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I guess I am unclear why their affair would warent Petraeus's resignation. People have affairs. Was there a significant conflict of interest regarding their aff

I guess I am unclear why their affair would warent Petraeus's resignation. People have affairs. Was there a significant conflict of interest regarding their affair? If not, I don't understand how this is news worthy?

aneth4 14y ago
Secret affairs, or any other secret potentially embarrassing personal or sexual traits, are easy fodder for blackmail. People are irrational when it comes to such things. Anyone in such a position needs to basically have no personal secrets that would cause major harm if revealed.
- ketralnis 14y ago
  Looks like he doesn't anymore.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
aaronbrethorst 14y ago
Days after Petraeus' resignation stunned Washington, information continues to emerge. Among other things, a video has surfaced of a speech by Petraeus' paramour in which she suggested the Libya attack was targeting a secret prison at the Benghazi consulate annex, raising unverified concerns about possible security leaks. http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/12/us/petraeus-cia-resignation/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/12/us/petraeus-cia-resignation/in... The affair by itself should've had no impact. In fact, you can find tons of articles from today that talk about how Petraeus had every intention of staying on the job. However, once you get into the realm of 'what classified information did he spill in pillow talk?', then resignation seems like the least he should have to do. Broadwell is lawyering up[1], and I bet that Petraeus does the same in the next days or weeks. There are going to be some serious criminal liability issues over improperly disclosed national security information. [1] http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/paula_broadwell_lawyers_up/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/paula_broadwell_lawye...
- ketralnis 14y ago
  > However, once you get into the realm of 'what classified information did he spill in pillow talk?', then resignation seems like the least he should have to do Then should we keep intelligence folk from ever dating or marrying anyone ever? I don't see how this is any different
  - joonix 14y ago
    Don't bother. This another example of Americans behaving like overgrown children.
  - rdl 14y ago
    Date/marry within the "family", which is apparently NSA's solution (it's not really official policy, but tends to happen).
CamperBob2 14y ago
If you look at the history of espionage going back n thousand years you'll see plenty of cases where people have been blackmailed, extorted, or otherwise compromised through illicit romantic affairs. It may not be such a big deal if you're a four-star general but it's a very big deal in the intelligence community. If this sort of thing was tolerated at the top level of the CIA, the agency would have no moral authority to enforce the rules among the rank-and-file cloak-and-dagger types. OTOH if he had reported the affair(s) in question as he was supposed to do, there might have been some room for negotiation. It's not so much the affair, but the cover-up.
- zerostar07 14y ago
  Not really thousand years, not many (any?) historical cases where extramarital affair was a cause for blackmail or extortion.
  - decode 14y ago
    One interesting case in US history involved an affair of Alexander Hamilton. It resulted in not only a lot of extorted money, but legal and political intrigue as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton-Reynolds_sex_scandal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton-Reynolds_sex_scandal
    - zerostar07 14y ago
      Maybe it's something specific to the US history.
      - deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
      - FireBeyond 14y ago
        Not really, the UK during the Cold War had an ongoing problem with homosexual affairs in the Intelligence community (and the Soviet Bloc would even actively exploit this with agents who would seduce suspected or known homosexual employees) - particularly an issue given the time frame and location - many such people were ostensibly happily married, with children, and faced social and professional ostracization, even beyond legal and other threats aimed at them as a result.
k3n 14y ago
I think it's been said that having an affair is expressly prohibited in his line of work (given the factors laid out by others here). He broke a really big rule. When you're in such a high position, you don't get to break big rules and then get off scott-free; rather, you will either be dismissed in a dishonorable fashion, or you can resign and save a little bit of that honor. If he had tried to ride it out, it would've created an even greater distraction in the news, drawing even more unwanted attention onto his office and that of his superior, and superiors don't like negative attention. After all of that, he _still_ would have been let go. Get out early and save face.
onetwothreefour 14y ago
I'm pretty sure a certain president was impeached for similar issues...

aneth4 14y ago

Secret affairs, or any other secret potentially embarrassing personal or sexual traits, are easy fodder for blackmail. People are irrational when it comes to such things. Anyone in such a position needs to basically have no personal secrets that would cause major harm if revealed.

ketralnis 14y ago
Looks like he doesn't anymore.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

aaronbrethorst 14y ago

Days after Petraeus' resignation stunned Washington, information continues to emerge. Among other things, a video has surfaced of a speech by Petraeus' paramour in which she suggested the Libya attack was targeting a secret prison at the Benghazi consulate annex, raising unverified concerns about possible security leaks. http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/12/us/petraeus-cia-resignation/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/12/us/petraeus-cia-resignation/in... The affair by itself should've had no impact. In fact, you can find tons of articles from today that talk about how Petraeus had every intention of staying on the job. However, once you get into the realm of 'what classified information did he spill in pillow talk?', then resignation seems like the least he should have to do. Broadwell is lawyering up[1], and I bet that Petraeus does the same in the next days or weeks. There are going to be some serious criminal liability issues over improperly disclosed national security information. [1] http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/paula_broadwell_lawyers_up/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/paula_broadwell_lawye...

ketralnis 14y ago
> However, once you get into the realm of 'what classified information did he spill in pillow talk?', then resignation seems like the least he should have to do Then should we keep intelligence folk from ever dating or marrying anyone ever? I don't see how this is any different
- joonix 14y ago
  Don't bother. This another example of Americans behaving like overgrown children.
- rdl 14y ago
  Date/marry within the "family", which is apparently NSA's solution (it's not really official policy, but tends to happen).

CamperBob2 14y ago

If you look at the history of espionage going back n thousand years you'll see plenty of cases where people have been blackmailed, extorted, or otherwise compromised through illicit romantic affairs. It may not be such a big deal if you're a four-star general but it's a very big deal in the intelligence community. If this sort of thing was tolerated at the top level of the CIA, the agency would have no moral authority to enforce the rules among the rank-and-file cloak-and-dagger types. OTOH if he had reported the affair(s) in question as he was supposed to do, there might have been some room for negotiation. It's not so much the affair, but the cover-up.

zerostar07 14y ago
Not really thousand years, not many (any?) historical cases where extramarital affair was a cause for blackmail or extortion.
- decode 14y ago
  One interesting case in US history involved an affair of Alexander Hamilton. It resulted in not only a lot of extorted money, but legal and political intrigue as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton-Reynolds_sex_scandal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton-Reynolds_sex_scandal
  - zerostar07 14y ago
    Maybe it's something specific to the US history.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - FireBeyond 14y ago
      Not really, the UK during the Cold War had an ongoing problem with homosexual affairs in the Intelligence community (and the Soviet Bloc would even actively exploit this with agents who would seduce suspected or known homosexual employees) - particularly an issue given the time frame and location - many such people were ostensibly happily married, with children, and faced social and professional ostracization, even beyond legal and other threats aimed at them as a result.

k3n 14y ago

I think it's been said that having an affair is expressly prohibited in his line of work (given the factors laid out by others here). He broke a really big rule. When you're in such a high position, you don't get to break big rules and then get off scott-free; rather, you will either be dismissed in a dishonorable fashion, or you can resign and save a little bit of that honor. If he had tried to ride it out, it would've created an even greater distraction in the news, drawing even more unwanted attention onto his office and that of his superior, and superiors don't like negative attention. After all of that, he _still_ would have been let go. Get out early and save face.

onetwothreefour 14y ago

I'm pretty sure a certain president was impeached for similar issues...