A FATAL TRANSITION – GENERAL DAVID H. PETRAEUS

A Fatal Transition – General David H. Petraeus                        
One Woman’s Opinion
  By – Sheri de Grom

 

A photograph of former U.S. Army General David H. Petraeus taken in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on July, 2011, is a favorite of mine. I saw the picture again while exploring The Petraeus Revolution: How He Changed the American Way of War. 

The image conveys a man at ease with himself, one who possesses confidence and is comfortable in his own skin. A warrior who changed the way the United States fought the Iraq war. General Petraeus instituted what became known as the “Petraeus Doctrine,” which served to suppress the level of violence in Iraq. His on-going career remained so brilliant that his biography was commissioned.

I have followed several general officers by way of the web and numerous military journals for over a year and have been appalled by the variety of criminal activities reported. However, Gen. Petraeus didn’t commit a criminal act. What he did ended his own career when he made the transition into the civilian world.

Retired General Petraeus remains one of my heroes. It’s unfortunate that he had an affair with Paula Broadwell and hence—according to his biography—that affair is what he’s best known for and not his military leadership.

I recently read the blog http://stuffitellmysister.me/2013/01/09-president-nixon-on-his-100^th. Paula spoke of her life-long admiration of former President Richard Nixon and went on to discuss his accomplishments and why she’s admired him since childhood. She didn’t dwell on the negatives in President Nixon’s life. It was a joy to read an uplifting blog of a man’s accomplishments and not have it weighed down by scandal and missteps.

A comment to the above blog also reminded readers, “We are all capable of good and bad and the bad does not invalidate the good!”

My husband Tom (retired military), and I talked at length about why our country has an insatiable desire for information about our leaders’ private lives. Everyone loves scandal. And, yes, when retired General Petraeus accepted the appointment to Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, he became a public person. More public than he was as a four-star general.

All military and civilian retirees have restrictions that follow them into private life. The Federal Register dictates post-employment restrictions. These regulations have been incorporated into Title 18, U.S. Code 207. For example, active duty personnel of any rank do not have affairs. This act reputes the code of military justice. 

In Time magazine, Jan. 14, 2013, retired General Colin Powell writes of his recently-deceased friend, retired General Norman Schwarzkopf, “Norm and I were fellow infantrymen, but we never served with each other until I became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Norm became head of Central Command. Command at the top can be lonely. Who can you blow off steam to? With whom can you share your deepest thoughts, hopes and anxieties? We did that for each other.”

I wonder, did retired General Petraeus have a confidant he could trust? Did he have someone who was an equal and understood the trials of being at the top?

With each step up the military ladder, isolation grows. Officers can spend more than thirty competitive and dangerous years passing through nine ranks before obtaining a fourth star.

How was Paula Broadwell selected to co-author Petraeus’ biography? Until I read an article in the Chicago Tribune, every account I’d read of the biography listed her as the author.

In fact, Vernon Loeb—a Washington Post editor—ghostwrote Paula Broadwell’s biography of Gen. David Petraeus. Loeb had been silent about the collaboration but, after the affair broke, he stepped forward. Loeb stated he had no responsibility for the tone of Petraeus’ biography and that Broadwell was free to make whatever revisions or modifications she desired to the text, and she did so liberally.

It’s easy to understand how David Petraeus found it easy to talk with Broadwell. Her background included studying military leadership; she was an officer in the army reserve; she did have some type of security clearance (perhaps not top secret as she claimed), and Petraeus and Broadwell became running companions.

Not everyone who runs together forms a relationship or even a friendship. For Petraeus, running was how he conducted a lot of his business. Most couldn’t keep up with his stride, but he’d met his match in Paula Broadwell.

It’s unfortunate retired General Petraeus had an affair. Not only did he break God’s law but he turned his back on military justice. It’s implied that a retired military service member will not disobey the Code of Military Justice.

With the above said, retired General David H. Petraeus remains my hero.

It’s unfortunate retired General Petraeus had an affair. Not only did he break God’s law but he turned his back on military justice. It’s implied that a retired military service member will not disobey the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

He had to resign from the Central Intelligence Agency, but for the sake of our country’s safety, I hope he’ll re-emerge soon within a military strategic think tank or some other similar position. He’s a brilliant military mastermind and our nation lost a wealth of information when he resigned from the CIA.

Retired General Peteras is one of the most experienced operators and thinkers on lethal drones for targeted killing. His experience of command in the Middle East and South Asia is without equal. IMO, our country needs the military intelligence and knowledge he’s gained in over ten years of academic study and twenty years on the battlefield.

With the above said, retired General David H. Petraeus remains my hero.