End of his national career, or setting stage for second act?

If he was French, he'd be promoted.

I find it highly improbable that this is the whole story or even the primary reason he is leaving. Really, who gives a rats ass.

@3 A man in a position where national security can be compromised by things like blackmail or spies should know better.

@3 and @4 He must have leaked classified information to her (or him) in the heat of the moments.

Nothing in the text of your post or that I could find in the article suggest that this was anything but his own admission. As far as I can tell, your suggestion that he "can't even keep [his] own affair a secret" doesn't seem to have merit.

At least he waited til after the election to do this so the President wouldn't be blamed.

If "affair" meant "clusterfuck in Libya", then I guess the resignation acceptance was valid.

Petraeus was rumored to be on the short list for Rmoney's veep last summer. I guess we now know why it didn't go anywhere...

The guy who administers the CIA is not a "superspy" any more than the Commander in Chief is a "supersoldier".

Actually, keeping things like affairs secret isn't the answer; if you're a keeper of other, professional secrets, the worst thing to do is have personal secrets that can be exploited via blackmail to get you to reveal them. By any rational measure, the best way for the head of a national security agency to handle an affair is to have it out in the open (which, I guess, is the French style). Of course that might be inimical to a marriage, and (in this country at least) it's almost certainly politically untenable. But chiding him for "not keeping it secret" is rather silly; you'd want him to make it public immediately (if he's going to do it at all).

BTW, this was *exactly* the rationale behind arguments to eliminate "don't ask / don't tell" -- being gay in the military was only an operational problem if you were required to keep it secret, since that left you open to blackmail; if you can be openly gay in the military, then there's no chance you'd buy the silence of others by revealing secrets.

The rightwingosphere is already blowing up over how this is part of a coverup involving Benghazi. Impeachment talk in 3... 2... 1...

Chose the wrong emperor. Fell on his sword.

@15 Oh, please...you are so sad.

#16

You should spend your time here:

http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/marketi…

Not...here.

Interesting. So Betrayus is gonna spend more time with his family, no doubt. I hope there’s an intrepid Veronica Mars out there who’s digging up the real story.

Like @13 said above.

Any ranking member of an intelligence organization cannot have extramarital affairs or be involved with ANYTHING that could compromise him in any way. If there is even the slightest chance that he could be blackmailed or even if it's perceived by his lieutenants that he could be blackmailed he is compromised and that is it.

Frankly, I think the piece of shit should be shot. Not for adultery. But for compromising the national security of the nation.

Petraeus was slated to testify before Congress next week on the murder of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, in Benghazi. Now, with Petraeus’ resignation effective immediately, he will not testify.

Must just be a bizarre coincident. Right?

Now that Obama succeeded in winning a second term, he is cleaning house. "Benghazi" Clinton and Petraeus, are gone, "Fast and Furious" Holder, will be gone and the figure most linked to the administration’s economic failures, Secretary of the Treasury Geithner, will be the next to make noise about leaving.

Only Obama remains. He ran out the clock on his scandals, and now throws anyone associated with them overboard.

To paraphrase any number of military leaders-- any man who won't fuck can't fight.

Honestly, who gives a shit who Petraeus is fucking. Is he getting the job done? This is really an issue for Petraeus, his wife, and the young man.

@20

Hahahahaha.

Petraeus had an affair with a reporter - his biographer. Which he kept secret. She also had access to emails etc that may have been sensitive intelligence. It is SOP for any intelligence officer to be suspended when an extra marital affair comes to light. It ALL has to be investigated. The head of the CIA can't do his job on suspension during the investigation. He HAS to quit.

Boy, it just burns your ass you got shellacked on Tuesday doesn't it? Your team got it's ass pounded.

So. You just gotta thump this drum. It's all you got. Man, you morons just don't learn from reality. Nobody cares about Benghazi. Nobody cared on Tuesday. Nobody cares today. Nobody will care tomorrow. It's a non-event.

Please keep fixating on it though. It's proven such an awesome strategy.

BTW, Mr. Truthteller. Hows that search for WMD going in Iraq?

@17 Hence the name Peabrain.

For most jobs, an affair isn't a firing offense. But this isn't most jobs.

Put simply, anyone with a high security clearance can't do anything to put that security clearance at risk. A clandestine affair makes you vulnerable to blackmail. Petraeus had access to the most secret secrets this country has. Anyone working under him in the CIA would have been fired in a minute if they'd been caught having a clandestine affair.

For decades the CIA had a policy regarding security clearances: they didn't care if you were gay, so long as you were out. They only cared if you were trying to hide it, because that made you vulnerable to blackmail.

General David Petraeus’s Rules for Livin…, by Paula Broadwell:

Take your performance personally—if you are proud to be average, so too will be your troops.

In other words, it's not the size of the wand, but the magic it performs.

@25 part of why Lockheed Martin just let their big boss go too.

@20: The timing IS fishy. Petraeus totally waited until after the election to resign so that you twerps couldn't start hyperventilating about it and distracting people from how awful Romney is.

It came out of an FBI investigation. You know who else was being investigated by the FBI? His female biographer.

@29 Romney who?