By Fareed Zakaria
I’m not going to second-guess General Petraeus’ decision to resign, nor President’s Obama’s decision to accept his resignation. But it’s a real loss for the administration and the country. Petraeus was a rare general in that he was genuinely reflective – able to think broadly and strategically – while also able to implement big ideas well.
But perhaps most important, Petraeus was able to defy conventional wisdom – even the conventional wisdom of his superiors. Remember, the military is a very hierarchical organization, and there are many incentives to conform and to reaffirm existing orthodoxy. A premium is placed on saluting and executing orders well.
Petraeus was in Iraq right after the invasion, where he was a two star general in charge of a large part of northern Iraq. Headquartered in Mosul, he began to believe that the way we were handling the occupation was wrong, and he started to try to implement a different policy and speak out quietly within the top brass about the possibility of a different approach.
This shift was not received all that warmly in some quarters, and then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in particular seems to have disagreed with this new approach, notably failing to promote Petraeus. In fact, he sent him off to head the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
While there, Petraeus used this platform to formulate a new doctrine of counterinsurgency. I am not as blown away by this doctrine as many people have been. It has some advantages, especially over the crazy way the occupation was handled initially in Iraq. However, it is also a very expensive, open ended commitment to nation building that is extremely difficult for any outside force to sustain. Even when adequately resourced, this approach can still have the problem of feeling like an imperialist mission.
More from CNN: Scandal extends to top Afghan commander
The Iraqi counter insurgency strategy largely succeeded where the Afghanistan one didn’t, so it’s not a silver bullet. In Iraq, you have Sunni tribes who decided that they were going to make their peace with the government in Baghdad, a process that Petraeus greatly facilitated. Without that political dynamic, counterinsurgency has not worked in Afghanistan. Still, Petraeus deserves enormous credit for creative thought and action. He was willing to think outside the box and develop his ideas before implementing them.
The great problem of government is the difficulty of breaking free of the bureaucratic mindset, something Petraeus was able to do in a dramatic way, while working in the largest bureaucracy in the world, namely the U.S. Pentagon.
His tenure at the CIA was too short for us to be sure whether he was able to bring some of those extraordinary qualities to bear on the agency, although one would imagine he would be able to succeed there as he has succeeded everywhere else in his life.
But we’ll never know – he will very likely enter the private sector, give speeches, engage in consultancy work and make millions of dollars. Meanwhile, the United States will be deprived of an extraordinary public servant. I’m not sure that the national interest is being served by this, but that’s the way the system works.
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I find it hard to miss any military leaders, and I doubt most of the free world will either. Let's see, America has bombed what, about 20 nations, since the 60's?
No wonder we spend more than the rest of the world's defence put together.
This whole 'affair' thing sounds like a GOP plot – 2 Republican Generals, the Republican head of Congress ... I wouldn't be surprised if Mitt Romney knew as well.
Oh well, the good guys won, and it's only Republicans embarassing themselves in investigations ...
more conspiracy theories....great
It's amazing how the private lives of a couple of high level public servants could mesmerise the nation. Very outside the US will not miss David Petraeus and John Allen.
But will we miss the 4 Americans killed in Libya? That is what all this hype is supposed to do, detract from Libyagate...
Actually Petraeus was the Koran kissing general. He was the general who put Islamic values above American values. He was the general who got bent out of shape about an American who wanted to practice his American rights in America. He stopped the pastor in Florida from burning a Koran on his initially scheduled date. Glad to see this general go. I am no Democrat...but this is the first great news from the 2nd term Obama Admin, as far as I am concerned...provided they replace Petraeus with a general with American values.
Again, who is we? All I see here are a bunch of communists with mice in their pockets. Just because they have an Internet connection, and can speak recognizable English. Does not mean you are "we."
Well @John2343, I'm glad to hear that you are not a Democrat. I was worried you might be when you wanted an "American General" with American Values like Justice, Freedom of Expression, Democracy, Peace and Rights for All. Back to the Barricades with your Bible and Weapons.
Sly – you are a kool aid drinker – the civilians start the wars – generals only fight them – lets see JFK started Vietnam – LBJ turned it into a disaster, followed along by Nixon. Study your history. GOP plot please!!!
Roger, Who advises the president? Ann Landers?
Sorry Roger, but Eisenhower started the war and it was the racist tendencies of Woodrow Wilson, who refused to Meet with Ho Chi Mihn, that really started that dispute. French influence twisted the American Arm, and forced the US in with the threat of becoming Red. The Vietnamese declaration of Independence mirrors the US Declaration and we worked with Ho, Pick up a book and read something rather than spewing what the Hitler Channel tells you
Good to know somebody knows history.
Sly: Regardless who won the election, the Petraeus mess is unfortunate for him, for other individuals, and for the country as a whole. I don't know how many countries the U.S. has bombed (many of which, like Afghanistan under the Taliban, and North Korea, richly deserved it), but General Petraeus was a leader in developing a counter-insurgency policy that would have reduced the use of bombing. Your criticisms are, to say the least, not wise.
richly deserve it? we got a warmonger here, huh? The N. Koreans haven't done much to us. But because they don't suck our -- they should die right?
Don R: You ought to be ashamed of yourself, for saying Afghanistan and North Korea "richly deserved" to be bombed. Overwhelmingly the vast majority of Afghans and North Koreans are entirely innocent people.
Sly.....some generals are better than others and this one will be missed. I agree with your conspiracy theory though. This affair seems too much like a tempest-in-a-teacup to bring down an important man like this. Something else is going on
Why does their have to be a conspiracy? Have you seen Patraeus wife? This was a no brainer! Eric Cantor knew about the affair, but didn't say anything. Is he part of the conspiracy?
Those Democrats must be Master Manipulators to get so many Republicans to act like Fools.
I'd have more respect for Petraeus if he told Bush and Obama to get the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan. What a terrible waste of human life and billions and billions of dollars. Listening to generals on the ground guarantees more death to Americans and innocent civilians and more dollars into the greedy hands of the military industrial complex. Shameful.
Obama appointed General Petraeus, are you saying that Obama is controlled by Republicans?
AT least they aren't lying like a certain President Clinton ( or JFK or FDR )
Or Nixon. Or Reagan.
Sly, you are half right. There is a conspiracy, well sort of. The MEDIA is creating and selling news. Plain & simple. They hype it up, bring in experts and turn it into a soap opera. Nothing new
What a waste of a great man.
Unfortunately, IMO, our present Govt. is Stuck On Stupid!
Patraeus a great man? You must like Newt Gingrich, He cheated on two wives.
Officers in the military, including generals, are held accountable for their indiscretion. Sorry, if you'll betray a marital relationship, what else might you betray? Court-martial and retirement benefits to your forsaken spouse. Now, you can plead with her for forgiveness...or wait till the books and movies come out about your sordid affair.
The tramp companion of your indiscretion might make a donation to your livelihood.
The media has nothing more to print or broadcast, so they promote the trash in America.
You now go the way of that fellow and his dumb followers who tossed many $100 of millions to the wind to buy a Presidency that America, surprisingly, upheld to higher esteem. America's trust went to Obama.
Oh, great. Now, the woman is the tramp. Spoken like the man you show yourself to be.
Who is we? You and the communist mouse in your pocket? Just because you have an Internet connection, and can speak recognizable English. Does not mean you are "we."
I would look past calling out Democrats or in your case Republicans and focus on the issue, America is invading other countries that we shouldn't be and wasting all of our tax payer's money. The problem is not in the party level of politics, but America itself. Both parties have been involved in those 20 invasions.
Thank you, sly. I couldn't agree more!
hey sly who was president during all these bombing..all republicans or can u admit that u dems did the same lets c...ww2 pres was FDR-D...Korea pres was Truman-D....Vietnam pres JFK–D. and how many deaths have been attributed to these wars...why dont u join up serve your country and stand on the front lines...oh maybe u are a coward and want all the benefits this great country has to offer without doing your part typical democrat...lazy and wants hand out
I give it 2 weeks before this "scandal" disappears with all the other cheap shots the Rethuglican Party has been throwing at POTUS since 2008. YAAAAWN!!!!!
sly – if jane fonda had a son, he probably speak like you.
What I think you are fogetting is that 'military leaders' take orders from civilian authority. There is no general officer who arbitrarily takes strategic action without first getting direction from above. And that includes General Patreus. You have to give this man a lot of credit for having the cajones to 'buck the system' and get a job done. As in other conflicts, we went into Iraq without really understanding who and what our enemy was. There was no 'end strategy', only being on the offensive. Patreus changed all that with a lot of help from Gen Odierno. The military and the CIA are going to miss this man.
"...Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in particular seems to have disagreed with this new approach, notably failing to promote Petraeus. In fact, he sent him off to head the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas..."
But he did get promoted, from 2-star to 3-star (Lt. Gen.) when he was at CAC.
Rumsfeld, despite all of his shortcomings, was a smart and savvy politician that could tell a con man when he saw one and he clearly saw in Petraeus "King David" a con. Unfortunately, you can't put a good con man down since the world is full of sheep and trusting souls so he was able to come back thanks to the West Point mafia and a disingenuous President Obama.
It can be argued that none of his strategies, especially his famed "Counterinsurgency Strategy" have worked despite all the new enemies its created and the placing of the US in a legally rogue status when it comes to warfare. It's not even his strategy at all. All he did was copy the British strategy of Malaya of the 40's and 50's but he wasn't smart enough to figure that there goal there was containment of communism, not conversion of the soul of a people so the strategy would and has never worked in the middle east..
Petraeus is a sharp cat, well respected from both sides of the aisle. I wouldn't describe a successful general as a "con man." This is the guy at the top of the list of those who deserve credit for turning Iraq into a victory.
You clearly neither know the man nor read the doctrine.
Why do we have generals that do other than he did? Are stars now given out like little league, where everybody gets one? You are supposed to earn the position because you have certain qualities. Why are we acting as if Patraeus was the only one with these capabilities? If it is true, then the military is in a pretty bad spot.
I won't pass judgment on the other top Army generals and whether they deserve their stars. However, two things need to be remembered. First, we may have extolled David Petraeus simply because he was the best of the lot, and that doesn't imply that the other generals were less than excellent. Second, there are a certain number of command slots that must be filled and the people who hold them have to have stars on their shoulders ... whether or not they are truly of the quality we all might all wish for.
People like Petraeus always get kicked out sooner or later. Incompetent people hate them. Too bad he has this flaw...
Well well,Fareed has finally written something that I can agree with.
This is a TOTAL SHOCK!
Aren't we American?!?!
Don't we have respect to this GREAT and OUTSTANDING American FOUR-STARS GENERAL?!?
Shame on you, America!
Are we being invaded by outside or unknown Aliens, to kill or dis-respect our American Heroes, with this kind of idiotic accusations?!?
This accusation is more than the treat we faced by Taliban and Alqeada to hurt American Heroes.
We must respect our Hero Four-Star General Honourable Petraeus.
Are some American Women has been used as the LETHAL-WEAPONS, to kill or send Horrific messages to our American Heroes???
What is the big deal of changing the Menu, once in a life-time, while sticking with the permanent???
I can not believe this, America.
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Honourable General Petraeus, you are the Greatest true Son of America. Your hard work, legacy, great contributions to the Whole World, will be remembered greatly, forever.
May Almighty God Bless you, your family and Colleagues.
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Where are you from? Just curious.
A red state, clearly.
I'm not worried about where's he from. I'm more concerned about where he's going.
Zakaria is generally a very smart person, but this time he writes something weird.
He writes:
"But perhaps most important, Petraeus was able to defy conventional wisdom – even the conventional wisdom of his superiors." This guy wrote passionate love emails to his mistress. He did not defy the conventional wisdom, he did something really stup**, because he thought to be so powerful to be untouchable. We are talking here of a kind of 007 in charge of the security of our country. I do not condemn him for the affair, I do not care. I condemn him for his silly superficiality.
Zakaria is weighing in on an ethical issue? That's rich.
Fareed seems to know a lot about the military mentality......as do most civilians who have never served a day in uniform.
Please keep your speculations and uniformed comments to yourself until you put on a uniform, pogue.
LOL@ pogue. You need to get a new hobby. You're awful at this, dear.
Do you even know what a POG is? You sound like a (expletive) idiot.
POGs still wear uniforms and are an essential part of the military, you tool.
Uniformed comments? LMAO!
Our country would be in a much much, worse condition, in the world, than it is now, if we adhered to your anti-civilian principle, Brenda.
Just in case, I add something: even little kids know that e-mails can be read by everyone. Security?????
Jill Scott is Jill Khawand, a Lebenese. She may be connected to Boutros Khawand, Lebenese, being held by Assad in a Syrian Jail. Maybe Allen and Petraeus were tapped by Ms. Jill Scott (Khawand) in this regard? The plot thickens!
Are you a relative to Agatha Christie?
I trust this article completely Zakaria knows a thing or two about cheating.
Cheaters always miss Cheaters.
Petraeuswill be missed mostly by Paula
If you want the real story on P4 listen to oliver stone- he takes P4's so called successes and dismantles them brick by brick. P4 is a showman who coopted the press by giving them tidbits of news in personal communications, let them embed with him/his troops and thus forced them to be quiet and give him a pass when the stuff starting hitting the fan. P4 never wrote the CI doctrine- a bunch of majors at ft leavenworth did that- P4 gets the credit because he told the press it was his. So lets count P$'s successes- down deep i cannot thing of one-pls dont bring up the stupid surge.
Just more mothers losing sons in a reckless CI strategy. I hope P4 finds his way – a monastery might be a good place to start.
Sorry you feel that way, Mr. Stone. By the way, most of your movies are awful.
You are a paid throll to write nasty remarks and probably work for CNN. You do not like Mr.Stone ?
I think we should stop praising the people who make mistakes that reflect negatively on this country. Unless the record is squeaky clean with no mishaps (which clearly Petraeus record isn't after Benghazi) then and only then should we award praise to people who resign. So lets stop ignoring the facts, beginning with that he was going to get replaced(fired) anyways because of Benghazi. The fact that his judgment was compromised because of an affair and couldn't make an ethical decision in the Benghazi crisis and probably fueled the misinformation that the incident was the result of a religious video gone viral rather than a planned assault. Lets get the military's "big head" out of the CIA and put some competent apolitical analysts in charge of the science behind information gathering so we can actually defend this country before an attack happens instead of make excuses after the fact while resigning.
It's a shame, but the fact, Petraeus understood that the relationship of CIA Director to POTUS is unique. Just about everyone the President has to go to for advice and counsel at a time of national crisis has "other clients" (political interests, axes to grind, and so on). POTUS is the only client DCIA has. If anything can drive a wedge (blackmail, or simple threat of exposure) POTUS doesn't have time to have second or thirds thoughts about the legitimacy of the advice and counsel he receives from DCIA. Assume, POTUS knows about the affair, but still trusts DCIA: knowing DCIA has 'a hidden secret' is just as bad as not knowing it.
Where is (the buck stops here) Obama? And,how is it that Holder and others knew all about this months ago but POTUS didn't? Or,did he? Poor Benghazi Boy. I guess Petraeus poured cold water on his short-lived celebration. COVER-UPS only last for so long. The good news is that Obama will end up resigning. The bad news is that a total idiot (Biden) will be in charge.
The plagiarist will miss the security compromising adulterer.
In a tale as old as time an affair has brought a sucessful person down. It is unforunate that someone so sucessful got caught up in an affair. I think he chose to resign in order to to do what he thought was right. I had no personnel objections to him contuning as DCI as long as his affair wad disclosed to preclude the possibilty of blackmail.
I don't think he felt confortable remaining in a job where he might have to fire someone who was compromised by an affair. He is not a hipocritc and he appears to be holding himself to his personnel standards.
Petraeus wasn't the DCI (Director of Central Intelligence). That office doesn't exist any more. Petraeus was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (DCIA), and reported to his superior, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), James Clapper.
Got lots of time for those long jogs now!
what? u say he left cause he wouldnt feel right firing someone else..but he shouldnt be fired...again what?...have u ever heard of the UCMJ if not read it..it is the bible of the military and all military personnel have to follow it ( not commander in cheif though) and have u ever served in military if not just shut up about something u know nothing about and join the military and serve....we will gladly put u right on the front lines
I think the UNO should have people to invastigate because I know sometimes people could even say things that is not truth, for try to pl;ay with people's head.
I'm fairly certain nobody cares what you think of the General's counterinsurgency tactical manual, Mr. Zakaria. The question however is how you still have a job having copped to plagirism so recently.
Are you paid , working for CNN, to write nasty comments and take out comments you do not like ? Why are your ignorant comments left by CNN ? They gives CNN a bad name.
I think the UNO should have people to investigate because I know sometimes people could even say things that is not truth, for try to play with people's head.
I think even when the NASA show pictures.
Adjust your tinfoil hat, sir. You're not making any sense.
Because they do war, and know they could be trying to escape
A few minutes ago I wrote a comment about the Petraeus Affair and about manipulation of comments. There is censorship at CNN on a big scale and I am getting tired of wasting my time with propaganda just as bad as it was in Soviet Russia. If you think there is freedom of the Press, not in the US.
There's freedom of the PRESS, not freedom of the ignorant such as yourself, sir.
My comment to you vanished . You are the Censor !
You made my prevous comments disappear and seem to write nasty comments overall . You have the power to destroy what people write -shame on you.
I wish I had the power to destroy the self-important nonsense you've written. I really do.
Are yoiur initials DF ?
@ fairly sick-comments like yours are what they use to stifle freedom of speech.If you dont like what he says,dont listen instead debate him but name calling makes YOU the loser.
Oh we have freedom of speech here,and long as THEY like what you say,disagree and they stifle the truth,really honorable journalists ,eh ?
I understand you, rightospeak. I too have been censored and it's not fair. These right-wing fanatics simply can't stand to have views other than theirs posted anywhere!
Because the Lord spoke to me that some people in power in Brazil use to play with peoples head, fighting, to make their people not think right. Maybe US wants to do the same.
Are you drinking, sir?
What are you talking about?
So all the country starts to not have the right thinking and they keep in power.
Big story about nothing. Fareed is correct about General Petraeous being a capable general who can implement big ideas. He should not have resigned. The only one here who should have a beef with the general is the general's wife. He betrayed her; not the Country. The rest is just "schadenfreude."
Capable ??? How can anyone who has kept us in a 10 year war with no apparent victory be considered capable by anyone ???
If the general's wife can't trust him,how can we ? why should we ? Now 2 women besides his wife ? also nudey shots of female officers are being sent around also,women in the military are like hook ers i n a br oth el.
Get on the lifeboat before the ship sink and commit adultery at the same time, win win for him.
Patreus's Counterinsurgency tactics failed in Afghanistan, if you consider the four objectives of counterinsurgency are : security, development, governance, and rule of law.It's very difficult to provide security when the Talliban have a safe haven in Pakistan to cross into and return every spring for the fighting season. Development is hard because if the locals work on development projects they fear reprisals from the Talliban, Governance is difficult with all the corruption of top officials throughout Afghanistan, and rule of law is not sustainable in due to bribes, and corruption of Judges. The solution to Afghanistan is to withdraw. To many brave American soldiers have died or been injured in this never ending war.
How does this plagiarist still have a job?
Simple. CNN loves Plagarists Like Zakaria and Phone Hackers like Piers Morgan.
Yo Fareed! How's that plagarism thing working out for you? You have about as much journalistic credibility as Broadwell has authorship credibility. LOL.
There has got to be more to this than an extramarital affair. And its just too convenient that this stuff came out right after election day.
What did the President know and when did he know it? What was the cover up?
Watergate was terrible, but it did not harm national security. This may involve, national security and possibily a presidential attempt to let politics control how a national security matter was handled. In the worst case scenario, we should be considering impeachment or removal of a whole bunch of high level people.
.
Hi from Louis in the city of Whittier, California, Los Angeles County. The United States of America .......interesting article....
just thought I'd stop by and make a few comment, has anyone been having trouble with google lately?
It's looking more and more like we may have to supply our most powerful people with an adequate supply of contract tail - all with security clearance of course.
190K weapons disappeared under Petraeus' watch in Iraq, portion of which likely went into the hands of insurgents. He will not be missed..
You could (and should) fire a full 50% (if not more) of the current Army Generals and the military would be better off! Most of them fill positions that were created just so old so and so could move up in rank and stay in the miltary a few more years!
Maybe we could also save some money.
Fareed,
Did you write this article or did you STEAL this one as well?
Patraeus is personally a dee bag, and additionally an incompetent military leader.
He was armed with the most well-equipped, well-funded military in the history of the world, and he couldn't promptly end a war against virtually the poorest people on earth. And, he didn't do much better in Iraq, either. Two gigantic clusterf***s on his watch.
It's time for this country to stop idolizing military leaders. This country is supposed to be lead by elected civilians, and yet we treat idiots like Patraeus and McChrystal like they're gods.
It's pathetic.
The number one conspiracy theory that CNN won't report on is that the General now will not need to testify his knowledge on Benghazi. Then again, if the General was allowed to testify under oath, we probably would have a President Biden before spring.
Conspiracy theory? I'm sorry for you, but you did not understand that here we are at a very low level of stup****y.
I mean, look at them: do they have the face of Mata Hari or James Bond? OMG! Petraeus and Allen, who are as attractive as two frogs, were just trapped by two s..ts. Come on! Let's be sincere, sometimes you men are so...naive (and here I am very gentle.)
Please, do not disturb Anthony and Cleopatra.
Fareed is, as usual, dead wrong. General Betrayus won't be missed at all. He is a deeply flawed person who has no business holding high government office. Good riddance to him.
Says Agrippa, posting from his mother's basement, between bouts of masturbation.
LMAO!!!!!
Ken,
Are you 12? Grow up.
A great general will missed. Huge loss for the CIA and a big gain for the private companies who will be using his expertise.
Except by the poor souls of those that died in vain in the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan due to his failed counterinsurgency strategy. They want a reckoning, especially those brave men who died abandoned in Wanat waiting for support that never came because the political con man King David Betray Us didn't change the ROE as he promised so he could ingratiate himself with Obama and move up the American political "chain of shame" to more power in Washington.
GIVE IT A REST ! As it turns out, our ambassador in Libya was the tyrant-traitor-in-chief's head illegal gunrunner to mu slim militants in the middle east. Of coure, the T-T-in-chief simply can't have this person running around alive, for heaven's sake, for too long before these beans got spilled. Unfortunately, the willfull sacrifice of his life to our enemies actually got those beans to just run amuck. Darn. Don't you just ha te it when that happens?
Mr. Zakaria, maybe you will miss him, maybe the media will miss him, maybe Paula will miss him, but most of us won't. Just be mindful of what got him into trouble and be sure to avoid it yourself!
Big waste of tax payer time and MONEY. I'm sure the rest of the world is laughing at us.
Every day I read the international newspapers and I have to say that nobody is laughing. Everybody is waiting for the post-election politics, and in reality there are just a few comments about the affair.
Are you referring to the attention surrounding this affair, or our insane involvement in the Middle East in general ... when you talk about a big waste of time and money?
Why on earth ia any general a public figure? He should be nameless ans faceless. Martial society.
Gen Mattis would be great for the CIA job.
Give me a "bucket", the guy is a heel. He put himself in this situation not his employers. You say "the United States will be deprived of an extraordinary public servant. I’m not sure that the national interest is being served by this, but that’s the way the system works" – are you kidding me – would you trust him the lout. I know I would not. Grow up Jason...
The only thing Americans will be deprived of is a very awful unAmerican general! He is the general who stopped an American from practicing his basic rights and freedoms in this country. He stopped that pastor in Florida who wanted to burn a Koran. Glad to see that awful, awful, general go! Good riddance!!!!!! Yes! Great sunny day today!
I'm so sorry not to be a comedian! All this story would be such a good subject!
There all the right characters for a hilarious farce. We laughed so much at the Italian Prime Minister for his relationship with a pros*****e, but he is almost 80, his brain begins to not work very well, and, overall, he was not the leader of a world power. Do you think that all of this would ever have happened either in Russia or in China? (Do not even think for a moment of telling I'm a communist, because I'm not) No, it wouldn't, because these two women wouldn't have even thought of sending half an e-mail to their lovers. Maybe the communist w$$$$s are smarter.
Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!
So disappointing.... He could have gone on to be President even.
Only in America can the best Man for the job. lose that same job, for just being a Man in the first place.
Awesome!
If he's just a man, he's easily replaced.
Fareed once again you makw insightful assessments. Your correct that the General will be missed for his strength, leadership and intelligence (which is greatly missing in Washington especially in the house and senate). You have to admire the conviction and integrity of the General in his situation. That said the "scandal" has taken a far turn to the right and is becoming a soap opera. There are questions concerning security and notification to congress but when are we as a society going to get out of people's private lives, this obsession shows little to the rest of the world. Not everything is a conspiracy sometimes humans make mistakes and in this case the General held HIMSELF accountable which should be enough for us. Something tells me we will see the General again.
My hopes are that President Obama will select Senator Chuck Hagel as the Secretary of Defense. Not too many people know how many times Senator Hagel traveled to Iraq, to meet with the troops. Senator Hagel wanted to speak with the enlisted troops and get their imput on how the Sgts, the Corporals on down, felt about the conflict. Senator Hagel was a Sgt in Vietnam and was awarded the Purple Heart. Senator Hagel knows first hand what war is and the sacrifice it can bring to the troops and their families. President Obama states that he is going to bring Republicans to his cabinet and Senator Chuck Hagel, deserves to be at the top of his list!
Why Petraeus will be missed:
Oh, come on. With three women running after him, with him being old and ugly – it's certainly not his youthful vigor that's got them all hot & bothered.
How do you know?
I just cannot understand what this general had been taught by his professors at the military schools?! If you are a person holding in your hand the Nation's most important secrets, you do not flirt with a "woman of Lebanese descent"! It's too dangerous! You trust, but verify, as Ronald Reagan would say (Доверяй, но проверяй). I personally do not trust any woman on earth! My mother, yes, but I have never known my mother! I only trust the Virgin Mary! Because of Eve we all die! Adam had been duped by Paula!
General Ham, General Petraeus, and now General Allen.... All tied to the Libya attacks and all sacrificial lambs to cover Obama's buttski. Will we ever get to the bottom of the Libya Consule attack? Nope, because of the smoke screen investigations it will be months before it is addressed and by then who will care?
Is that why Admiral Fallon called him a "a little ass-kissing chickensh"?
So then why is he being removed in this manner if he's going to be so missed? You believe what you're hearing?
TO ASSAD, SYRIA. I am the Lord I see the kids and people that wants to live in your country, I will send a earthquake.
TO ASSAD, SYRIA. I am the Lord I see the kids and people that wants to live in your country, I will send a earthquake. ( part 1)
TO ASSAD, SYRIA. I am the Lord I see the kids and people that wants to live in your country, I will send a earthquake. ( part 2)
TO ASSAD, SYRIA. I am the Lord I see the kids and people that wants to live in your country, I will send a earthquake. ( part 3)
TO ASSAD, SYRIA. I am the Lord I see the kids and people that wants to live in your country, I will send a earthquake. ( part 4) I need to tell you this, your people will not be in line, I will make they help your people fast
TO ASSAD, SYRIA. I am the Lord I see the kids and people that wants to live in your country, I will send a earthquake. ( part 5)
TO ASSAD, SYRIA. I am the Lord I see the kids and people that wants to live in your country, I will send a earthquake. ( part 3) I also see many people that lived so long and some kids that will know that there is human people.
TO ASSAD, SYRIA. I am the Lord I see the kids and people that wants to live in your country, I will send a earthquake. ( part 3) I also see many people that lived so long and think that life is not that important, I see some kids that will know that there is human people.
I see some kids that will know that there is human people.
6.0 earthquake.
or maybe 9, maybe God want for sometimes see the world upside down
and he told 6.0 but if you turn upside down, could be 9
special if he want to see like that, thank you sir.
When did posting those comments seem like a good idea to you?
Good riddance....he was the general who was not even upholding free speech, the most basic of American values. I am no democrat........I am just glad to see this unAmerican general go.
He was the general who was trying to convert Americans into Muslims....by this I mean he was trying to get an American to kiss the Koran...by this I mean...he was the general who complained when some guy burned a Koran in the United States. In American people burn the American flag...but for some reason for Petraeous it was not okay for Americans in America to burn a Koran. Good riddance. I do not like Petraeous's unAmerican viewpoint. OBama does some really good things. This is one of them (getting Bin Laden was another).
So, what the United States accomplished in Iraq is now our new definition of 'Success'.
We attacked Iraq because of 9/11. Oops, mistake.
We attacked Iraq because of WMD. Oops, mistake.
We attacked Iraq to bring Democracy. Oops, mistake.
We attacked Iraq to bring Peace & Stability. Oops, mistake.
We attacked Iraq to bring Saddam to justice. Oops, mistake *.
(* Lynched by a mob in the middle ot the night
on the holiday of Festival of Sacrifice. Making him a martyr)
Oh well, that is as close as we are going to get to a reason why
4,409 Americans and between 100,000 and 1,000,000 Iraqis died.
Let's declare victory and leave.
By this definition, any time our military doesn't cause World War III
and end all life on the planet, we have achieved 'Success'.
And don't you wonder why everyone said Saddam absolutely had WMDs? Both Clintons said he did, the head of the United Nations said he did, the heads of major European countries said also that yes, Saddam had WMDs....the question is....once they were hidden...or once we discovered they were not there....why did we linger? What did we gain....we spent a lot of dough......we should have a lot to show for it..........no excuses.
Yes....and please put an American general in his place. Not a Koran kissing general. Thank you!
>>
..Though the DISASTROUSLY STUPID INVASION OF IRAQ was the greatest blunder by any U.S. president, Gen. Petraeus made the best of a dreadful situation. In AFGHANISTAN, he re-established the NATO initiative with a smart plan to close with and destroy the Taliban.....
..
...It is a blow to U.S. strategy and success as we continue to combat Al Qaeda and the Taliban...
..
...But, we must thank the general for his service....Thanks, General Petraeus.
..
Somebody made the CIA mad!
It's amazing to me that everyone is saying Petraeus will be missed or he's so great that the CIA can't function without him. Since he travels so much, if he were to die in a plane crash or resigned for personal reason unrelated to any scandal, what would be the response. Everyone is replaceable.
Petraeus will not be missed and neither will Fareed (when CNN wises up) since they are two peas in a pod, and the US gov and the press both want respect....LOL
Apparently turning around Iraq and Afghanistan from the mess the politicians handed him still wasn't enough to excuse a few minutes of stress relief under the desk with Ms. Shagwell.
What he accomplished ultimately means very little. After all, we as a society value it less than a private affair.
And we wonder why we usually never get any good leaders.
"....nation building that is extremely difficult for any outside force to sustain. Even when adequately resourced, this approach can still have the problem of feeling like an imperialist mission." – FEELING like an imperialist mission?! Come on, Fareed, that's because Iraq and Afghanistan ARE IN FACT imperialist missions, otherwise we'd have been long gone by now. Who cares about a philandering Petraeus when our men and women in uniform are pointlessly dying in perpetual battle over there? Most of our servicemen and women agree these wars are a waste of time, and the American people frankly believe the same. A shame that this tabloid-type BS is getting more coverage than those who've fought and sacrificed for us.
Petreaus resigned as he approved the cyberattack on Saudi Aramco. That information was by chance on the way to Saudi and US government could not stop its delivery. Cat was out the bag. president had to fire Petreaus to avoid further issues. FBI had received affidavit from an interested person a few years ago and had been properly and professionally monitoring. FBI intercepted the info and took to President. Covering this up may be ok. Saudi stable. US okay. FBI just has to help clean up CIA mess.
I agree. No one wants to be anyone's janitor, especially to the CIA. However, when a foreign intelligence agency goes fact-finding and drop a cigarette bud in the street, only local law enforcement is going to care. As for the FBI, they are a domestic intelligence agency, thus they have to pick up what the CIA drops state-side, as opposed to leaving it to state police.
@ John 2343... Burning religious books is the American values?.if u think, he should have allowed the pastor to burn the holly book, u r on wrong side man.This is nt the American values.. God bless u
Bribing your enemy to stop killing you and turn his guns on a common enemy is smart imperial policy, but it's not victory. His mandate was to enable Bush and Cheney to leave office without leaving an unmitigated failure in Iraq. Mitigated failure isn't victory, either.
The fact that top military personnel has limited access to outsiders in their duty daily, let alone female. So when a woman make advances, she most probably make it , and complete some scandals there on......
So if he had more access to females, it wouldn't be a problem? LOL!!!!!!!
Kiss as Fareed needs to keep his job. What a troll.
We are nation of Hypocrites and fools, we don need any outside enemy to destroy our own soldiers
You nailed it good, Darek. Thank you.
Yes, we do. No one wants the criminal courts to become involved in affairs of war. It just makes things a little more complicated.
let go of the best?
Look im ex military and for all that aint the military has a code of honor and for a 4 star general to not live by it reflects the influence on are soldiers that are required to uphold this standard how he didnt lose a star or be acountable for these actions only barack hussien obama and his regime knows what he has on them but know this a regular active soldier would have been demoted,loss of pay,extra duty or possibly kicked out this country that put a muslim in office that not only never served his military was born in kenya cause aint know true american would have aloud are ambasador to be murdered and are great flag burned and yet still not take responsibility for it happening and blame it on a video god help us cause hes all americas got left
Fareed is such a mindless Centrist.
Good riddance, Patraeus.
You can go down as one of the world's most overrated military leaders of all time. Armed with the most well-funded, well-equipped army in the history of the world, you couldn't win a war in the poorest country on earth.
When are Americans going to wake up, and demand that we leave all these 3rd-world hellholes?
Because if Buffy the Vampire Slayer has taught us anything, it is that hellholes have a way of turning the whole world to hell.
Petraeus was probably the only general in history to be asked to win a war while killing as few of the enemy as possible. Iraq would have been over in days if he were allowed to carpet-bomb cities like Eisenhower was allowed to do. He absolutely saved our bacon in Iraq by recognizing that counterinsurgency was basically a problem of governance, which unfortunately the armed forces were not prepared for in any way. Iraq now has a shot at healing the societal wounds of dictatorship. Now that Saddam is long dead, it's too easy to dismiss the threat he posed.
Wow.. what a crappy article.
A) Unfortunately, this isn't a republican or democratic conspiracy
B) Benghazi was a bunch of bureaucrats and bean counters screwing up.. no conspiracy there (unfortunate that people had to die.. but then again, look at the 3000 that died in this country because of bureaucrats)
Petreaus and the media crafted his image. He used you guys and you bought it, and now you're crying over the image, because when it comes down to it, he was a guy who couldn't keep it in his pants (like the rest of us) and the two women are nut jobs..while their husbands are saps. (it's really that simple)
It's not an obsession. People in certain positions are held accountable at a higher level. Integrity? Ha ha, Petraeus wan't even going to resign until he was asked to! How exactly did he hold himself acccountable?
We all remember Joe Paterno's accomplishments, right? Same with this bugger.
I find this article completely laughable. He could break free of convention, because he is a repubelicon with absolutely no morals. Just a warmonger. Fade away losers. Society, believe it or not has wised up to your pathetic, greedy ways... Go take a look at the photo of the incoming congress... You teabagger, GOP'ers just get whiter and whiter and less and less... And I am a white man, 40 years old, and I get it... So long little Dave. You aren't a general to me anymore... LOSER!
of course petraeus will be missed. he is one of the greatest generals ever. he helped conquer both iraq and afghanistan, two of the world's most powerful nations, in a matter of days, with no lingering insurgencies. the rest of the world totally respects us now. he did this without wasting hundred of billions of dollars a year. and he ensured maximum discipline of our fiorces...no abu ghraibs, no bales massacres, no urinating on the qu'ran, no bombing of civilians. how the hell are we supposed to get bogged down in another war with iran without people like david petraeus?
Completely agree. I live in Tampa. While this character was frolicking around on Bayshore Blvd at the Gasparilla parade, our guys were taking IED hits in Iraq. Billions of dollars were disappearing and our brave general was at a big drunken party with pirate beads around his neck, in a million dollar bayside villa... Goodness, what will we do without him? Personally, I think the FBI should look at his banking habits and assets as well... overseas...
If there is something you can always count on when it comes to bureaucrats and politicians is that they are all easily replaced by others who share their views, who followed them from the big breaks in their careers, and are in the now. In short, the government cares very little for the individual, and when the individual starts to remind others of this with scandals, conditions, and the like, it puts the populace out of their comfort zone. Who wants a bureaucrat with two mistresses? I do not know the answer, but it is a very good way to get people and the press talking, investigating, and of course spreading rumors so sensitive that the public accepts them as truth.
Petraeus is better off then before, so let us welcome is successor with admiration regardless of who they are.
CNN, really? Still letting a plagiarist work? Fareed has no credibility for me, nor for people caring about integrity.. Shame on you
I want to know how many careers he ruined for adultry? How many officers / NCOs did throw under a buss for doing this? I do not know how he can sleep at night.
poor fareed. its hard to take you seriously after your problem surfaced. i actually like the way you explain some things.
TOUGH TIMES FOR US GOV'T WORKERS LIVING ABROAD, WITH A PRESIDENT THAT WILL STAY SILENT AND WATCHED AS THEY WERE BEING KILLED WHEN OUR HEROES WERE BEING KILLED, FOR SOME FOUR HOURS. EVEN WORSE WHEN HE WILLINGLY DROPS HIS TOP GENERAL IN THE BOILING GREASE OVER THE OLD SIN OF ADULTERY, SURELY RAMPANT ALL OVER INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE GOV'T. ALL IN ORDER TO SWITCH THE ATTENTION OF THE HORRIBLE MISTAKE OF LOOSING AN EMBASSADOR TO SOME CROONIES. "WRONG GUY AT THE TOP." THE ADMINISTRATION HAS MADE A JOKE OF THE PRESIDENCY WITH SO MUCH RIDICULOUSITY, AND SO MUCH FOOLISH SPENDING ON PARTIES AT EVERY LEVEL, NOT EVEN INCLUDING THE MILLIONS GIFTS TO EACH OTHER IN THE LOANED AMERICAN FUNDS GIVEN TO THE FILTHY RICH BAD MANAGERS OF THE INSURANCE AND MOTGAGE COMPANIES. AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED MR. PETRAUS STILL HAS MY FULL RESPECT, AS HE GOT PRESIDENT OBAMA OUT OF SO MANY OTHER MISTAKES DURING THE WAR.
It cracks me up that left-leaning Zakaria is portraying Petraeus in a positive light....I remember the left calling him "Betrayus" during the Bush years....how funny...
Eric Holder was too busy finding ways to indict Zimmerman than informing Obama of Petreus situation.
Because he bent to the liberals?
Maybe Zak will miss him but I bet his wife won't.
Of course he broke the mindset.
He was a republican who likes WOMEN!
Liberals have been loud with their being appalled at the GOP protecting it's wayward sons yet here they are doing the very same. Liberal hypocrisy knows no bounds. More proof the two parties are little different when it comes to money and power and exclusion of most of us.
Zakaria doubtless would have penned a tribute to Chamberlain in 1939. Petreaus has revealed himself as a man of low moral character – and a damned fool. He was never anything more than a pencil pusher – a career soldier who somehow managed to avoid combat as a junior officer. His command in Iraq amounted to squashing a fly with a sledgehammer.
As unusual as it may be, in this case I will have to agree quite vigorously with the writer from CNN. Gen. Petraeus was a highly qualified individual, who displayed much of the skill required to guide the US military through some difficult times. It is very disturbing to me that so many of the best military leaders that the US has recently had, have been upended by politicians and civilians who now deem themselves as qualified to guide the armed forces. To say that any military figure had clashed with civilian arm-chair generals such as Donald Rumsfeld, could hardly be considered as a blemish to a professional resume.
Other articles , to manipulate the public opinion, do not allow comments unless it is facebook or some other media that I do not want to use. DISQUS removed too many of my comments, so I do not want to use it -they censor the most.
This article gives Gen. Pertreaus a very nice complement and I snicerely hope that it is the case-that he is our hero . On the other hand, since we get sooo many lies, particularly about our wars that another scenario is possible. My spin : just before the election the Bengazi incident is engineered to discredit Obama , to support Mitt. Who was in charge there ? -CIA, the general. Why were our people not protected ? Ah, that is the mystery. The viscious attack on Obama about Bengazi by Gulliani sounded desperate. McCain is attacking Obama now-were they behind the Bengazi action ? If so, Obama has no choice but to can General Petreus and others for Bengazi and ill advice on Afganistan where we just wasted more people and treasury since Obama took office. He should have made immediate plans for withdrawal to save men and money.If people were working to make Obama look bad, he told them to go and they invented the stories to look like just idiots, not evil men that they possibly were. This makes a lot more sense that the official story-more credible. I still hope that this article is right.
i find it funny that he gets punished cause he did one stupid thing, everyone has done at least one stupid thing in their lives so why is he being punished for it? if their were perfect people in this world (which there is not) then i would understand why but i guess that comes with a position of power.
There are plenty of people who can step into that role.
he is FK idiot , he is married and FK with a Jew journalist and he is CIA DIRECTOR he should be smarter than that
never trust a woman, never trust journalist never trust an Arab or a Jew.....allllooooooooo and he broke all these points so he can get his dipstick wet stupid
There's a lot more Muslims who react with violence to prttey much anything that challenges their faith than there are Christians who burn books. It's to the point where I hear someone on TV going on about how Islam is a religion of peace, and my immediate reaction is, Aw, hell. What'd they blow up this time? . I can't think of a single other religion who's followers react like that. Obviously, it's not all Muslims who do this, but it's them that has the problem, not the rest of the world. I mean, seriously? Rioting world-wide over cartoons? Hell, Marvell's been doing cartoons of a god I follow for thirty some-odd years. You don't see me or anyone else anyone calling for Stan Lee to be beheaded with a dull knife over how he portrays Thor
The General and I have a lot in common. The only weakness we got some say is that we are crazy about women!