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At least, in general. I was loosely acquainted with one of the members of Gen. Petraeus' personal security team and . . . well, they talk. Not specifically, but the gist was that he was an old goat with a fondness for the ladies.
I got to see him in action. While I was was in Kabul, I sat in a meeting with Gen. Petraeus and forty or so representatives from USAID, USACE, and the embassy. Gen. Petraeus came in, made himself comfortable, and promptly singled out a striking blonde lady (who will go nameless, but she was an "engineer" with the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) down in Kandahar) for a special hey-there-good-to-see-you-again. The woman flushed with obvious pleasure that the rock-star general would remember her from his visit down south several months before. It's good to be the king, I thought ruefully.
Well, the tomcatting finally caught up with him. I can't say I'm sorry. Had it not been for Petraeus' lies testimony to Congress, we would already have quit Afghanistan.
2 comments:
I've thought about him more since this story broke than I ever thought about him before, and that's not saying much. My first thought was: Who cares?
As affairs go, it seemed pretty respectable, I mean she wasn't young or a prostitute and she didn't have his bastard. I guess military officers are held to pretty high standards by the military, despite how little the general public may care about their personal lives.
Whiskey made this observation:
[Petraeus] asked and demanded the most restrictive rules of engagement, from the lowest enlisted man, while flagrantly violating the military code of conduct, which expressly forbids adultery. A Captain or Lieutenant under him would have been charged and court-martialed, which the Alpha Male Petraeus skates. Without a care in the world. Not even the loss of his pension. Much less military charges, or those related to being a security risk as head of the CIA fooling around with sex under the desk (shades of Monica) with his married biographer.
Which pretty much reflects my own thoughts.
Another thought: I'm not sure how her not being a prostitute made the affair more respectable. Petraeus selpt with a married mother of two who should have been home with her family. At least a prostitute wouldn't have cuckolded anyone.
I'm thinking other thoughts as well, but I'm too sleepy to go into them now . . .
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