I really thought my blog of yesterday would be the end of the matter vis-a-vis the Petraeus scandal but even overnight that scandal has evolved into somewhat of a debacle and warrants further comment from the EU blog. It is clearly going to be another gift (not) that keeps on giving, along the lines of the Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong stories.
It transpires that the FBI raided the home of Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell in Charlotte, North Carolina and exited several hours later with about 10 boxes of materials as well as what appeared to be two computers. Additionally, and somewhat astoundingly, another general on active duty has entered the fray, General John Allen, who is the current leader of allied forces in Afghanistan, having replaced Petraeus in the role.
In what appears to be way, way too much of a coincidence to be unrelated, General Allen had come under FBI scrutiny for inappropriate email communications between him, and wait for it, the other other woman in this debacle - the heretofore so-called "victim" in the affair, Jill Kelley. She being the one targeted by threatening emails from the real other woman, Broadwell. You've got to be kidding me, right?! Wrong.
The FBI now state that they have possession of a staggering "20,000-30,000" pages of communications (mostly emails) between Allen and Kelley, dating from 2010 to 2012. Quite what the leader of allied forces in Afghanistan would have to say inside "20,000-30,000" pages of communications to a volunteer social liaison for military families at the MacDill air force base in Tampa is hard to imagine, and is perhaps not best left to the imagination. At least not in this particular case!
It starts to look like anything but a coincidence that the same woman targeted by Broadwell for supposedly snuggling into the arms of "her guy" would also now be potentially linked to her very own "affair with the General", albeit not "Broadwell's guy" but another general entirely! Kelley is also a wife and mother, and is now clearly close to both Generals: Petraeus and Allen. Perhaps that oneupmanship is what ticked off Broadwell, after she was exited, and she obsessively appeared to believe that Kelley was going to hit a general's happy hour and a "two-for-one"?!
Wait for it, we ain't done yet! It now also transpires that the FBI agent in Tampa, Florida, to whom Kelley went to with the threatening emails from Broadwell, has himself been discovered to have sent shirtless photos to Kelley. What the hell has been stumbled upon here? I joked rather sarcastically yesterday that Broadwell's book was hardly a "Fifty Shades of the General" thingy, but it is beginning to appear that the periphery surrounding it is filled with its own salacious back story.
General John Allen (like Petraeus) is another four star general and military star, considered to be quite an intellectual talent, and is currently in fact right on the brink of a major promotion from leader of US forces in Afghanistan to assuming leadership of NATO's Supreme Allied Command in Europe by 2013. That move has now been put on ice by Leon Panetta, US defense secretary, pending further investigation.
Read my lips, people, unless Allen turns out to be 100% squeaky clean, I feel that his chance may have just passed him by, already. It might have been another thing if he had already assumed that command, but he hasn't, and the military needs to move into full damage control to prevent this matter from spreading way beyond Congress and the Senate, and outside of US borders all the way over to Europe and the Middle East. They cannot afford to be further compromised. The smartest thing to do would be to announce an immediate replacement candidate for the NATO post, and get rid of this story from the international stage (as much as one can in 2012!), like, yesterday.
As is often the case in these scandals, we hear way, way more about both the other woman, and now the other, other woman, than we do about the woman at the heart of it all: Holly Petraeus. That's her pictured above, alongside her man. One can only imagine what all of this has done/is doing to her, and Broadwell in particular should think of her a little more and a lot less about herself, her own self-promotion and her high school level behavior over someone she dubs as "her guy" even if he clearly wants nothing to do with her anymore.
Two generals down, two wives distraught, two husbands of the two other women in pain, and some 9 children stuck in the middle of it all - and that's just the very immediate families. Haven't we done enough damage already? Can we just leave it at that and not let Broadwell's immense lack of sophistication and maturity tear more families apart nor ruin any more careers?
You know, after no doubt being extremely proud over the gushing first biography sitting on his library shelf at home, I have a funny feeling that "All in: The education of General David Petraeus" is unlikely to be there anymore. It has either been burnt by his wife, or he ripped it to shreds himself, or both.
One can imagine how unable he would be today to see Broadwell's name alongside his - a biographer and mistress who ultimately ended his career and (less directly perhaps) potentially that of another. He lost everything due to that biography and due to the mistakes he made during its preparation. Irrespective of where that biography gets burnt, placed or hidden from view, it is sure to haunt David Petraeus, retired civilian, for a very long time to come. - Kevin Mc
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