To begin the idea there was a social gathering on a regular basis where the USA's top brass was considered friends in a collective idea is dangerous in its definition. They hold the security of the nation at the heart of their purpose and if there was a single way of bringing down the USA military brain trust; it would be in an unsecured room where sensitive military personnel were known to gather. That is not all of it.
Here again we enter into ethical issues. It is why the resignation of Mr. Petraeus was best. It put him back together with his family and that is vital to a man dedicated to decency and protecting the country he loves. He was estranged by the demands of his country from his basic values of family and the love of his wife.
It would be within the character of Mr. Petraeus to reflect repeated deployments and time away from family that was the reality of his military. I have no doubt his actions in dedication was based in the purpose of living the life his military faced. He has a great deal of character. He found himself compromising his values and it is the fault of the nation and not the lack of character he has.
The nation has an indebtedness to him and his family. The idea a female journalist writing a thesis would be embedded with the then General without mentoring or security screening on a regular basis to keep them both safe from scandal and emotional distress is astounding. We put them together and they were left to their own ability to deal with their circumstances; both are still human beings. We compromised them. It doesn't change things, but, the nation has a responsibility for the damage to their lives. Reputations were destroyed and that is not a minor issue.
I do believe the hub in Tampa facilitated dangers beyond that of the nation's security. Ms. Broadwell was outside that social circle. She didn't like it.
We all know there are those that found Mr. Petraeus a sincere focus for politics; ie: Eisenhower. So, the fact there was a social group supporting that idea and even networking to achieve that goal, including removing scandal from within the group itself (sister without custody of child) before 'going public' with their political agenda was a very real threat to Ms. Broadwell.
If Mr. Petraeus was to go forward with political ambitions it would be with his wife of many, many years. It would not be with Ms. Boardwell. The entire group was going to have problems beyond networking for political aspirations. The threats from Ms. Broadwell were real for real reasons. Ms. Broadwell was a mistress and she was being marginalized in defense of their goals.
I don't like the sound of any of it and the USA top brass should have recognized the dangers but they were blinded by their own power, ambition and skirt chasing. Talk about a toxic cocktail.
I am grateful to the FBI agent. He was more than correct to step in and expose the issues at hand. Well done. His motives can be shadowy, but, at the core of his actions and his persistence to expose the activities of these folks was more than correct. It is sometimes difficult to be 'completely clean' of intent when DISCOVERY results from a vibrant personal life. He is not at fault here.
