[Alex Heartnet]

The timing of this is interesting.  Right after an election, really?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/09/politics/petraeus-cia-resignation/index.html

(CNN) -- David Petraeus, the man at the helm of the nation's largest intelligence agency, stepped down as director of the CIA on Friday, saying he had an affair.

According to a U.S. official, the FBI had a tip he was involved with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, and investigated the alleged affair to determine whether it posed a security risk.

The FBI was not investigating Petraeus for wrongdoing. The concern was that he potentially could be blackmailed or put "in a vulnerable spot," the official said.

This is still breaking news as of this post.  Couldn't find a better source then CNN.

Given what type of organization the CIA is and the odd timing of this resignation, I'm inclined to disbelieve the 'official reason' for the resignation.  But maybe I'm just paranoid and the official reason really is the real reason.   

[JCDNWarrior]

It seems the timing is more than interesting. Now Petraeus doesn't have to testify to the Senate Intelligence Committee for the whole Benghazi ambassador situation next week. Incidentally, General Ham of AFRICOM has been removed from command while Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaouette of the USS John C. Stennis strike group was removed pending the results of an investigation by the Navy Inspector General.

It does make one wonder if there's something bigger behind this given the timing of these events.
Certainly seems all of it is very convenient but could just be coincidental or all unrelated.

[General Battuta]

It seems the timing is more than interesting. Now Petraeus doesn't have to testify to the Senate Intelligence Committee for the whole Benghazi ambassador situation next week. Incidentally, General Ham of AFRICOM has been removed from command while Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaouette of the USS John C. Stennis strike group was removed pending the results of an investigation by the Navy Inspector General.

It does make one wonder if there's something bigger behind this given the timing of these events.
Certainly seems all of it is very convenient but could just be coincidental or all unrelated.

oh my god

[watsisname]

Yes, there's definitely something really big going on.  That reminds me, did anybody see all those chemtrails over New Jersey before Sandy blew in?  HAARP did some kind of big test that day, too.  Everybody in the know is talking about it, though I think this is all just a smokescreen to make us miss the approach of Nibiru.

[karajorma]

I have the conspiracy theory that the government occasionally leak stuff that can be made into ridiculous conspiracy theories on the grounds that people who would otherwise spend huge amounts of free time routing out government corruption instead chase their tails following bogus conspiracy theories. 

[watsisname]

That's a pretty good theory!

[deathfun]

That's a pretty good theory!

It actually makes sense...

[NGTM-1R]

Now Petraeus doesn't have to testify to the Senate Intelligence Committee for the whole Benghazi ambassador situation next week.

You think resigning would get him off from this? He was the man there at the time, they're going to talk to him. If they don't, that does not reflect a conspiracy on the part of Petraeus but a conspiracy on the part of the Congressional committee who acted like complete morons.

(ITT People still not realizing the Stennis was by Taiwan when this **** went down.)

[JCDNWarrior]

Now Petraeus doesn't have to testify to the Senate Intelligence Committee for the whole Benghazi ambassador situation next week.

You think resigning would get him off from this? He was the man there at the time, they're going to talk to him. If they don't, that does not reflect a conspiracy on the part of Petraeus but a conspiracy on the part of the Congressional committee who acted like complete morons.

(ITT People still not realizing the Stennis was by Taiwan when this **** went down.)

Instead of Petraeus, acting CIA Director Mike Morell will be called in to testify, so it's possible the Senate Intelligence Committee will be directing their attention to him which could leave Petraeus out of the line of fire. Guess we'll see if that's the case or not.

I still do think it's valid to look into these resignations (and removal of command) that occurred pretty quickly after each other after an event that left an important ambassador dead in a recently liberated country in a similar fashion as Gaddafi was treated, in the city praised for being the starting point of the Libyan uprising.

The case with Admiral Gaouette, removed for "inappropriate leadership judgement" is a strange one though, his force wasn't in the area during the Sept. 11 attack but was headed for the same theater and yet was fired pretty quickly after General Ham was. This is a case where it can really be just coincidental timing and where more concrete information needs to be released to really judge the cause or relation with Petraeus and General Ham, or Benghazi.

Lastly, I wouldn't really state it's one big conspiracy, just that the timing is interesting given the events that have come to pass, making this interesting to watch. At least it beats reality TV in it's entertainment value.

[Bobboau]

timing: I want to quit but if I do it now it will be headline news for the next 6 months and it will put me and my boss in the spotlight, I should just wait until the media bloodlust has settled and then quit.

[The E]

Instead of Petraeus, acting CIA Director Mike Morell will be called in to testify, so it's possible the Senate Intelligence Committee will be directing their attention to him which could leave Petraeus out of the line of fire. Guess we'll see if that's the case or not.

Even if that happens, if Morell's answers are not satisfactory, I don't doubt that the Committee will hesitate to invite Petraeus to testify.

Lastly, I wouldn't really state it's one big conspiracy, just that the timing is interesting given the events that have come to pass, making this interesting to watch. At least it beats reality TV in it's entertainment value.

The problem is that all of these could very well be (and probably are) unconnected. Governments do a lot of things simultaneously; that does not mean that all things are connected.

But then, trying to argue reality with someone who has already subscribed to the "It's all connected!" mindset is about as futile as trying to argue with a wall.

[LordPomposity]

petraeus is lizard people

[Phantom Hoover]

Aquinas spoke of the mythical City on the Hill. Soon that city will be a reality, and the Federal Reserve will be crowned its kings. Or better than kings. Gods.

[Dilmah G]

I was going to post in this thread about how I expected better integrity from the General and the biographer (who seems to be a bit of a looker), and then saw the decay of thread potential. In response, I offer you this image macro with my departure.

[Phantom Hoover]

A general having less integrity than they're supposed to isn't really a surprising development.

[The E]

I was going to post in this thread about how I expected better integrity from the General and the biographer (who seems to be a bit of a looker), and then saw the decay of thread potential. In response, I offer you this image macro with my departure.

Really. You really are going to go "I expected better of him", when all that has happened is that he had a nonsexual relationship with that woman, and he resigned because his integrity forced him to?

(Besides, this just means that he's just human after all. Not the living embodiment of soldiery virtues. Doesn't make him any less respectable in my opinion.)

[NGTM-1R]

He's still going to end up being compared to Eisenhower/Nimitz et. al. because that's the sort of leader he is. (Obviously they dealt with a different sort of problem, but most people who've met Petreaus seem to think the comparison is apt.) This ultimately isn't going to change that.

[Dilmah G]

I was going to post in this thread about how I expected better integrity from the General and the biographer (who seems to be a bit of a looker), and then saw the decay of thread potential. In response, I offer you this image macro with my departure.

Really. You really are going to go "I expected better of him", when all that has happened is that he had a nonsexual relationship with that woman, and he resigned because his integrity forced him to?

(Besides, this just means that he's just human after all. Not the living embodiment of soldiery virtues. Doesn't make him any less respectable in my opinion.)

Was it a non-sexual relationship? I may have misread/read a different news source in that case. The article I read in the Saturday paper made it out to be a bit of a scandal.

I can acknowledge that he's human, but a former Staff Officer having an affair with a Senior Officer when both are married is something I thought a bit below Petraeus.

[MP-Ryan]

I love how even HLP has some conspiracy wackjobs.

Anyway, I was going to say this is a substantial loss for the US intelligence community.  Petraeus was an immense asset to the US military and intelligence communities, and he's leaving some big shoes to fill.  Pretty sad that it's all because of some indesretion that should really just be between the parties involved, but he knew there'd be a media frenzy if there was even so much as a whiff of improper levels of access.

[Scotty]

I was going to post in this thread about how I expected better integrity from the General and the biographer (who seems to be a bit of a looker), and then saw the decay of thread potential. In response, I offer you this image macro with my departure.

Really. You really are going to go "I expected better of him", when all that has happened is that he had a nonsexual relationship with that woman, and he resigned because his integrity forced him to?

(Besides, this just means that he's just human after all. Not the living embodiment of soldiery virtues. Doesn't make him any less respectable in my opinion.)

Was it a non-sexual relationship? I may have misread/read a different news source in that case. The article I read in the Saturday paper made it out to be a bit of a scandal.

I can acknowledge that he's human, but a former Staff Officer having an affair with a Senior Officer when both are married is something I thought a bit below Petraeus.

The article linked early in the thread goes out of its way to state that the relationship was non-sexual.  It was, in essence, a potential security breach waiting to happen, and the director removed himself before it became a problem.