CIA Director General David Petraeus' resignation

[Frelga]

Well, keeping in mind the "anonymous source" state of the story, apparently the investigation was triggered by Broadwell sending threatening emails to a family friend of Petraeus. Even that can't be the whole story - I can't imagine the FBI devotes that sort of attention to investigating every threatening email received by every Dick and Jane.

[axordil]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/201 ... n=20121113

But wait, there's more! This is now officially WEIRD.

ETA: The people now pushing the "all these generals getting forced out at once means Obama was heading off a military coup" meme are not making it any LESS weird. We're in Coen Brothers territory now.

[Dave_LF]

investigators have discovered, officials say, 20,000 to 30,000 pages of emails and electronic documents sent between Allen and Jill Kelley, 37, of Tampa.

How is it even possible to write that much email? How long would the entirety of HoF's post database run if it were printed out on paper?

the "federal agent who launched the investigation that ultimately led to the resignation of Central Intelligence Agency chief David Petraeus was barred from taking part in the case over the summer due to superiors' concerns that he was personally involved in the case...even as the bureau delved into Mr. Petraeus's personal life, the agency had to address conduct by its own agent—who allegedly sent shirtless photos of himself to a woman [Jill Kelley] involved in the case prior to the investigation

So is the CIA testing out sex drugs, or what?

[axordil]

The agent will be played by Brad Pitt in the movie version.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

From the NPR story linked to above:

. This morning's Washington Post reports that some of the retired general's advisers say he "planned to stay in the job even after he acknowledged the affair to the FBI, hoping the episode would never become public. He resigned last week after being told to do so by Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. on the day President Obama was reelected."

So much for him "doing the right thing".

[Impenitent]

Tangled web.

[River]

I'm not sure what to make of any of this. You can't even bundle it into a sensible conspiracy theory. I mean, you can try, but new facts keep getting in the way and the motivation keeps slipping around. Keeping Petraeus out of his Congressional hearing? Looks like they're still expecting him to show up. Snuffing the story to influence the election? Unfortunately, the House Majority Leader knew about before anyone else. Not that he spoke up...but he knew. And apparently one of the women involved is so foxy the FBI agent on her case sent her topless photos of himself and another general tanked his career flirting with her. It's just...WTF?

[narya]

More details on the email investigation. Most disturbing bit: FBI investigators had access to 100% of head of CIA's email.
http://www.fastcompany.com/3003061/real ... us-and-you

[Frelga]

Yes, on the one hand it is disturbing that even the head of the CIA was not able to hide his online activity. On the other hand, he really wasn't trying all THAT hard.

[IdylleSeethes]

I'm a vague memory to some of you. To the rest a mystery. For now, I will spare you of the litany of why I might know things. I hope VtF or Jnyusa will agree my opinions may be whacked, but my facts aren't.

I'm not fond of conspiracy theories, but I have been too close to government too long to take anything at face value.

I can go on and on about Benghazi, but, I'll stick with the aspect most pertinent to this thread.

General Petraeus was one of several victims of the coverup of Benghazi. His relationship with Broadwell was not something discovered days before the election. Petraeus made the mistake of refocusing the spotlight on the important issues in Benghazi by having the CIA say publicly that the CIA did not deny assistance when asked. That signalled the White House he wasn't going to be a part of their nonsense. Petraeus had to go. The negotiated settlement was that Petraeus would resign due to his personal issues, known prior to his CIA appointment. He is allowed to respond to issues in the public domain, as in his appearance before Congress, but not allowed to bring up new subjects, in the interest of national security. They have other swords hanging over his head.

For those of you who don't know, this follows the detaining (arrest in civilian) of 4 star General Ham on 9/11/2012 by his second in command, seconds after defying a White House order to not attempt a rescue. General Ham is the only 4 star serving outside of the continental US, in AFRICOM. General Ham's surprise retirement was announced 2 weeks ago. Ham's removal was followed by the physical removal of Admiral Gaouette from his command on October 27. He was Commander of a carrier group deployed to the Middle East two weeks before 9/11/2012. Several Captains, Commanders, and senior NCOs have also been relieved of duty in scattered commands.

Instead of investigating this, the media has been entertaining us with nonsense about mistresses and the risk of one stealing national security secrets, and concern over Rice being victimized for lying to us.

Did anyone notice Paula Broadwell:

• Is a Lieutenant Colonel with 21 years of service
• Graduated from West Point
• Has a master’s degree in international security
• Has a master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy school
• Is a PhD candidate at the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London
• Was Deputy Director of the Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies, at Tufts University
• Worked with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force


Did anyone notice what Rice said really was a lie and not sanctioned by the CIA?

Probably not, but did you hear Kelley...

IdylleSeethes

[Impenitent]

Very interesting. I guess substantiation beyond those raw facts is not possible here.

[N.E. Brigand]

For those of you who don't know, this follows the detaining (arrest in civilian) of 4 star General Ham on 9/11/2012 by his second in command, seconds after defying a White House order to not attempt a rescue. General Ham is the only 4 star serving outside of the continental US, in AFRICOM. General Ham's surprise retirement was announced 2 weeks ago. Ham's removal was followed by the physical removal of Admiral Gaouette from his command on October 27. He was Commander of a carrier group deployed to the Middle East two weeks before 9/11/2012. Several Captains, Commanders, and senior NCOs have also been relieved of duty in scattered commands.

As far as I can tell, Gen. Ham is still in charge of AFRICOM (here's an interview with him published on Nov. 19) and will be succeeded in that role by his deputy in March, two years after Ham got that assignment, which may indicate it's a regular duty rotation.

Adm. Gaouette's strike group, though en route to the Middle East, was apparently in the Pacific during the Benghazi attacks, though it probably had reached the Middle East by the time he was temporarily reassigned in late October.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'll address the substance of this in a while, but first let me engage in rare and undignified squee.

Idylle!!!!!!!!! How extraordinarily lovely to see you here! (and yes I can vouch for the accuracy of your facts, as well as the integrity of your opinions)

[IdylleSeethes]

The problem is the missing context. Without it, these seem like 3 loosely related incidents, interesting becuase they all concern high level military officers. The media has reported Petraeus' affair(s), Ham's resignation, and Gaouette's strange removal. The other Navy personnel removed appear in a list maintained by Navy Times of all dismissals. The scope of the story is larger than this.

There is an umbrella strategy, of the current US government, to gain control of resources north of the equator in Africa. In the last 2 years, massive oil deposits have been discovered from the coast of West Africa to Kenya. There are many other important resources in sub-Saharan Africa, including gold. Gold is important as it is the central issue in the US-Gaddahfi conflict. In pursuit of this goal, the US has active military operations in most of the countries in this area. There are also several bases scattered in a ribbon from Burkina Faso to Kenya. AFRICOM is the US military command in charge of this operation. AFRICOM is now 4 years old. The first commander was removed from command for supposed misapproriation of funds (a trivial $80,000). My opinion is this hides a more serious issue. Ham replaced him. Africom depends heavily on Navy support.

I can provide lengthy detail of each country's, resources, and US support.

It is difficult to focus only on Libya, as it is part of the broader story. I need to mention two aspects.

One is that Gaddahfi was leader of a movement to make Africa independent economically. His immediate objective was to us Africa's gold as the basis of an African currency or currencies to distance it self from the US dollar and the Euro. This was considered a minor threat until the discovery of oil in sub-Saharan Africa. Allowing these huge resources to be economically distanced from foreign control wasa serious threat.

The second is the interconnectedness of the Islamic African countries. A major part of Libya's military was composed of soldiers from Mali and other African countries. Mali was intended to be the main US base in West Africa. The destabilization of US plans in West Africa is tied to the aftermath of Gaddahfi's fall and the flow of arms and soldiers between Libya and Mali. Mali is itself an interesting story, which I will ignore for now. It is the current center for Islamic terrorists in Africa including AQIM, Ansar Dine, and Boco Haram.

The concern about Gaddahfi's independent Africa and the "Arab Spring" phenomenon fortuitously collided and created the only situation, in all of the Arab Spring countries in which the West was actively involved.

What the US government calls "Libya" is not one country. After the revolution the east (Benghazi) declared independence. So far, the Tripoli government has not interfered. This is why, in the few days after 9/11, the US presence there was sometimes called an embassy and sometimes a consulate. If Benghazi is independent it is an embassy. If it is not, it is a consulate. It was actually neither. It was a cover for the CIA operation to collect the thousands of surface to air missiles abandoned, along with massive amounts of other arms, when Gaddahfi fell. This provided cover for a non-CIA operation run by the White House to collect other arms and recruit Islamic terrorists as fighters in Syria.

It was the fear of exposing an operation that might be compared to Iran-Contra, or the Afghanistan-Mujahadeen that caused the White House first to oppose rescue, an idea abhorrent to the military and CIA, and then to start a campaign of lies and deception hoping to at least cover it up until after the election.

Anyone who was interested in Benghazi on 9/12 could have found more than we have been told by the US government and the media. The only thing important item that was missing on 9/12 was the owner of the "other" activity at the CIA Annex. It was not until the Petraeus scandal that it surfaced as a direct White House operation. The call by the leader of all Qaeda, Ayman al Zawahiri to attack on 9/11 for the death of Abu Yahya al Libi, and to force the release of the "Blind Sheik" from a US prison. This was preceded by the placement of a trusted lieutenant of al Zawahiri's in Benghazi 2 months before the attack. Everything else was known, although some important items were not available in English.

This is a brief summary of a few of the issues related to Petraeus' resignation. This is a shorter summary:

The senior military personnel who were part of the group receiving the live feed from Benghazi and involved in the discussion of what to do, were appalled at the decsion to not rescue US personnel or provide them any support. F-18s could have overflown in minutes, a common dispersal tactic in Afghanistan. 2 AC-130s are stationed in Libya and could have been there in under an hour. AFRICOM assistance needed a few hours. The only assistance came from a group from Tripoli, probably disobeying orders, who were held at the Benghazi airport for hours for unknown reasons.

So far as credibility:

- My brother visited Gaddahfi in Libya shortly before his fall, during the NATO bombing

- The group I have worked with provides a little of the support for collecting intelligence on African resources

- My past has left me with senior contacts in several parts of the military

- Several contacts with SOCOM (Special Operations Command), the supplier of most ground forces to AFRICOM

I moved from my home on a military base a few years ago, but my official office is still there. I expected to be working at a another base, but the lebanese army defeated me. That's another story.

IdylleSeethes

[IdylleSeethes]

VtF,

Congratulations on your accomplishments. I'll try to behave, but I'm always seething, as you know.

N. E. Brigand,

Yes, that's what you have been told. The previous lie, was that he was to be reassigned. Better to have him gone.

I think Gaouette was near India. Gaouette's story is also interesting and off to the side of Petraeus'. He just seemed more of a threat after Ham.

IdylleSeethes

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Idylle, I have no worries about you "behaving". You are always polite and respectful, and that is all that we ask of people.