press Secretary, Jay Carney, squarely threw the CIA under the bus. Carney claimed that the CIA “always” leads in these situations, alleging that, in the aftermath of the deaths of four Americans including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, the CIA was solely responsible for developing talking points to be used during the White House Sunday morning media blitz on February 16, 2012. This blitz was the day when U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice appeared on the political news shows attempting to link the Benghazi attacks to a video and to ignore the al -Qaeda links to the pre-planned attack which the administration claimed was “spontaneous.” These talking points proved to be an election-driven desperate White House attempt to cover -up the causes of what really happened in Benghazi the fateful night September 11, 2012. At the time of the Benghazi attack and writing of the talking points, former General David Petraeus was the acting Director of the CIA.
The source of the fake assessments found in the talking points is still in question. Of course knowledge of who was directing the talking points will likely lead straight to the architects of the cover- up. ABC News’ Jon Karl told Bill O’Reilly on Friday night that while the CIA supposedly signed off on the final draft of the Benghazi talking points (a CIA Deputy actually signed off on the points), Director Petraeus said this of the final talking points in an email dated February 15th obtained by ABC: "I would just as soon as not use them." According to Karl, Petraeus even labeled the talking points “useless.” Hardly sounds as if Petraeus signed off on these points. The question is WHO overruled Petraeus on the talking points (despite the fact that the White House asserts the CIA was in charge) and forced the CIA Deputy to “sign off” without Petraeus’ consent?
Curl’s article said this about former Director of the CIA, David Petraeus, who later resigned from his position as Director just SIX days before he testified on the Benghazi attack:
With the White House putting all blame on the agency, expect push back this week — nuclear push back. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the former director forced to resign after a sex scandal, is a dangerous man to the Obama administration. Mad and intent on getting even, he’s already talking, telling one reporter the talking points were “useless” and that he preferred not to use them at all. The floodgates will open this week, and by the end of business Friday, the scandal will be full blown.
A warning to those West Wing sycophants suffering from acute OOCS: Don’t walk down any dark alleys.-from Joseph Curl/The Washington Times article entitled “Watch out for Petraeus in Benghazi Scandal.”
Petraeus’ sudden resignation after picking a fight with the White House over the Benghazi scandal seems highly suspicious, even to the most cynical world-weary political watchers. After all, the Obama White House has been known to play dirty politics, using Axelrod tricks to get him elected and keeping enemies’ lists.
BRIEF HISTORY OF PETRAEUS
In January 2007, Petraeus was named by President Bush to be the commanding general of MNF-I to lead all U.S. troops in Iraq. Petraeus was a proponent of a surge strategy. At that time, Petraeus was viewed by the Robert Gates at the White House as one who "played a historic role" and created the "translation of a great strategy into a great success in very difficult circumstances". Gates also told Petraeus he believed "history will regard you as one of our nation's greatest battle captains.”
After Iraq, Petraeus was then named commander of CENTCOM. Petraeus was next tapped to replace Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top commander in Afghanistan in June 2010 (despite his opposition to Obama’s positions on Iraq that came to a head in 2008).Petraeus replaced McChrystal after McChrystal was the subject of a hit piece in Rolling Stone Magazine that reported McChrystal’s belief that Obama appeared detached about the war and uncomfortable with top military brass.
Petraeus’ star was on the rise by 2010. Enter Paula Broadwell, Petraeus’ buddy, biographer, mentee and Potomac River running partner since early 2008 when Broadwell began her Ph.D. thesis on Petraeus' leadership skills.
TIMELINE OF THE PETRAEUS /BROADWELL AFFAIR
June, 2010
Petraeus takes command in Afghanistan. Paula Broadwell decides to turn her thesis research into a book and visits Afghanistan multiple times. "We had a relationship before I went there as far as this dissertation was concerned, so it just took it to another level," Broadwell told CNN's Brooke Baldwin in February 2012.
August 31, 2011
Petraeus retires from the U.S. Army and is awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal.
September 6, 2011
Petraeus is sworn in as new director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Broadwell keeps in contact with Petraeus and is later invited to his office for events.
October/November, 2011
Petraeus and Broadwell begin their affair about two months after he takes over at the CIA, according to CNN who cites a source as an unnamed “friend.”
January, 2012
Blogger Milo Wendt and Jon Stewart both reported innuendo about the nature of Broadwell’s relationship with Petraeus.
May/June, 2012
Jill Kelley reports jealous,
threatening emails from Broadwell. FBI investigator Humphries is said to have
continued the investigation without his supervisors’ consent. Humphries in
frustration, reported his findings to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor who
then contacted Director Mueller of the FBI.
Summer,
2012
Eric Holder and the DOJ knew of Petraeus affair since late summer, the Justice Department did not loop in Director of National Intelligence James Clapper -- who then told the White House -- until November.
September 11, 2012
Ambassador Stevens and three other state department and CIA personnel killed during terrorist attack on U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
September 14, 2012
Petraeus briefs congress on Benghazi. Congress not informed of FBU investigation on Broadwell affair.
October 26, 2012
Broadwell talks to students at the University of Denver, and says: "The CIA annex (in Benghazi, Libya, during the attack on September 11, 2012) had actually had taken a couple of Libyan militia members prisoner and they think that the attack on the consulate was an effort to try to get these prisoners back. So that's still being vetted."
End of October, 2012
FBI met with Petraeus.
November 2
The FBI wraps up its case after interviewing Paula Broadwell for the second time.
November 8, 2012
Obama briefed on Petraeus affair.
November 9, 2012
Petraeus tendered his resignation to President Obama over the phone.
CIA reported the extramarital affair between Petraeus and Paula Broadwell. House and Senate Intelligence Committees informed the same day.
November 15
Petraeus Testimony on Benghazi
THE CLINTON CONNECTION
Petraeus and Hillary Clinton have a curious history. By September 10, 2007 Moveon.org (an organization funded by George Soros) had taken out a full –age ad in The New York Times against Petraeus calling him "General Betray-us." Interestingly, Petraeus had been bandied about in the media as a possible candidate for President in 2008. Clinton was sure she had the nomination sewn up and was most likely doing what Clintons do best- eliminating potential opponents.Moveon.org had a long history supporting the Clintons: the organization was started as a response against President Clinton’s impeachment process. Petraeus delivered an Iraq War progress report that week. On September 11, 2007 then Senator Hillary Clinton (and candidate for president) told General Petraeus at a public hearing on the Iraq War effort, in the harshest terms possible that his progress report on Iraq required "a willing suspension of disbelief."
CONCLUSION
No doubt there was a massive orchestrated cover -up involving Benghazi – a scandal that not only could have turned the second term election against Obama but could potentially derail Hillary Clinton’s chances at the presidency in 2016.
There is also no doubt that former General Petraeus, Director of the CIA, disagreed with the Obama administration over the talking points (the blueprint for the cover up). Petraeus was probably also dismayed about the loss of CIA personnel ex -SEALS Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty who were in country as part of a mission to locate and collect the 20,000 shoulder-held missiles known as MANPADS (missing since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi).
The question is what will Petraeus do now?
Petraeus dutifully kept his mouth shut, sort of … despite the fact that NY Representative Peter King noted differences in Petraeus briefing testimony of September 14 and closed door testimony on November 15 – after his resignation and after the presidential election.
The fact is that Petraeus has been a political animal for years - part of the political military brass. Petraeus, like most high-profile Generals, spent his career as part of a system that promotes using the theory of “unnatural selection.” In the private sector, individualism and bucking the system can get you rewarded. In the armed forces, this will get you demoted or worse. Petraeus was paid to agree, to take the proverbial bullet and fall on the sword. He gained notoriety based on a carefully -cultivated image equivalent to that of Generals Colin Powell or Wesley Clark. Petraeus was certainly more polished than the popular General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. or General Tommy Franks. Generals like Petraeus spent their careers not as whistleblowers, but as those who actively removed whistleblowers from their ranks.
And, Petraeus had a secret: an extra-marital affair with Paula Broadwell. It is simply too convenient to believe that Petraeus’ affair with Broadwell started AFTER his stint as the Director of the CIA .Plus, the source for this dubious timing is unnamed and was given to CNN AFTER the Benghazi attack.
Harvard University kicked Broadwell out of the PH.D program and she suddenly decided to turn her thesis on Petraeus into a book? And she immediately made “several trips” to Afghanistan in 2010 which, by her own admission, took their relationship to “another level.”
Just as obvious as the timing of the start of the affair, is the timing of its ending. Frankly there is no question their affair was over PRIOR to May/June of 2012 when Broadwell, acting like a woman scorned, began her anonymous email attacks against Jill Kelley. Broadwell was obviously hurt, jealous and a little crazy.
It should also be obvious that General Petraeus was being considered to be CIA Director months before his appointment in September of 2011. That means he was being vetted all along. Once Petraeus effectively resigned from the U.S. Army, the Uniform Code of Military Justice no longer applied to his career or clearance standards. As the pending Director of the CIA, Petraeus could have done almost anything, provided he did not lie about it during the interview process. Petraeus’ clearance standards changed. The FBI did the background check; the President of the United States grants the clearance to the future Director of the CIA. The CIA counter -intelligence would certainly have known of the happy couples’ joint runs along the Potomac River and Broadwell’s visits to Afghanistan. Chances are, Petraeus owned up to the affair, ended it and it became a paragraph in his deep background file – known to President Obama and most likely Hillary Clinton. So much for CNN’s anonymous friend source who claimed otherwise.
Why is this important? Because Petraeus had a weakness. A squelched affair.
Fast forward to the Benghazi attack. Petraeus was obviously suffering from a bout of hubris, and had the poor judgment to go up against the Obama administration (and by default Hillary) in their blue print for cover -up after Benghazi – the talking points. And to make matters worse, Petraeus had a negative 5-year long history of being on the Clinton’s radar. He then became the patsy for removal of truth from the talking points. This truth made him a convenient scapegoat for Hillary and Obama. Once Petraeus resigned in shame, his Benghazi testimony would be forever tarnished and no one would listen if he came forward. That is until the whistleblower hearings Wednesday of last week. It is a new day.
Petraeus has a golden opportunity here. He has nothing to lose and still has credibility despite Obama and Hillary’s acts to tarnish him with Broadwell. His wife knows about the affair; his children know. Broadwell was probably more of a predator than a victim and he owes her nothing. He can sacrifice his pension for some uncomfortable media attention and literally millions of dollars. He can save the world, take down the corrupt Obama administration and avenge the deaths of four innocent Americans. He can maybe even help catch the bastards who masterminded the plot to take down the Benghazi Libyan consulate. All he has to do is get mad – and do the right thing.
I agree that the traditional narrative re: le'affaire Broadwell is flawed. Imagine the General and the author having a platonic mentor-mentee relationship 6,000 miles from home in Jihadiland? And then coming home to the good old USofA and ripping their clothes off in a mad rush to finally do the nasty?? I ain't buying it. I think you nailed it(if I may permit myself a wee pun), great article.
Posted by: German Shepherd | 05/13/2013 at 07:58 PM