Fresh off his re-election, President Obama will be holding a press conference later today. Presumably he’ll want to talk about his looming battle with Congress over avoiding the fiscal cliff. But the first questions the White House press will almost certainly ask will concern the sex scandal involving his top CIA and military brass.
The story, which has brought down CIA Director David Petraeus and ensnared General John Allen, has gone from salacious to stupid. In an age of Orwellian surveillance, how could the head of the US intelligence agency know so little about the internet and privacy? And how could he not know that his affair with Paula Broadwell would end badly?
But maybe the Petraeus scandal will eventually lead to a much more important discussion about the war and its impact. While there was plenty of talk about military spending, the 11-year war in Afghanistan received only brief mentions during the 2012 presidential campaign. Support for the war is almost non-existent, with the possible exception of Senator John McCain. And it’s clear that US involvement in the region is not going well.
If nothing else, the public is watching someone with celebrity status cope with personal problems that can stem from years of multiple deployments. Thousands of men and women have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with serious physical, emotional, and financial problems. Their marriages and family relationships have undoubtedly suffered, too.
Where’s the attention for them?
This article appears in Nov 14-20, 2012.
I suspect that Gen (ret) Petaeus’ legacy as an incredibly well-respected leader, particularly among the troops, and remarkable accomplishements, despite lack of support from this Administration, will eventually dwarf the media’s current fascination with his human failings (and he is human). There isn’t a shred of evididence that his “years of multiple deployments” were the root of his foibles. None. So please stop trying to coopt this man’s story for some sort of erstatz psychoanalysis on PTSD.
I don’t know why Petraeus had to resign, unless he just has more personal integrity than say, Bill Clinton. Remember that Clinton defiled the Oval office (literally and figuratively) with a bimbo young enough to be his daughter. He sent his cabinet members (government employees) out to lie and cover for him, he perjured himself and was impeached. Yet he wouldn’t resign. I don’t understand why Clinton can pass himself off as a beloved elder statesman today and people still swoon over him. How come they don’t love Eliot Spitzer or John Edwards? Poor guys.