The news that General David Petraeus (Ret.) was resigning as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency came as a surprise last Friday. First it is disappointing when someone of Petraeus’ stature and position makes such a poor decision. I want to also be careful not to diminish the great good he accomplished in his storied career with the Army. Secondly, it is heartbreaking to think of the pain and shame his wife and family must be going through not only because of the affair he had with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, but now has been magnified because of the public scrutiny. We should pray for his family and pray that, if possible, restoration will take place.
In resigning General Patraeus did the honorable thing. However the timing on Friday seemed incredibly suspicious to me since he was scheduled to testify in a Congressional hearing on the Benghazi attack. That suspicion was made worse by revelations that the FBI and the Justice Department knew of his affair this summer. This leads to some uncomfortable questions.
- If the Justice Department knew this Summer, why is it members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees just found out when the rest of us did?
- Why did General Petraeaus wait until November to resign? An extramarital affair for such a high-level intelligence official is a national security risk so why allow him to stay on for so long?
- General Petraeus also initially blamed the anti-Muslim film for the Benghazi attack. He clearly knew better than that. Was pressure applied on him because of knowledge about this affair?
- Why did the Obama administration allow the election trump this coming to light?
The window of this coming out two days after the election and right before he’s scheduled to testify is fishy. I would hope that General Petraeus would volunteer to keep his appointment with Congress, if not I hope that he is subpoenaed. We need to know what he knew about Benghazi.
Update (11/14): It is being reported that Petraeus will testify before Congress voluntarily.